Status: Online

Being part of a generation which believes that a picture validates the actual action, ‘viral’ doesn’t mean flu, ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out) is so rampant. We spend most of our time online creating deep digital footprints. We work, socialise, shop, read, pay bills online amongst many other activities.

Even before we open our eyes, we reach out to our phones and are immediately flooded with information, messages and advertisements. Being almost neck deep in the online culture we have all developed certain qualities, behaviour traits as online users, consumers or shoppers. Most of us tend to exhibit more than a single behaviour trait depending o the situation.

I consume a lot of content both articles and videos on DIY, arts and crafts, food, and Anime on various online platforms like Youtube, Instagram and blogs. I keep adding cooking, DIY videos to my playlist and bookmark articles and anime names in the hopes of creating the craft or the dish and watching the show. Although, I try to tick them off my list, the list keeps piling up. I tend to add and delete books and comics especially the complete sets to my shopping cart on online shopping portals  and wish to be able to own  all the books, comics and watch all the shows on my mental list.

As a person who is not inclined towards shopping online or offline, I tend to be a rational customer. I decide exactly what I want to buy, which brand and from which online shopping website.  For example if I need to buy a watch, I only look at fastrack watches on Amazon or Flipkart. I pick the design and buy it immediately.  I don’t dwell much on buying the products or brands that I have chosen as I am not a frequent shopper or a window shopper.  

Every single day I use multiple apps like Whatsapp, Instagram, Google maps, Inshorts news app among others. I become extremely cautious or hesitant when it comes to financial apps whether to pay bills or transfer money. I don’t like to use third party financial apps or wallets like Paytm, Tez or similar apps. I tend to stick to the actual bank apps for any kind of financial transaction. I fear that the transaction could go wrong or I may not get a refund. I have had past experiences, when it was difficult to get a refund for an unsuccessful transaction and that influences my hesitation.

 As a consumer of content, I am more open to read or watch something that I haven’t in the past as long as it falls in the realm of my interest.  But, as a customer, I make decisions even before opening a shopping portal and rarely digress from the original plan. I am more rigid as a user as I spoke earlier about financial apps. I tend to continue the rigid behaviour even for a lot of social networking and communication apps like Snapchat or Truecaller, probably due to all the news about data leak.

To Buy or Not To Buy

Our buying behaviour is often dependent on emotions and rationality but most of the times we decide to not buy something based on emotions. Hence, it becomes very important to have an emotional connect with a brand and not let it be merely transactional. As humans, we are quite irrational and that is apparent in our purchases as well.

While, our emotional side often outweighs our rational side when it comes to buying a product or opting for a service, the same applies for not buying as well. The reason can be as simple as, not finding a particular brand’s packaging appealing to not being able trust the brand entirely.

As buyers we exhibit certain behavioural traits time and again namely, complaining, overly agreeable, being an expert, or being a pessimist and finally stall buying. Depending on the situations, all of us exhibit one or more of this behaviours.

The complainer: Having been a user of Vodafone service for many years, I have experienced the good, bad and the ugly service. Having a bad internet connection at important situations is never a happy situation and has led me to disappointment plenty times. I have complained about to my friends and family and even to the customer care office but, irrelevant of how many times I complain, I would never move to another service provider. I have a sense of trust and belonging with Vodafone and that would be extremely difficult to replace.   

The overly agreeable: As a stationary, arts and crafts fan, there are a few brands that I have come to favour over the years. Camlin is one such brand; I would buy a Camlin product without a second thought at any given point. Whether its pencils, poster colours, water colours, acrylic paints or anything else I would chose Camlin over other brands in spite of differences in price, availability or quality.  

The expert: Being a tea enthusiast, I love to try out different flavours and brands of tea whenever I get a chance to. Due to this, I tend to be choosy of the brands that I use and pay attention to every detail of the brand like the colour, texture, fragrance of the tea. I look at minute details as well like the length of the thread of the tea bag or the leaf to dust ratio. My choosiness is not limited to just the brands; it spreads to particular flavours offered by a brand. For examples, when it comes to the brand Red Label, I only consume the Natural Care tea. When it comes to the brand Twinings, I only consume Earl Grey tea.

The pessimist: The thought of going to Landmark, Bookworm or Blossoms creates a mix of emotions within me. The happiness of being in a book store soon paves for a way of sadness or pessimism due to the lack of vitamin M or money. When I walk through the aisles of books, comics, stationeries, and toys I often end up being sad or unhappy. This impacts my overall approach towards Landmark. I feel the same way towards Hamelys as well, as I know I cannot buy a lot of things at Hamelys.

