If Tanu weds Manu.. Shouldn’t Marketers Court Bharat!

As Tanu mocks Manu above, chiding him for his choice of “substandard” Jhajjar girl Datto- over herself. One wonders how Bollywood's Movie Camps viewed such Desi movies just a few years ago. The Formula driven, mega budget star casting Bollywood camps would have called this as “Reebokey” or Dublicate. Until the block buster like "Dabangg" broke the mold- Thus movies with connect with small town North India (Bharat) perhaps have become the new formula!

Advertising and marketing Mirror the Society, unfortunately the Metropolitan context of most our adv’s makes me wonder.The Marketers of India, sadly still view the “Bharat part” of India as peripheral but not “Main target” of their Brand value & imagery. The question is: is it Time to target Bharat as “mainstream” for Brand’s core values? Marketers will argue is there even a need to connect to Bharat? Isn’t that something akin to what Bollywood was doing? Let’s evaluate.

Metro Vs Urban Populations

Numbers with the right lens show us the opportunity. 31.2% of Indian population is Urban (not metropolitan) 68.8 is rural, Top 6 metro cities have 6% population, top 10 only 7.7%. Top 20 only 9.73%. In conclusion 25% of Indian cities are non Metros. So the metropolitan values & Imagery connects with only 6%. The remaining part for a diverse nation like India would have  similar Psychographics, aspiration and brand preference is the premises – one wants to challenge.

 Chart shows urbanization trend in 16 key Indian states.  8 states are below the average level of urbanization,  4 among these 8 figure in the top 10 GDP contributing states of India. Potential? Further if bank deposit signify buying power the fact that 36% of all bank deposits are from Non Metro Urban India  Indicates of a viable opportunity .

 One element, which needs to be underlined is that metropolitan India has high percentage of immigrants from small towns. Instead of  stereotype of Metropolitan SEC A- the Emigrant software engineer from Raipur, young sons of a PSU worker from UP, the government employees all migrated from small towns connect more with their towns than Metros.

Psycographic

The Marketers argument that aspirations are same across India, need to decipher seemingly simple yet defiant Datto in the movie “Tanu... In her rebuttal to “Naivete” ridicule by Tanu. Datto says she may not know to dress up, but knows how to manage relationships, she is a state level athlete due to her own efforts, battled her circumstances, against all odds-on her own terms. She is confident go getter, no complexes for her not knowing English (Evoked clapping in suburban Mumbai)

 Does this resonates with the world of privileged English speaking 16 year old of Metros? In my wide travel the well-off youth of small towns always looked Cock sure -where they want to go & unapologetic of their limitation. They are indifferent to the “perception generated by their in-difference“. Why so? Because several of their conviction are labelled  too forward in their home town and considered regressive or backward in cities. Their rebellious indifferent attitude, can be summed up simply as “we are like that only & we are very good”

The Movie though not seminal work, connects across India. Realistic characters right out of small town north India. Rich textures of relationship’s absent in an “emigrant’s make do city life. The languages & Jargons of small town. Perhaps the emigrant Software Engineer in Bangalore isn’t ashamed of his roots? Perhaps we cannot force feed “aspirations”. You can look down upon Bharat, but they won’t look up to you.  

Competitiveness.

Many would argue making a mainstream brand targeted only at Small town India- would sacrifice the Metropolitan urban market completely. Agreed, but all brands imagery and context target Metros’s would not you be alone targeting connecting to Bharat’s ?-Thus a Brand inside a lesser competitive space can have more success.

Another argument that the Brand will lose the “aspirational hallo” for Metros. Certain categories can be brought to life by “connect” to the audiences- Bollywood movies are just one of them. There is an element of pride in Bharat- it needs more manifestation in our Brands.

Competitive sports are the most notable signal of the rise of small towns, meritocracy which may not require an education ecosystem. Lads into lime light of cricket (Shami, Rahane, Hardik Pandya,even Dhoni & Raina) Kids cracking  IIT JEE  prove this again- the next big wave of aspiration lies in Bharat, an aspiration which is definitely different than pure hedonic consumption driven Metros portrayed by advertising.

Courting Bharat

Beyond making a sales network for catering to Bharat. It’s time to court it with  brands, which resonated and connects with them ( Quite a few have already begun)- City emigrants will value it too. In cities outside metros, Bharat is not aping the West. It will not follow the US markets- it will create its own solutions. Its protagonist & its local role models don’t share mindset of urban westernizing India- a conservative BJP in power, does signal it. Youth entrepreneurs are making their own mark in small towns guided by values with a different moral compass. Let’s create a brand which encapsulates their unique views. Let’s court Tanu, Manu, Pappi and the real Bhartiya Middle Class.

Not a Shallow Conversation around Rape

Unlike blogs, post release of “India daughter”- This one will not crucify the lawyer/rapist for his mentality- it will though shine light on your blind spot.A separate reality is for us to discover.

