Luxury brands that earlier focused on the well-heeled have become youth conscious. “The younger generation is the wealthiest generation that India has ever had,” says Peter Kronschnabl, president, BMW India Pvt. Ltd. “While we cannot ignore the older members who still control the wealth in the family, we are now including young professionals in our communication as they now have the authority to buy high-end cars, and have a say in the decision-making of their families,” he adds.
In this race to target the youth, most marketers are turning to youth-friendly digital platforms for more focused access. Says Sinha: “The youth are the early adopters of new media channels such as the Internet and the mobile (phone). It’s easy for marketers to access them through these channels, (against) the conventional mass media channel.”
Digital marketing, currently accounting for Rs350 crore of the Rs22,700 crore advertising market, is set to grow at 150% over the next three years, according to a joint study by audit and consulting firm Ernst and Young and industry lobby Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.
According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), an industry body, around 40,000 brands targeted at Indians advertised online last year, and the numbers are increasing. “The early adopters of the Internet and mobile are younger people,” says Subho Ray, president, IAMAI. “This segment consumes much less of television and even less of newspapers, and much more of mobile and the Internet in the course of the day, at least in some marketing segments,” he adds.
Agrees Divya Bhatia, consultant, eTechnology Group, IMRB. Young adults, she says, are spending a lot of time on the Internet because they spend a significant portion of their day at work, where other mediums such as television and newspapers may not be accessible. “They are tech savvy and find it convenient to look up information on the computer,” she says.
Again, digital advertising itself is seeing new tools of access, some more effective than the others. Alok Kejriwal, founder of Contests2win.com India Pvt. Ltd, points out that viral marketing is perhaps the most popular and effective tool among youth today. “People are likely to watch a 30-second viral marketing clip sent by a friend because you know it will be funny, or of some importance to you, rather than watch all the advertisements on televisions,” he says.
The latest medium in the marketers’ arsenal, the mobile phone, is even more youth-friendly. Of the 180 million mobile users in India, more than 80% are estimated to be between the ages of 18 and 35, according to Kejriwal. “If done right, in the digital platform, consumers become the marketer and communication gets a more positive feedback from the end consumer,” he adds.