The staller: I use a Dell laptop and for the past few days, my laptop has been showing the ‘change your battery’ sign. I know that it has to be done on priority but, I end up stalling it in spite of this.  The reason for this could be, I know that, my laptop is not going to stop working all of a sudden. We tend to do this even for system updates as that’s not our priority or doesn’t need our immediate attention.

Trying to map our reasons to buy or the factors that influence our purchase behaviour is fascinating. It gives us a chance to consciously look at our choices, decisions and why we behave in a certain way depending on the situation.  

  

Marketing emotions

As people, it is in our nature to be irrational and instinctive.  We make most our decisions based on our emotions including buying products. Brands understand this well and know the importance of appealing to the social and psychological side of a consumer. Brands always want to connect with their customers at an emotional level. One of the important roles of marketing is to cash on the instinctive buying behaviour of customers. Brands need to choose wisely on when to target positive instincts and when to target negative instincts.

When we think about Kama which is lust or desire, we immediately associate it with advertisements of deodorant brands like Axe or condom brands like Deluxe. But, various brands play on the instinct of desire subtly. For example, the new Dinshaw’s ice cream ad shows everyone from a small child to an old man turn into tongues while lusting after the ice cream. It involuntarily awakens the desire in us to eat an ice cream immediately. 

While mostly brands tend to stay away from drawing angry or uncomfortable reactions from consumers, sometimes it works in the favour of a brand to channel it rightly. Always’ #like a girl campaign did just that, it brought out the anger in us about casual sexism and misogyny. Burger King's ad plays really well with the greediness (Lobha) in us. The ad shows that people are not happy with just one burger. While Brands appeal to our instincts of pride and jealousy of owning an apple product. Hong kong's Met Life ads are always heart wrenching in their concepts and storytelling with stories of strong attachment with families or pets.

While Brands target the vices in us to show that we are missing out on something brands also try to invoke positive feelings in us.

Tata Salt connects with its customers on the basis of truth. It showcases that the salt is pure and its a brand that is true and can be trusted. Lead India's 'the tree' ad brings out a sense of righteousness in anyone who watches the ad. A small boy trying to push a tree while the elders are busy complaining or not caring, it sparks inspiration and makes us want to do the right things. Can a brand stand for peace? Marks and Spencer creatively showcased themselves as a brand the is reliable and can make peace between sibling fights through their Christmas ad in 2016.

Love is a difficult emotion to explain, but brands have always found ways to convey it beautifully. While many brands create ads that shows them being aligned with the customer's expression of love to their dear ones. Dove's real beauty ad put forth the importance of self love and how we are the harshest with ourselves. Google's Indo Pak friendship ad struck a masterstroke by crafting a beautiful story of two long lost friends separated during the hard and violent partition period and how they meet after many years and find peace in the comfort of friendship.

Brands that have penetrated our lives: Mapping them on Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Maslow's hierarchy talks about various needs that motivate motivates us and drives us at various  stages. We use many brands throughout our life time that are essential to us at each stage to satisfy our needs.

Below is an account of brands that I need or that drives me at each stage mapped on Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Mapping brands on Maslow's hierarchy

Physiological needs: Physiological needs are basic needs and are primal in nature. The brands that we use at this stage are in a way subconscious as our parents and friends may use these products and that would have influenced us.

My picks:

•          Bisleri water - I generally pick Bisleri bottle in general when I am out and need water. As I feel the quality and the taste of water is better compared to others.
•          MTR Rasam powder- Rasam is a staple dish in our house and MTR Rasam powder is the closest to the taste of homemade rasam powder.
•          Bombay dyeing bed sheets – Bombay dyeing bed sheets are soft, affordable and easy to maintain.

Safety needs: While having a roof our head is the first thing we look for. There are various things we use to feel protected and safe ranging from umbrellas to sunscreen lotions.

My picks:

•          Zucci Hand sanitizer- Sanitizer is one thing that we tend to mostly have in our bags. I prefer Zucci as the fragrance is soothing and does not have the strong smell that sanitizers have. It also feels lighter compared to other brands.
•          Godrej locks- We have always used Godrej locks for many years. The locks are sturdy but, smoother to open with the key. Jamming of the key rarely appears.
•          Hit spray- Hit spray works instantly and is a good product to kill roaches. It provides a sense of security against cockroach infestation

Love & Belonging: Family, friendships and love are an integral part of human lives. Everyone wants to belong.

