When Tata Indicom, the brand under which telco Tata Teleservices Ltd offers its services, wanted to reposition itself from a mass market product to a youth-centric one, it opted for a multi-pronged approach. First, it tailored its advertising campaign to attract the desired target audience. “The characters are young, trendy and we have gone for a more upscale look,” says Haresh Moorjani, creative director, FCB-Ulka Advertising Pvt. Ltd, the agency for Tata Teleservices. “The look and feel of Tata Indicom’s campaign is completely different” (two of these television commercials, starring brand ambassador Kajol, topped Mint’s monthly ad survey last year).
Then, it tied up with cellphone maker Motorola to offer a Moto Q package which allowed consumers opting for Tata Indicom to get a sleek handset equipped with the latest features, such as voice activation and Bluetooth. Next, Tata Indicom launched Samsung Explore handsets with browsers to give young consumers the freedom to surf the Internet on their mobile phones. And to top it off, the telecom player collaborated with
Zee Entertainment Ltd’s Zee TV for a reality show,
Fun on the Run. The celebrities who participated in this treasure hunt received a series of clues sent via their Tata Indicom devices.
All these marketing initiatives were put into place within a span of six months. “Our focus is on the youth,” says Abdul Khan, marketing, Tata Teleservices. That’s a statement executives in other companies will agree with. Reaching the young consumer in India today has become more important than ever before. It has also become more challenging.
“This age group is open to risk and is willing to try anything and, as a result, marketers are willing to try innovative strategies,” said Ashish Dikshit, president, Madura Garments, a division of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd, at the India launch of Esprit Holdings Ltd’s youth brand, EDC, in October (Madura Garments is the sole distributor for Esprit in India). Dikshit described the youth as “trysumers” (consumers who are willing to try new products) of the Indian market—a group that can play a pivotal role in any marketing campaign.
These “trysumers” are also trendsetters, an attribute that has been accentuated by their growing purchasing power. “The young always had the power of voice, but today they also have wallet power. And they decide how they want to spend, and what they want to spend on,” says Manish Sinha, vice-president, strategic planning, Bates David Enterprise.
Youth have always been a prime target for marketers. More so in India now, as two-thirds of the population is below 35 years of age. According to MindShare Insights, the research division of a media buying agency MindShare, 65%, or over 700 million Indians, are younger than 35 years.