Brand Update : Fastrack

Fastrack has recently launched a new campaign based on its new positioning " Move On " .The latest campaign comes in two version - His Story and Her Story

Watch the commercial here : His Story
Watch the commercial here : Her Story

The new ads are an extension of the Move On positioning of the brand. The brand is based on the current psyche of youth .The premise of the new positioning is that Indian Youth tend to be very "detached " in their relationships.

The new campaign has taken this premise to a new level. While the previous campaign was based on a romance break up , the new campaign goes deeper than just flirting.

The ad is definitely interesting and the two versions makes it more interesting. The younger crowd is going to enjoy it .

How ever the question is whether the brand is taking the Move On concept a bit too far. It is true that such kind of dating and experiments happen and the debate is still there as to whether such a kind of indulgence is to be encouraged or not.

I am not a moral advocate or a Srirama sena member !!! . I personally believe that it is the choice of an individual to live the life he/she wants provided it is within the social framework.

It may be true that the younger generation are non-committal in their relationship. It is also true that there is a trend of irreverence and " take it or leave it " attitude prevalent among the urban youth community.

But the question is whether a brand like Fastrack should align with such a trend ?

Read the perspective of Adman Lakshmipathy Bhatt here .


There is nothing immoral or unethical in the new TVC. But I personally feel that such a trend among the new generation is not something that should be celebrated.

"Gotta get rid of him " and " Who s next " seems too extreme for me ( conservative as Iam). How ever I am sure that the youth will love it .


Related brand

Fastrack

Marketing To Youth : Youth Power or Myth

Economic Times (25/05/09) has a very interesting and enlightening article on Indian youth. Written by Mr Rajesh Shukla, the article throws light into some important data regarding the Indian youth market.

Read the article here : Harnessing Indian Youth Power

Some of the important statistics are reproduced below :

The total youth population (13-34) is 390 million which is 38% of the total population and is expected to rise to 440 million by 2020.

70% of the youth reside in over 600,000 villages.
72% of youth are literate.
41% of these literate youth fall in the age group (13-19 years) , 23% fall in 20-24 and 36% are in 25-34 years.

59% of literate youth are male. 7% are graduates and 12% have passed higher secondary.

The article also presents a clear view about the definition of youth. According to Rajesh Shukla , youth refers to a category rather than a group. The difference between category and group is that category has diverse or heterogeneous elements unlike groups which are similar in its composition. Youth relates to an age group that is transiting between childhood and adulthod and may comprise of a conglomeration of sub-groups with differing social roles, expectations and aspirations.


UN defines youth as those in the age group of 15-24 years. UNICEF defines youth in the age bracket of 15-30 years. Indian National Youth Policy considers all individuals in the agegroup of 13-35 years as youth population. NYP divides the youth population into two groups - 13-19 years as adolescent and 20-35 as Youth.

As far as marketers are concerned, the sheer size of this market is a huge opportunity. But no one so far has been able to rightly understand the Indian Youth's psyche.

As the article points out, the youth market cannot be considered as a group because it is not homogeneous. So does it mean that marketers cannot segment this market on the bases of age alone ? . Segmentation is based on the assumption that the members display homogeneity . So if the members of a specific age group display heterogeneous characteristics, it no longer becomes a segment.
The implication is that marketers should find out variables other than age to segment the Indian youth market.So when age becomes irrelevant, does it mean that the so called Youth Market is a myth just like the much hyped Indian MiddleClass ?
Most of the marketers tend to use Lifestyle as a variable to define segments with in the Youth market. How ever lifestyle segmentation is tricky and highly subjective in nature.

This probably explain the reason why Indian marketers are still finding it difficult to find a formula to tap this huge lucrative market.

What do you think ?

Marketing To Indian Youth : Celebrities and Millenials

Indian marketers has been an addict of celebrities. From salt to automobiles, celebrity endorsements has been one of the most used marketing strategies in the Indian market . In a recent article in Economic Times, a survey was quoted which would give marketers a second thought about their obsession with celebrities. 

The survey was conducted by The Futures Company of the WPP - Kantar Group. The survey was conducted across 18 countries that represent 80% of the world GDP. The Indian sample contained 700 individuals from 14 urban centers, metros and Tier1 cities ( ET March 16, 2009).

The survey results indicated a segment of 16-25 affluent youngsters which are referred as Millenials. The Millenials are upper class youngsters who form an important part of the high spending consumer segment across the globe. This highly connected youngsters represents the hip-hop generation who are not averse to spending on themselves.

The report reveals some important characteristics of this Millenials. These segment are not apologetic about spending on themselves. They think that they have a primary responsibility towards themselves and allots some time and money on themselves. Indian millenials also would prefer to be with the crowd but would like to stand out.  They would like to try out new things and experiences.

Indian millenials also exhibited attachments to family and community. They feel very much connected to parents and peers. The  young consumers are also attached to local community, culture and traditions.

The interesting part is the attitude of these segment towards celebrities. These consumers doesn't see celebrities as real or authentic. But these youngsters are influenced by real life heroes as their role model. For marketers, this is  bad news. It is true that most of the celebrity endorsements are aimed at the sticky factor - making the consumers watch the ad rather than promoting authenticity. But the over use of celebrities has made them a commodity. One of the reasons for this distrust is that these consumers are highly informed and they know that using celebrities is a strategy and has nothing to do with the authenticity. For the less fortunate Indian youth , celebrities hold some amount of influence either in purchase or in brand recall. 

Read the full article here : Celebrites not so hot with Gen- Y

Marketing To Indian Youth : Youth Demographics

This is the demographics of Indian youth as per the census 2001.
According to news reports, the Youth Population to the total population is 41.05% as per the census 2001.

Many interesting statistics regarding Youth demographics are available in the website : Youthportal.gov.in