A rape like the Nirbhaya one, was sexual violence beyond mere lust. Did it have an inkling of perceived social justice? The drunk driver and cleaner were merely sexually overcharged? They did justify there act by questioning why was the girl out with a boy at 9’o clock at night? Perhaps “rape” is also about some angst, frustration.May be an unfulfilled desire-carnal ,sexual or psychological or could it be something more?

The politician, the lawyer who blunt the guilt on rape of women by questioning women's character are illiterate people, of a sick psychology, Perverts. they see women as mere objects of gratification. Partially wrong?. Actually it could be the other way round.lets dive deeper. Both of you- the urban Indian middle class & the rural class of the heartland have a different world view. some how they haven’t bough over “Our” idea of freedom.may be we are wrong!

Let me take you to their world. Dive deep now. Lets see the world of  14 year old rural villager boy. Villagers may be poor but are well fed.The have a set routine and schools- with teachers that do not more than literacy.a Curriculum which is no match for children's curiosity & aspiration. Schools are n't place where rural kids think they will grow in life.So what feeds the mind of a child? The city, as he has heard about, by his distant relative and friends brother, city is where he builds his dream about. The social environment of village is different- drunk men beat there wives reinforcing that alcohol is evil.women folk have limited wants and are considered frivolous by men. Men violate women, and sisters are supposed to be protected- as the goons, the politician overrule the feebly present police. Ask a person with rural origin- your istriwala etc, about law and order in his village. Thus in the “physce” of rural India- there is no law for the rich,the women are vulnerable in their eyes-But he has one window to the world it’s not internet,unlike you-he sees this window- completely differently-actually its cable television.

You have to see TV from the eyes of this rural Boy-un-baised devoid of knowledge of showbiz, lineage of stars,  performance, dance forms etc.  please do this experiment.Its aimed to neutralize your biases.switch on your television, mute the sound, play movie songs / promo on a channel. Close your eyes tell yourself you will not see “Names of Star” and “Star kids” but mere Bodies, their expression, their body language. You will not judge dance forms but just see the acted out message, the gestures- just plain message. Watch the TV- the music channel. Do that.

Interspersed in normal sings will be gems of insights devoid of Brand “Sunny leone” – you will see scantily clad  women thrusting her bossom in various stages of undress. Merely longing for… right? Emran Hasmi stalking some girl in a car with a song, ultimately the girl ending the song on bed with a Stalker.  In the song “ party all night” beyond the background of Sonakshi - the girl who's hanging on Akhshay neck is drunk & carefree. In an adv break a girl is suggesting to look fairer to land a job, another girl insist to drink green tea to lose weight. The message unfiltered by the acceptability of the star kid is brutally naked, visible to the Rural Indian, its young and adults alike. Did someone say- they see women as object of gratification- or is it what we project?? Do this experiment today. 

Pause rewind to the 45 year old lawyer of the rapist Who grew up in a village.Now you see his point- he is right as per the social environment of his village and his value system. The women need protection and anything out word will invite trouble- because for them its what they perceive on tv. The Kid we imagined will immigrate to the city. In city he will be shocked, unable to understand wealth- a 1000 Rs movie date & opportunities to create wealth. He will not be able to connect equality of women freedom, “liberation” and his value system.

Stop you cannot dictate your morality, your value system to deprived class in their eyes your wealth is not legitimate, you are the privileged- it is more us versus them. they do not understand  Women empowerment as you see it- there idea is n’t about short dresses or pub hopping.Their life is struggle,  their  cultural context different than entitlement.Your maid, The pizza delivery boy, flower boy, Mall assistant invisible to your own eyes have different social context and value system they diverge from your thinking and stereotypes.

The overcharging plumber, difficult maid, auto wala overcharging and exploiting.The juggi wala electing AAP despite the middle class vote to BJP are all manifestations of immigrant rural villagers extracting from rich more than the fair share, Simple because you are priveleged they are not. It is  natural justice in their eyes,  because they never had opportunities.In their eyes you don’t have values and they are the majority. Educating the girls is  priority but protecting them from preying eyes in lawless villages is more important.

Perhaps we have to acknowledge- We are a privileged class, we are millions, yet only 20% of India. On facebook and twitter are  million of people of your own class inside the proverbial “well” where you are the frog. India still has a huge population in  rural India,  which has a separate value system ( and its not dated) it has a different moral compass. There ll be friction  in these two classes- time an again- until we acknowledge their value system. Debates around rape end at blaming mentality and installing CCTV. Whereas core to it is the Urban rural difference in opportunities and our own projection of women.

 As marketers it time we  stop ignoring the Rural rich and middle class- they are a equally viable market- lets not dictate to them, respect there choices even in a value system. And of course stop castigating the immigrant rural laborer slums in you city.we are in a democracy and they will be the majority.