Marketing in Bharat/India & February Sale Time

I just came across an amazing blog on marketing in India. It has several posts on marketing in Rural India, the challenges associated etc.  http://rajeshaithal.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=27
Check it out!

I love his post on why the Nano isn't selling as well as was anticipated. I agree with a couple of points. Namely, for most people in India, owning a car is the ultimate status symbol. A mark that the family has managed to upgrade from a 2 wheeler to a nice 4 wheeler. Why would that family spend on a Nano if a little more saving (or debt!) can bring an Alto?  I'm sure Tata will get their marketing formula/positioning right, but the question itself brings up some interesting thoughts:  Should some products always be premium priced? Or portray a premium image? Or is there another use for this car? E.g. small town deliveries? Is there a specific segment that would LOVE the nano? Then maybe Tata would not need to waste its marketing efforts else where!

Personally, February marked a month of amazing retail sales in Mumbai.  The malls were full of large signs screaming 50%.  I managed to pick up several garmets from phoren brands at bargain prices. Of course I was pleased as punch!

When Will We Emerge? - India's Vision for this Century

I just read the Talent Magnet, a thoughtful op-ed in the New York Times (Link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/opinion/25brooks.html?_r=1&emc=eta1) on America’s new role in the world economy as well as the new world order. (Recommended by one of the smartest people in my life!)  The author argues that no longer will the U.S. remain the “big dog nation” but instead will compete with other countries for innovation, which subsequently will determine the most successful country of the next century.  I agree with the author broadly, but worry that the U.S. has a long way to go in its own primary education and secondary education to drive innovation through most levels of its society.  But I love the fact that a country demands such a vision of its leader through the State of the Union.

This brings me to my next point, when will the Indian public start demanding such a vision from its leaders? When will ask them what India’s vision is for this next century? I know a couple of states in India, such as Gujarat and Bihar, have actually articulated this vision and put their money where their mouth is.  But what about the rest of us? Yes, we have a huge list of “must wins”, but when will start tackling them so as to define the New India?

To borrow my dear friend Vibha's statement, "When will India emerge?"

Vignette of Urban India: Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)

So I just saw Kiran Rao’s “Dhobi Ghat” this weekend. I loved it because it was very poignant. I loved the colors, sounds, and smells she manages to capture through her magical lens (read: grey, cool monsoon rains, the hustle and bustle of life in a crowded bazaar area, the riot of colors and sense of height at Ganesh Visarjan, and the modern style of arty Mumbai). I loved the skilful way she wove four stories together and most importantly, I loved the way she gently caught the viewer’s attention and took us on a small, almost insignificant trip through each character’s life, yet managed to leave us with a sense that we had heard a good story.

One thing that stood out to me was Prateik’s character.  As Munna, the dhobi, who lives by the railway tracks in a slum, I was shocked (because I was not aware) and happy by his aspirations and “lifestyle.”  Munna runs away from Bihar to seek a better life in Mumbai.  As a young adult he washes clothes and delivers them to middle and upper middle class Indians. But he wears capris, uses a mobile phone, works out in his hut, and goes to the cinema to see movies.  If you see him in real life you would never guess that he lives in a hutment or that he bathes out in the open by the tracks.  Munna also moonlights as a rat catcher (yes, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation actually pays enterprising and nimble citizens “per tail caught” so as to get rid of this menace).  He embodies the new Indian: hard working, very ambitious, and optimistic.

And you see many Munnas around you.  In the cities at least.  You can sense them. You can feel their spirit. I’m talking about the national pride and economic prosperity gripping India. I can’t comment on Bharat, as I have not seen real rural India enough to comment.  You see it in the mobile usage patterns. Everyone, including the bhaji/sabzi walla has cell phones.  You see it in the real estate (yes we can debate on whether it is a bubble or not) and the financial ads dispelling investment advice.  Everyone wants to invest.

