2013 TRENDS : LESSONS FOR MARKETERS

AUTHOR: ANISHA MOTWANI

LEGACY POLITICS PROVIDED WAY TO FRESH BLOOD

This could very well find place among the best marketing case studies for 2013.

AAP mobilized the disillusioned Indian voters specially the middle-class and

significantly first-time youth voters. Grass-root politics took a new definition. But

reactionary politics is one thing and consistently developing proactive long term

sustainable strategies is another. How this succeeds as it evolves in the next

few quarters may go a long way in redefining politics in India.

AAM AADMI PARTY

ARRIVAL OF 'PURPOSE' BASED MARKETING

The trend on ‘purpose’ over pure

ingredient based campaigns that

started as a trickle with ‘Daag

Achche hain’ found itself reflecting

in reflected in a slew of brands that

have taken up issues like

progressive parenting (Bournvita),

widow remarriage (Tanishq),

barriers between India and

Pakistan (Google). More and more

brands have been able to make the

bold departure from the

conventional.

CONSUMERS BECAME DEEPLY ENGROSSED WITH THE OVERALL

NEGATIVE ECONOMIC SENTIMENT

The current state of the

economy - high inflation, rising

fuel prices and interest rates

had their impact on the end

consumer. Never before was

the lay consumer following GDP

& Inflation rates so closely. The

conventional symbol of India’s

appetite for consumption – Car

sales, took a hit for the first time

in 11 years

DIGITAL GARNERED A LARGER PIECE OF PIE

More and more marketers increased

their digital spends and actively

experimented, and rightfully so, with

digital marketing. From creating

content, to launching communication on

digital first, from contests on social

media to using the medium to track and

target prospects better ....marketers

preoccupied themselves more with this

medium than ever before. The trend is

only going to strengthen next year with

more digital specialists becoming a

permanent part of the marketing team.

‘MOBILE’ GOT A SHOT IN THE ARM.

Growing four times faster than the global

average, India overtook Japan as the 3rd

largest smartphone market in the world.

The ‘Google-Airtel’ free zone, a service that

allows you to access Google mobile

services on the go at absolutely no data

costs is an early indicator of marketers

picking on this. The consumer is showing a

mirror. It’s now for marketers to interpret

this effectively and design relevant &

effective solutions & apps for their

categories.

MEN EMERGED AS SIGNIFICANT SHOPPER BASE.

Gone are the days when we could

confidently say that men hate shopping.

They are actively buying and consuming

a whole lot of brands / products -

from deos to fairness face washes, from

clothes to shoes, from gadgets to lending

a helping hand in monthly

grocery/household purchases, Marketers

would be better placed to learn their

unique shopping patterns, subliminal

selection techniques, and their

aspirations to extract more value from this

consumer base, going forward.

UNCONTROLLABLE & EMPOWERED CONSUMERS

Time and again, a lesson that marketers

realised was that today you can't control your

consumer no matter how powerful your

message may be. Social media emerged as a

strong medium to raise voice, show dissent,

complain about brands and gather momentum

with fellow friends and friends of friends, to

publicly mock brands that made mistakes/did

wrong. It is a clear lesson for brands to think

twice before launching an initiative and to

handle tactfully and 'quickly' any faux pas they

make. While many a brand would have

experienced this – a societal manifestation of

this in the Indian context was the common

citizen’s furore on the Nirbhaya episode that

shook the conscience of the whole nation in

2013.

FEWER INNOVATIONS IN PRODUCTS

2013 saw most innovation and action take place in the field of service delivery

and not in new disruptive products. The world did not get to see much that could

deserve status of the next Smartfphone, the next iPad or the iPhone. More &

more work happened in incremental innovation in new customer interaction

channels, a distribution system or a technological concept or a combination of

all of these. The incremental innovation by Flipkart and possibly some other e-

tailers of sending step by step shipment status updates to customers after

payment goes a long way in assuaging any apprehensions they would have on

merchandise delivery very relevant keeping in mind the dis-intermediated nature

of their purchase.