The trend is not new. As the Indian consumer
interacts with global markets and becomes more individual-centric, the aspiration to be different from others has found firm roots. If your pal has a Zen, you’d probably opt for SX4, despite having to pay a slightly higher price. And since you’re picking up your preferred set of wheels on EMI anyway, what difference does the price tag make, especially as you are making your own individual statement with the car you prefer. Clearly, with traditional demographic segments blurring, the age of one-size-fits-all is fast disappearing. In sync with the times, marketers are fast dumping their mass marketing fetish and tapping segments within the masses that are growing fast and will add to their riches in the long run.
So, you thought Surf Excel, a household name in the country by any yardstick, would be a mass marketed product, right? Well, not exactly. When Lalitaji was around, Surf was indeed a cost-effective, mass product, whitening clothes in millions of household across the country. But, HUL changed tack when it realised that the consumer was coming of age and had more disposable income in his/her hand. Besides, competitors like Nirma were fast eroding their mass market base. HUL launched Surf Excel and clearly targeted it at the premium end of the detergent market. “Our target audience is the premium segment today and I am very focused on that segment alone,” avers Arun Iyer, CD, Lowe Lintas.
interacts with global markets and becomes more individual-centric, the aspiration to be different from others has found firm roots. If your pal has a Zen, you’d probably opt for SX4, despite having to pay a slightly higher price. And since you’re picking up your preferred set of wheels on EMI anyway, what difference does the price tag make, especially as you are making your own individual statement with the car you prefer. Clearly, with traditional demographic segments blurring, the age of one-size-fits-all is fast disappearing. In sync with the times, marketers are fast dumping their mass marketing fetish and tapping segments within the masses that are growing fast and will add to their riches in the long run.So, you thought Surf Excel, a household name in the country by any yardstick, would be a mass marketed product, right? Well, not exactly. When Lalitaji was around, Surf was indeed a cost-effective, mass product, whitening clothes in millions of household across the country. But, HUL changed tack when it realised that the consumer was coming of age and had more disposable income in his/her hand. Besides, competitors like Nirma were fast eroding their mass market base. HUL launched Surf Excel and clearly targeted it at the premium end of the detergent market. “Our target audience is the premium segment today and I am very focused on that segment alone,” avers Arun Iyer, CD, Lowe Lintas.