I remember Gurcharan Das’s words when he aptly summarizes the social revolution of “making money” that is sweeping India, since “making money has become increasingly respectable.”[1]  Compared to the Gandhian values of austerity in past decades, modern Indians harbor a common aspiration of bettering their lives and giving their children a higher standard of life.  I think it’s a good thing. The Munnas of India may take ten or even twenty years to realize all their dreams (read: house, children in good schools, a vehicle), but at least they are trying.

On a side note, the one thing that surprised me about the movie was its portrayal of communication between the different socio-economic classes. For better or worse, communication between different classes follows clearly established patterns:  employer-employee, city dweller – villager, more educated – less educated.  In Dhobi Ghat, Rao challenges this as she shows a young, upper class, American educated photographer (Monica Dogra) develop and enjoy a friendship with a slum-dwelling, uneducated dhobi (Munna).  I don’t know if this is realistic, if it is a portrayal of the future, or if it is just part of the story line. 

Anyway, I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is an Indophile, to a nostalgic NRI, to an urban Indian, and to any others who appreciate a well-made, short film.

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[1] Gurcharan Das, “The Respect They Deserve.” Time Magazine Asia, 2004, http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/501041206/two_indias_vpt_das.html accessed 10 October 2010.

2 worlds in 1 space: India and Bharat

As a young Indian in my 20s, I remember the early 80s filled with Thums Up, Door Darshan, and coveted possessions from "abroad".  I am now living in one of the most prosperous decades in India's modern history. I won't recount the statistics (you know, visits by Obama, Hu Jintau, Sarkozy; amazing GDP growth in an otherwise recessionary world), but you know what I'm referring to. And I'm grateful for it. Very grateful. This is India.  But its very different from Bharat, and as a young professional, I find it tricky to navigate between these two worlds.


Oh, its because Bharat and India still have not figured out a balanced way to exist. I am borrowing a concept I read in a Forbes' article (Forbes India September 2009) that CK Prahalad refers to: Bharat and India. I first noticed it when I would talk to my sister. She always discounted my India experience. I realized that I thought my  6 week experience counted as “Indian” while to my family, I was a foreigner since I had only spent a total of 2 months in 3 years in the country.  Its funny how two people can look at the same issue and think so differently.  But isn’t the fundamental crux of life, the difference in opinion that leads to new ideas, debate, and excitement?

This stark realization led me to question my own thoughts.  Spending 3 months in 2009, the longest in 5 years, I realized that I had forgotten what India truly was like.  My impressions were based on an NRI view, on a South Bombay view, both very distant from Bharat.  I was living in India, but not Bharat.  


By Bharat I mean a mindset. At a very simple level, it could mean the class of Indians that still does not have access to modern amenities: decent housing with indoor plumbing, a steady income, schooling etc. India refers to the country mentioned in the wsj, nytimes, and investment brochures. But it also encompasses folks with a certain mindset (I can't articulate it as yet!). Indians from India excel at foreign schools, share bits of their culture abroad, speak English, and have an amazing ability to move seamlessly from Bombay to New York, Delhi to DC, or Chennai to Dallas. Yes, I am aware that I am making gross generalizations, but you get the main point. 


Bharat rears up its head when I see my fellow Mumbaikers squat on railway tracks because they don't have a bathroom at home; when I see young children selling magazines at traffic lights; when I hear of folks who travel 2 hours one way to get to work because they can't afford to live close to work. And these folks are all really hard workers. Most get up before sun rise to attend to house hold chores, then put in a full day's worth of work, often fighting to get onto buses and trains, before calling it a day.  


As a young professional, I notice that I need to understand and embrace Bharat fully. Why? Because alot of my clients live in Bharat. And somehow, the education I received in India did not really equip me to deal with Bharat. I know my financial statements, my English literature, and yes textbook Hindi.  But it took months to speak decent conversational colloquial Hindi (and I still make atrocious mistakes!) and learn about different world views that can co-exist in 1 space.  It is two worlds in 1 space.  And it will take alot of trial and error, understanding, and time for me and other young Indians to navigate these two worlds.