Shruti, 25, a girl in my office, likes collecting accessories. Each day as she enters office, she wears a different piece of necklace or some exquisite pair of earnings. For now, she has 47 pieces of necklaces and counting!
Others in my office have hobbies ranging from collecting handbags, laptop bags, pens, visiting new destinations, trying new restaurants, blogging and photography. And this is just my office.
Gradually but surely there is emerging a new urban India where people are venturing into newer hobbies and their passion for the same is increasing as well. But would we really be as passionate about these things, had it not been for the glamour and attraction created by marketers around them?
Need Creators = Marketers
While marketing textbooks rightfully state that product and service options have increased and so has the customer spending patterns; what’s really changed over the last couple of years is the customer engagement level.
Marketers like never before our understanding, that with the rise of young India, increase in the ‘limited attention span’ and overflowing competition, customer engagement levels have to be taken a notch higher.
Social media has had a big role to play. From startups to large organizations, every brand today is engaging with Indians having an online presence. Not just this, some brands like Nokia are actually one step ahead of others as they replicate every single message across all platforms – via PR [print, online, electronic media], TVC’s, radio, social media, outdoor advertising, on ground events etc.
These engagement levels are creating inflated desires and people are actually living beyond their means to indulge in them.
Pressure to stand out
A careful observation of status messages on Facebook, will show that a lot updates are about personal PR. For e.g. ‘loving my new iPhone4’, ‘back from Manali tks abc def ghi etc. for the amazing trip’, ‘pic of SRK at the Kokata Knightriders match.. getting so excited as he stands 10ft from me”.
And brands are recognizing this as well. It is from this human behavior insight that Facebook, twitter and Foursquare allow you to share your location or should I say “reveal the ‘you’re gonna be so jealous when I tell you where I am right now’ location”. Another example is that, as you mail from Blackberry or iPad, it comes written ‘from my iPad2”!!!
Across age groups and across professions, there’s also an incredible pressure to stand out from the crowd which may not necessarily be cultivating hobbies but surely are increasing the level people get involved in them. This is just my opinion and as always I’d love to hear about yours as well.
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