What does the new Indian consumer look like? Will they be shopping online? And what about the CMO? How have they evolved? This was a deck presented to Bharathiar management students and also includes slides on why they should pursue marketing as a career

1. Consumer. New, Extra Strength!

2. About Paul Writer
•
Paul Writer’s vision is to raise the bar for marketing in India by
providing a community platform for marketers to develop and
share best practices
•
Paul Writer was founded in 2010 by Jessie Paul, author of No
Money Marketing (2009, Tata McGraw-Hill) and former CMO of
Wipro who has also held senior marketing positions in Infosys and
iGATE
•
Through its website, e-newsletter, marketing magazine and social
media presence, Paul Writer has a reach of around 30,000
•
1000+ senior executives have attended a Paul Writer conference
in the past 21 months
•
To recognize excellence in marketing, Paul Writer hosts award
programs such as Hall of Fame, Futurist CMO Awards, Real Estate
Marketing, M.IT.R - 100 (Marketing and IT Recognition - 100),
Chennai Hot 50 Brands

3. Consumer circa 2014
•
Mostly buys in brick-and-mortar shops, and
modern trade formats account for just ~
8%
•
Just 10% of India’s internet population - and
only 17% have access - is buying online.
This results in $9.5 billion in sales.
•
However, many more research online and
buy offline
•
The middle class accounts for 70% of
consumption
•
Assisted ecommerce
Image:
IndiaCircus.com

4. Marketer circa 2014
•
Has the ability to track consumer
preferences at the individual level. In
certain categories can customize
offerings as per these preferences
•
Can predict purchases, using analytics
and customer data
•
•
On-the-fly pricing strategies are possible
•
Access to sophisticated tools to listen
to the customer
Wide variety of communication options
available - digital, print, outdoor,
wireless, direct, context-sensitive....
Image: IndiaCircus.com

5. How Marketers Make a Mark
• Given low penetration in many
categories, much of marketing in India
is about educating customers,
converting latent needs to product
choices eg Olive Oil, Masala Oats,
Diapers, Blenders...
• Creating ‘purchase events’ eg
Independence Day, Republic Day,
Akshaya Tritya, Karva Chauth and now,
online sales drives
• Hyper-localization eg no garlic/no
onion markings on food in Gujarat,
Regional flavours eg Danone’s mishti
doi, masala lassi
• New products & variants to keep
consumer interest
Image: IndiaCircus.com

6. Consumer Segments are Exploding
•
Youth (infants/children/teens/
young adults)
•
•
•
•
Women
•
•
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Nuclear families, singles, migrants
Senior citizens/Silver Spenders
Newly affluent
Health conscious (heart/diabetes/
age/fitness)
Illiterate/semi-literate
Luxury consumer, aspirant, valueseeker
Image: IndiaCircus.com

7. Marketing Trends
1.Customer centricity
2.Anytime, anywhere
3.Media Fragmentation
4.Social Commerce
5.Cross-functional customer
eco-system
Image: IndiaCircus.com

8. When Marketing Rocks
1. Marketing is not sales - it is about
satisfying a need, to enable a product
to ‘sell itself’
2. Marketing is story telling, to create
anticipation of the consumption
moment, and then prolong the delight
3. Marketing’s role is to create customer
advocates, further enabling the product
to sell itself
4. Marketing is the science of pricing, of
behavioral economics, of consumer
research and product design
5. Marketing acts as the voice of the
customer, and drives customer
centricity
Image: IndiaCircus.com

9. Marketing Myths
• Marketing doesn’t pay
• You have to do sales before
marketing
• Marketers don’t become CEOs
• Marketing requires a lot of
travel, and meeting with shady
customers
Image: IndiaCircus.com

10. CMO 2014=Sheldon
Cooper + Dan Draper

11. Thank You
Jessie Paul
jessie@paulwriter.com
+91 98451 33198
www.paulwriter.com
Paul Writer Strategic Services Pvt Ltd
102, Trump Tower, 5/2 Eagle Street, Langford Town, Bangalore - 560 025
T: 080 4096 5053
paulwriter@paulwriter.com
Images from indiacircus.com, and their copyrights acknowledged