PAPA DON'T PREACH! - BETA, CAN YOU TEACH?
For the special issue themed around Gen Z and Y, Brand Equity
gets CXOs across categories to share data-mining done with their own
millennial-samples at home and at work -children, friends of kids and employees
-and how those firsthand insights and anecdotes helped fine-tuning strategies.
We had firsthand experience of just how tough it is, advertising
to Generation Z.
At a screening of Kung Fu Panda 3, one of the commercials shown
was Share The Load for Ariel, the one where the father belatedly realises the
error of his ways and promises to help around the house more. While the ad left
all the 30 pluses in the audience, sighing and reflective, we heard a 10 year
old kid pipe up with “Huh? All that for this?!“ It's a tough ask marketing to a
generation that appears to be born with an overactive BS detector. Making the
job tougher is misunderstandings, oversimplifications and stereotypes by
over-exuberant marketers and consultants.
So, depending on who you believe, this is a generation of
pottymouthed commitment-phobes, tindering their way through dysfunctional
relationships. Or a sainted, saintly bunch who never met a cause or agenda they
couldn't get behind. A senior marketing head, on condition of anonymity admits
that while she does not have empirical evidence to back her belief, she is
fairly certain that these people at least in the Indian context are a long
way from taking the cause-led position yet and wonders why brands are taking that
stance when addressing them. She would love to be proven wrong on this, she
says.
According to Josy Paul, chairman and chief creative officer,
BBDO India, “They are wired so differently, there's a sense of them being
alien, and it's not a generation gap and there's no emotional gap.“ While
working on the much talked about Mirinda `Release the pressure' campaign, the
agency consciously steered clear of writing a script. “We didn't feel equal to
the task of writing one in their voice so we got them to do it for us“, Paul
shares.
Some of the marketers trying to go inside the minds of Gen-Y and
Gen-Z have a home advantage: a child or at least an employee or a dozen who
fall under this grouping. Here's what some of them learnt.
Arvind Bhandari GENERAL MANAGER DAIRY, NESTLÉ INDIA
Them and Us
My wife, Trupti (also an FMCG marketer) and I are constantly
aware of the language, the words, the sentence structure (and therefore the
implied logic), the huge obsession with friends and the constant digital conversation
that drives our daughter Rishni (18) and her friends. I remember how I got onto
Facebook, just to know what my daughter was up to, only to discover that the
real interaction was happening on Snapchat but since Snapchat doesn't save, my
wife and I couldn't pry into her life. (Believe us, he isn't the first parent
to discover that). Till one day, the screenshots of Snapchat, exchanged merrily
on WhatsApp gave away, what drove their lives. Shocked beyond our
`generation's' sensibilities, the only emotional comfort was `that everybody in
this generation is doing it' and she is not actively engaging but merely
belonging. And belonging is so important to her and all of us, so we uneasily
gave in.
Learnings
One learning for marketers is that their world is more of
reaction than reflection, since they can e-publish the smallest feeling and
amplify in a jiffy. Their passion bears an inverse relation to what really
matters to them on a daily basis (water or electricity breakdowns go unnoticed,
but gay rights can turn placid dinner conversation virulent).Humour quickly
comes to the rescue when any problem burdens: AIB jokes, memes, statics are
there on everything. This gives them great resilience and staying power with
any problem. Marital breakdowns, relationship nuances are openly discussed and
wisdom acquired.
Parents are of little help because either they know less than
them or are the subject of these discussions! Since their world is going to be
more fluid than ours, it's perhaps ok that we let them get prepped like this.
Inspiration from millennial conversation
One occasion there was an advertising copy presented by the
agency where the main teen character seemed too `socially pleasing' to be real
and I didn't think that could be approved. On the week end, though when I was
watching my daughter chatting up with her friend on the phone, I realised how
much of the `mutually-exalting' talk they indulge in (perhaps to counter the parents
who constantly chide and censure) though I must say she backstabbed her the
instant she got off the line. I shared the experience with the copywriter and
she brought a mild twist, making the whole script even more real and riveting.
It's very useful to check the language of the millennials when we design our ad
copy since its a whole lot different from ours, and that can be a serious
derailer. Like `going around' is lame, you say `dating' straight off and many
more like these, my daughter Rishni tells me.
Action-plan
As a marketer, I feel this generation cannot be talked to but
only stimulated to interact, making the brand the platform and reason, at best.
Is this true of their cousins and friends in smaller towns and lower down
socialeconomic classes? Puzzlingly enough, yes, thanks to the digital
egalitarian world. How far are the younger kids behind them? Shockingly close,
watching their siblings and hungrily consuming WhatsApp etc.
Sunil Kataria, BUSINESS HEAD INDIA AND SAARC, GODREJ CONSUMER
PRODUCT LIMITED (GCPL)
My kids are the biggest critics of ad scripts especially the
ones which are related to kids or teenagers. The current Cinthol cool film
jingle was something I wasn't very sure of, even while our brand team loved
every bit of it. I recall bouncing it off my daughter and son and they just
loved it. It also left me with the realisation that I am getting old for sure
with both millennials (brand team) and Gen Z (my kids) giving it a thumbs up!