My picks:

•         WhatsApp – I heavily rely on WhatsApp to communicate with my friends especially with the ones that I can’t meet on a daily basis. With texts, calls and vide calls on WhatsApp it is easier to stay connected.
•          Green Label coffee powder – Drinking coffee with my parents in the morning is a daily ritual. We have prepared filter coffee with the Green Label coffee powder for generations. Along with liking the taste of the coffee, the brand gives me a feeling of home and comfort.
•          Postcross – Postcross is an organisation that promotes the sending of post cards and making pen pals from around the world. Receiving a postcard from someone who you have never met and connecting with them is joyous.  

Self esteem: At this stage the brands that we would use would be a very conscious decision as it has to appeal to our sensibilities and social standing.

 My picks:

•         Baggit – Being a person who loves bags and wallets that does not use leather products, I am always on the lookout for quality bags and wallets that are not made of leather.  Baggit caters to this category well. Although, it is slightly expensive, it is worth its price.
•          Dell - Dell has a durability factor to it. The looks and the user interface are pretty good.
•          Fastrack - I have always been fascinated with Fastrack, the looks of the watches are very quirky and sporty.

Self Actualisation: Self actualisation is when we realise our potential and want work on the causes that drive us. 

My picks:

• Cupa Second Chance Home- Cupa's second chance home is an initiative to find homes for dogs that were not adopted earlier or were abandoned by their previous owners.  Causes for animals is something that I am passionate about. While there are other organisations, I have had the chance to visit the organisation and interact with the management and the other volunteers and the place is very welcoming.
• Teach for India- Teach for India is an initiative to get the youth to share their knowledge and teach children who do not have access to quality teachers. The way the fellowship works interests me.
• Institute of World Culture- Institute of World Culture hosts a library on its premises and organises various talks on social causes. I used to spend a lot of time in the library and volunteered at the library as I wanted to learn the work of a librarian.

Parachute, India’s favourite oil brand

Brand: Parachute

Company: Marico

Category: Premium coconut oil

Segment: FMCG

Positioning: Pure and quality coconut oil

Sundays in my house meant three things, oil ‘champi’, good food and leisurely sprawling across with a book or catching up on TV show. The oil ‘champi’ meant 20 minutes of sitting cross legged with my eyes closed, while either my mum or dad would apply coconut oil and brush my hair thoroughly. How did Parachute make its place in the minds and homes of millions of Indians?

Let us look at how Parachute became synonyms with pure coconut oil to so many of us. The Indian hair oil market is estimated at Rs 8,000 crore and Parachute dominates the segment and is estimated around 57%.

Political factors: As Marico operates in developing economies of Asia and Africa that have a political instability; a drastic political situation could impact the brand. But, the company has established strong risk management policies.

Economic factors:   If there is inflation or a dip in the economy, people might opt for unbranded products over branded products. As Parachute is priced affordably ranging from 1 rupee bottle sachets to Rs. 110 large bottle, they can withstand moderate economic crisis or changes in buying behavior.

Social factors: The rise in conscious and people wanting organic products can play an advantage for Parachute as the brand stands for natural ingredients and purity.

Technological: In the early 90’s oil used to be packed in tin boxes as a norm. Mariwala wanted to position parachute as the premium coconut oil brand and pioneered to start packaging coconut oil in plastic containers. Parachute has time and again proven their merit by campaigns to prove the purity of the coconut oil. Pure coconut oil is heavier than the impure oil.

Parachute has certain draw backs as it fell behind in terms of technology. While other brands launched head massagers Parachute was left behind. Another drawback was that they launched hot oil and kept it throughout the year instead of just winters while the normal oil got solidified in the cold weather.

Environmental factors: When Mariwala and team initially launched oil in plastic bottles, retailers did not want to buy the bottles. Parachute conducted a research to identify what the issue is. What they found was fascinating. Oil was being packed in square shaped plastic bottles and rats would destroy the bottles at the stores. As a result, parachute was designed in a circular fashion so that the rats can’t get a grip on the bottle.

Legal factors: Parachute and the government had been in a row over excise duty and taxes for many years. Parachute did not want to pay excise duty and argued that it is edible oil and needs to be exempted from the taxes. Even though, most of the country uses the oil for hair, the packaging does not mention the word hair oil. Parachute has a separate line of products for hair oil like Parachute advanced care, Parachute hot oil.

The government questioned the brand regarding the small packages if it was edible oil. Parachute argued that it was for students and others who did not want to store oil. Finally, the government changed the law that if the coconut oil was packed in less than 200 ml packaging, it would be considered as cosmetics and Parachute will have to pay taxes for it.

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