BRANDS AND TODAY’ S YOUTH

INTRODUCTION

BRANDS

The term brand means different things to the different roles of buyer and seller, with buyers generally
associating brand with a product or service, and merchants associating brand with identity. Brand can
also identify the company behind the specific product. The American Marketing Association defines a
brand as “A name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods
and services of one seller or group and to differentiate them to those for competitors”. A brand is thus a
product or service that’s adds a Dimension that differentiates it in some way from other products or
services designed to satisfy the same need. These differences may be functional, rational, or tangible-
relate to product performance of the brand. Brand is the proprietary visual, emotional, rational, and
cultural image that one associate with the company or a product.

The 3 main ingredients of brands are product, company and customer

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 BRANDS AND TODAY’S YOUTH

What is the youth thinking when it wants to associate with a brand? What are the factors influencing
the younger TG’s buying behaviour?

India is a predominantly young nation when compared to countries like the USA and the UK with 55% of
its population falling in the youth bracket. About 450 million individuals in India are estimated to be below
20 years of age. 105 million in the age group of 15-19 are already in their early years of discretionary
consumption..

The relationship between parents and youth has changed today. They used to be rebels earlier, but now
they are changing. There’s also the factor of the ‘sphere of influence’ – it could be a movie star or
anyone. Indian youth is very interesting and they are probably a very big chunk. Hence, it is important
for us to understand and engage them.

The company should focus on ‘Attitude’ – youth is brash, irreverent and today, brands are moving
towards that. secpundly, ‘Technology’ – look at the power of Facebook and Twitter, an advertiser has to
ask what’s in there for him. They need to follow and adapt it for a 360 degree communication. It has a
huge role to play. ‘Role Models’ is another changing factor. There used to be times when people sought
careers in TV, films and modeling, but today, we have heroes who are walking the ramp and are also
anchoring shows on television – there is convergence. The proliferation of the foreign television
channels like MTV and other movie channels have exposed the Indian youth to the western style of
living and thought in a big way.

Youth and media

how does an advertiser influence youth purchasing via social media?

“Advertising is about knowing that certain products and services are available in the market.
Today, we are talking about having conversations with the consumers. For example, the Kit-Kat
squirrel ad drew one million hits in one month on YouTube. It became a matter of top value and
conversation and when you get that, it is the strongest bond that an advertiser can have with the
youth. The youth want a certain edge in terms of exclusivity like Frito Lays having different
flavours for the Cricket World Cup – it attracts. Today, it is more of the Internet and TV
engaging the consumers and it will certainly very important.
The underlying factor making Generation Y an ever attractive demographic is its growing purchasing
power. Across various industries, it has been found that successful marketers do not predict any fashion
or trend while targeting the youth; rather they follow the segment diligently. They identify the opinion
leaders, identify with them and make an effective attempt to understand what excites them. Accordingly,
they position their products or services. Successful marketers incorporate specific elements in their
product mix, communication and branding strategies such that they effectively target both the ‘Coconuts’
and the ‘Cappuccinos’ sub-segments of the Indian youth or else relevantly appeal to either one of them.

Conflicting Behavioral Patterns of the Indian Youth

 RESEARCH

Recently Youth Express conducted a research to explore and understand the impact of various attributes
of a brand that affect deriving brand meanings amongst the youth in India. A primary research was
conducted through questionnaire on a sample of 300 students studying in Graduation level in various
Universities and Institutions located in the cities of Delhi and Allahabad. Only a sample of 236
respondents could be considered as the rest of the questionnaires were not complete or were not
returned for 34 items.

Gender structure and age characteristics of the respondents

Gender No.of units Percentage of average Minimum age Maximum age

units
Male 136 63.7 23 18 30
female 85 36.3 22 19 27
Total 236 100 23 19 28.5
As shown in the above table, there are 63.7 per cent males and 36.3 per cent females in the sample,
with the average age of 23 years. The youngest respondent is 18 and the eldest is 30 years old.

FINDINGS:- The findings suggest that Indian youth prefers brands which symbolize status; this is
because Indian markets are still dominated by unbranded products from unorganized market. Wearing
branded products is considered a luxury in India as exposure to using branded products is very low in
the country.
 CASE STUDY