Another anecdotal instance is around my daughter Dhwani's (17) shampoo usage.
She had been a regular user of shampoo of one of our brands and recently
another brand developed a shampoo-range, and I gave her the development sample
to use and, voila, she immediately switched. While it was great to see her
`wow' reaction, I had to tell the brand team that they may have a potential
internal threat coming in!
Govind Shrikhande CUSTOMER CARE ASSOCIATE & MANAGING
DIRECTOR, SHOPPERS STOP
Them and Us
The younger generation is clearly very techsavvy and exists for
here and now, something I have seen with both my kids son and daughter. My
daughter Sharvari, did her post-graduation in the UK and joined the retail
industry in India. However, as a customer she was very particular on the kind
of fashion she wanted and would move from brand to brand following the product garment
style hierarchy.
Learnings
Apart from being a heavy shopper, she ordered knick-knacks and
fashion jewellery (priced between `150 to `400) from multiple online sites.
Invariably, the sites would have delivery challenges and on occasion, would not
even collect the money because of confusion on pre-paid versus postpaid. It was
clear to me that these online companies will never make any money, if they were
going to have free delivery for a `400 product. None of the online guys are
making money and hence it is best to set up an omni channel retail strategy.
The other important thin g about this generation is the way
they're looking at fashion.
They are neither looking at garments to last long nor are they
wanting to wear them multiple times. The street fashion must be value -priced.
The pricing equation must be reworked to appeal to them, something that brands
like Zara have done well. For our private labels, Life and Haute Curry we are deploying
some of these learnings.
Sanjay Sharma CEO, MTR FOODS
Them and Us
It helps to observe three generations of women from close
quarters mother, wife and daughters particularly when working for a food brand
and then hunting around for insights. Internal research did point out that this
generation is associating consumption of packaged foods with a `Not Guilty'
feeling unlike the previous generations, but the first hand experience
reaffirmed it. Learnings My mother accepted basic commodities into packed
foods. She would allow spices and masala and peripheral products like snacks,
sauces etc. into her shopping basket. My wife's purchase basket is a bit wider
than that and includes packaged products which offer convenience to make dishes
which are not from India. My daughters Diya (18) and Anisha (15) want products
that are high in convenience. They have little interest cooking Indian food
even while they enjoy it as their staple cuisine. Instead they want to make
exotic foods like brioche, pancakes, crème brulee, cookies etc. Possibly
influenced by MasterChef and other cooking shows. Thus, it is likely they will
adopt packaged foods that give them convenience to make Indian food easily,
mostly because they might not have the knowledge or time for it.
Lloyd Mathias FORMER HEAD OF PC MARKETING, HP ASIA PACIFIC &
JAPAN
One often uses `in-house' samples, comprising employees or
children of colleagues. Most of these tend to be to validate already existing
concepts and campaigns. When I headed marketing at Motorola, I remember we
tested out the Pink MotoRAZR mobile on a few of our colleague's teen daughters.
They used these for two weeks and we had them recount to us their daily
experience of reactions. As the model was launched elsewhere in the world, with
then brand ambassador Maria Sharapova, we did not have the time for formal
research. We wanted to get reactions in India, so this was a quick and easy
dipstick for the product. The phone went on to be a huge hit.
Vipul Prakash SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT BEVERAGE CATEGORY, PEPSICO
INDIA
Them and Us
I have two children both of whom are a part of Gen Z. I don't
think the generation is so different in values and fundamentals. The biggest
difference is these are people who do not have to deal with the duality of the
analogue and digital era, being born into the digital age. It's not that
previous generations didn't have opinions, but transparency and a breakdown of
the barriers of communication has given a big fillip to authenticity. When I
have a conversation with my daughters, we are talking about things as they are
and it's very different from the conversations I had with my parents, where
things were couched in a manner that was either too polite or impolite.
If what I say as a father makes sense to them in the first 10
seconds, they accept it. Unlike the kids in the late 90s and early 2000s who
were often rebels without a cause, they say “If there's a conflict let's
resolve it.“ My daughter wanted a tattoo. I started giving her a story and she
said, “Just say yes or no“. I said, “Not right now but next year.“ And she
said, “Okay.“ I said don't you want to talk about this? And she replied, “This
is not one of the top 10 things I need to talk to you about.“ That practicality
and straightforwardness is what is different.
Learnings
When it comes to advertising, the attitude is don't couch an ad
message under CSR. Either show genuine purpose or show product selling. The
important thing is whether it is our children, our employees or our consumers,
they are all looking for directness and authenticity.
Action-plan
Our challenge is how can we be more direct and make our stories
more powerful, told in a cogent manner?
Even how we operate in office has changed. Our younger employees
want shorter meetings -not the four or five-hour brain storming sessions.
One-page word documents have replaced 20-page decks.
By Amit Bapna & Ravi Balakrishnan
Aug 09 2017 :
The Economic Times (Mumbai)
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