Simple language, data-driven inferences, examples from everyday Indian life, references to actual marketing cases, and continuous zoom-in/zoom-out is what makes 'We are like that only' (WALTO) a wonderfully enlightening read. It is a book for anyone (and not necessariliy a management student, marketer, consultant, business manager, strategist, or entrepreneur) who wants to understand the nuances of the consumer India.Moving beyond the survey numbers about what we as Indian consumers consume, how much we consume, and how much we'll continue/evolve to consume in future, WALTO takes a deeper dive and explores what makes us 'us'. It is a marvellous work of research and cognition, a dissection attempt at unravelling the structure and functioning of the billion plus consumer India.
It is not only a point blank but also a bulls-eye shot to say that 'the Indian DNA is about continuity with change; it is about THIS as well as THAT; about cobbling together clever and low-cost solutions that are ingenious combinations and adaptations of products available in the market. It is true that the right question that the businesses should be asking is 'what should be my local, customized strategy for the Indian market?' rather than 'what is the size of market that India offers for my global strategy?' Contradictory to China, India is the market for long-term 'patient' investments and long-term harvesting.
WALTO has successfully segmented the conundrum that the Indian market is with Rich, Middle, and Low Income consumers respectively comprising 10%, 30% and 60% of Indian population. These segments, which contribute 34.1%, 36.1%, and 29.7% to national GDP, command 30.0%, 36.6%, and 34.4% consumption share of the soon-to-be Trillion $ economy. This market is complicated by extreme diversity in terms of cultures, geographies, education levels, technology penetration and various other factors. Indeed, a business trying to sell in India, is trying to attempt a market which is existing in 400 years simultaneously.
The view on the Bottom of Pyramid (BoP) consumers, rural markets, emerging womanism, and growingly young market, which is a market consisting of lots and lots of people consuming a little bit of each, adding up to a lot provides an inkling of the dormant but soon emerging opportunity. the key to this vault of opportunity is in finding answer to the question, 'what my target India is?' and then spinning around products, prices, distribution mechanisms, and promotion stategies.
It is for the global marketers to realize that India is the second biggest game in the world (after China), and the game has just begun!
just like that:
Being a technology enthusiast at heart appreciating the turnaround that technology has brought in the way we live and work, It is not possible to talk of the present day India, and keep ICE (IT, Communication, and Entertainment) wave out of discussion. WALTO has captured that well. Most of us are aware of the changes Technology revolution has brought in India. However, this is what I heard for the first time and am so much tempted to quote:
"Perhaps the most powerful impact of IT has been in reducing the percieved gap in power between the educated and the uneducated, and those in positions of power and those out of it. Narayana Murthy, Infosys Founder and Chairman, once told a wonderful story of how he found his low-income colleague, the peon in his office, going to an ATM to withdraw money. When he asked the peon why he chose the ATM over the teller, he replied that the ATM did not care if he withdrew Rs 20 or Rs 2000, or whether he was well dressed or not. The teller, on the other hand, did care."
Never before a market report seemed so captivating!
Happy reading :)