Close-up

Close up, a brand from the HLL stable, was the first brand in India targeting the youth in the oral
care market. It was the first gel toothpaste in India and also the first toothpaste with mouthwash.
It was observed to be a truly challenger brand in the context of toothpastes as it carved a distinct
identity for itself right at the outset based on its physical attributes and packaging. For the first
time, people had the option to brush with transparent, shiny and bright red toothpaste. The paste
further tasted good due to the presence of the spicy and icy mouthwash in it. For the youth, who
were the prime focus of the brand, brushing in mornings was no longer a mundane affair after
they used Close up. In a world of white pastes, Close up captured the consumers’ perceptual
territory as a bright red toothpaste. While the white pastes have calcium carbonate as a principal
ingredient, Close up has silica, which is considered a more efficient abrasive that offers better
cleaning of teeth. Unlike other toothpastes in the market that offered cavity control and strong
teeth, Close up offered the cosmetic benefits of fresh breath and shiny white teeth. It was based
on the consumer insight that people are conscious of how their breath smells only when they are
quite close with people especially people from the opposite sex. The dual benefits of fresh breath
and white teeth allowed people to get rid of their insecurity regarding bad breath and get close to
each other. Close up’s packaging was also found to be quite vibrant, energized and innovative
since its launch in India. It has been the only toothpaste pack that features a warm Close up
couple that imparts a distinct identity to any Close up pack in the cluttered Indian retail milieu.
In the context of brand association strategies adopted by Close up, it was observed that though
the brand retained its youthful persona, it made a successful attempt to cut across all
demographics and in the process appeal to a wider cross-section of Indian demography. Thus the
brand associated with Zee TV’s Antakshari, a television program where teams competed with
each other singing clips of Hindi film songs. Though it were the youth in colleges who
participated in a major way in the program, people of other age groups and profession were also
seen to take an active interest in the program and participate in it. Over the years, Close up has
very creatively established itself in key places where consumers need fresh breath the most to aid
really close interactions. All corner seats in various cinema halls, for instance, are branded
‘Closeup Corners’. As per the market research agency ORG, the 1990s witnessed a substantial
increment in Close up’s value share from 15% at the beginning of the decade to 21% by the year
1999. Despite being a gel toothpaste with predominantly cosmetic benefits to talk about, Close
up has been the toothpaste that has been ranked the 10th most trusted brand in India and also has
been the leader in the gel segment for over 25 years as per an ORG survey. It has been widely
felt that Close up has weaved its success story around the Indian youth by diligently customizing
its product attributes and branding strategies to suit the temperaments of the said segment.
 Hero Honda

Desh Ki Dhadkan’ has been the most significant and continuously used tagline of Hero Honda
that very strongly appeals to the youth. Any nation thrives on the strength of its youth and by
projecting its brand as a ‘youth’ brand, an immediate and long-lasting bond with the country’s
youth gets established. Hero Honda has established itself as one of the world’s largest selling
motorcycles. Three million bikes were sold in the year 2005-2006.

Hero Honda has been another brand in the Indian context that has continuously adopted product
and branding strategies specifically targeted at the youth. It started as a joint venture in 1984
between the Hero Group of India and the Honda Group of Japan. Over the years, the Hero Honda
bikes have proved to be the cynosure of the youth especially because of their style and fuel
efficiency. The extensive range of bikes at the Hero Honda stable reveal that there has been a
continuous, in-depth and relevant segmentation of India’s youth population. There is a model for
every possible and relevant customer segment. Based on the purchase criteria, there are three
broad segments. In the ‘Price’ segment, where customers prioritize price over fuel efficiency,
there are two sub-brands viz. CD Dawna nd CD 100. In the ‘Deluxe’ segment, where customers
seek product styling and fuel efficiency, Hero Honda has two sub- brands, Splendor Plus and
Passion Plus. The segment comprises 55% of the total motorcycle market. In the ‘Premium’
segment, where power and product styling are the deciding criteria, Ambition, CBZ andK a riz
ma are the various models at the Hero Honda stable. Primarily, though any brand of bike targets
the youth segment in a major way, Hero Honda has been a brand that has differentiated itself in
the market by offering the youth meaningful value additions in terms of products and after-sales
services.
In the context of communication strategies, Hero Honda has over the years produced various
memorable youth-centric commercials. The very first such commercial was launched in 1984
that had the tagline, ‘Fill it. Shut it. Forget it.’ The tagline had an essentially youthful attitude
associated with it. The commercial featured a young couple enjoying a ride on a CD 100. In
2001, when Passion was launched by Hero Honda, the ads had the headline- ‘Born in a Studio.
Not in a Factory’, which again emphasized on the styling aspect associated with Hero Honda
bikes that was a major differentiator when it came to youth appeal. Another tagline adopted by
Hero Honda for its CD Dawn bikes that had that predominantly youthful flavor was ‘Public Ka
Naya Transport’. One tagline that has been quite successful in appealing to a wider cross-section
of the Indian populace apart from the youth has been ‘Andaz Nayi. Bharosa Wohi’ adopted for
the Splendor Plus bikes from Hero Honda which projects both the father and son relying heavily
on the Splendor brand of bikes. In recent times, Hero Honda has associated with various
activities and events that have been targeted at the youth. The brand has been sponsoring cricket
tournaments and also cricket gears of the Indian cricketers. It was the one of the sponsors of the
2003 ICC cricket World Cup. It also sponsored the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Show on Zee TV that had
young talented singers from across the country competing to get the ‘India Ki Voice’ title. Hero
Honda has associated with MTV for itsRo a d ie s Show, a reality show on MTV specifically for
the adventurous youth. In the context of celebrity endorsements, Hero Honda has signed various
youth icons of the nation from time to time like film star Hrithik Roshan and cricketer Sourav
Ganguly .