Friday, March 12, 2010

Today even the groom must market himself

Ad-man and MD and CEO of Future Brands speaks about consumer insights derived from fragments of everyday life as experienced by the middle class in urban India.
At the launch of his book Mother Pious Lady: Making Sense Of Everyday India, Santosh Desai, noted advertising professional and managing director and chief executive of Future Brands, spoke about consumer insights derived from fragments of everyday life as experienced by the middle class in urban India. He explains why we are obsessed with our stomachs, why a slap is the ultimate insult, and why consumers still expect dhaniya and mirchi (green coriander and chillies) free with their vegetables. Edited excerpts:

You’ve drawn from your own experiences of growing up in a middle-class Indian family. Will the book touch a chord with new consumers?
This is the thing about India, there is a certain amount of things that are changing, but our desire is to believe that nothing is. If you ask people if they are comfortable with their way of life, young or old, most would say yes. The young are not looking to redefine their lives. It’s not like 18-year-olds are moving out of their parents’ homes, they are not saying: “What is this ridiculous way of getting married?” If we really wanted a discontinuous way of life, the young could have easily walked away from the past. But they haven’t. This is a story of India as it exists, because it is continuous, in a sense it goes back to explain where this continuity comes from, to explain the present. Early anecdotal evidence shows that young people are reading it like a novel. Yes, perhaps it will strike (more of) a chord with people of my generation.

Full interview here Mint

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