LIFE
The customer is queen
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Women seem to be the target of all consumer oriented products. KANCHANA BANERJEE examines this trend.
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PRIYANKA and Sunita are regular shoppers at Allen Solly outlets. No they don't go there to pick up stuff for their better halves. "I just love the trousers and wear them regularly for work," say both of them. Intrigued by rapid sales in sizes 26 and 28, Allen Solly did some groundwork to find that the buyers weren't thin frail men but women! The chain that prides itself on workplace attire for men has since then launched a women's wear section. And the collection is fantastic to say the least with a large eager line of female customers.
From December 15, 2002 to February 2003, Maruti conducted a series of rallies for women drivers in various cities. Described as "Women Power Drive Events", they were a great success. In September 2002, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance launched the Kotak Preferred Term Plan with lower premium rates for women below 25 years.
All this points to a very interesting trend in India. Indian women seem to be target for all. "The most visible symbol of emerging India is the fact that every manufacturer is targeting women today," says Geetanjali Ghate, Director Third Eye Qualitative Research. Everybody from a pin maker to auto manufacturers are aiming at the women. And about time, one would say. After years of being put aside for men and children, who were prime targets for advertising, the educated upwardly mobile urban woman has finally not just found her rightful place under the sun but has everyone catering to her.
Says Priya, PR manager of a five star hotel in New Delhi, "Why not? For generations, no one bothered to ask us what we needed, much less manufacture anything that suited us. It's our time now. Women are on a roll."
According to the latest National Readership Survey, an impressive three million women joined the urban work force between 1999 and 2002. Though few have broken into the top echelons of power, the junior and middle management levels are full of women. A look at a contemporary workplace would reveal a substantial increase in number of women working alongside their male counterparts; earning as much, often more and being a part of important decisions.
Says Shola Rajachandran, VP Publicity and Press relations of Start, says, "Women are not just joining at the beginner's level but also occupying senior positions taking important decisions. Our offices are full of women". Peep into PR firms, publication houses, offices of TV channels and production houses. They are full of young energetic women. In the MNCs too, one sees women in large numbers. All around, women are seen making confident strides, flashing their cards, making the purchase they want, driving cars, sporting the latest mobile model — Generally having a great time.
Says Mumbai-based psychiatrist Dr. Shetty, "Women in our country have for long lived in the shadow of the men, making compromises for the husband and the child. Today's woman has woken up to the fact that she needn't feel guilty about pampering herself. She gets what she wants with her money and doesn't need anybody's approval. And it's this awakening that manufacturers are cashing on by trying to woo them."
One sees an interesting trend. It's not just the workingwoman who's in the limelight. A recent study by KSA Technopak found a mere 10 per cent difference in spending pattern between the working woman and a housewife. Clearly indicating that housewives aren't languishing. The fact that the term "housewife" has given way to "homemaker" suggests a difference in perspective. Pia is a qualified MBA who left a lucrative job at SBI to be a full time mother. "I want to be with my son as he is a priority for me." Sumona also gave up a fantastic job as a qualitative researcher to be with her seven-year old daughter. These are new age women who are educated, qualified, have worked and given it all up to raise a family. No regrets. "Just because I'm at home doesn't mean I can't spend. I'm doing something that's of utmost importance. I take care of the child," they say. What is more important is that it's not just them who think and feel this way; there's appreciation and acknowledgment from the spouses and families as well. As Ghate explains, "It's not just the working woman who's the target. It's the new age woman who's free spirited, independent and confident." And what makes her so confident? "Education. It opens the mind to broader horizons. It makes an individual confident. Exposure to the outside world makes them surer of deciding on their own. Irrespective of the fact whether they are working or at home," says Dr. Shetty.
Scan the ads that run on TV, in magazines and everywhere. They portray woman who knows what she wants. Hordes of companies selling branded jewellery inundate our markets. The ads for Whirlpool, Asian Paints, and the Mera Wala Pink show homemakers who swing expensive household purchases. Clearly the old stereotype of a demure quiet woman in the background is out.
Check out the latest Fair and Lovely campaign and the one before that — a man laments that he doesn't have a son. But his daughter gets a high airhostess' job and takes him for coffee at a plush hotel — outraged many but hid an interesting message. Even the current ad — showing a young girl who becomes a cricket commentator — just proves the earlier point. Women are taking giant leaps in this country. They aim for the sky and touch it too.
And TV channels are adding to the melee. Almost all channels have programmes aimed at the women. The weepy serials driving the intelligentsia mad are making loads of money for the channels and the advertisers. Ekta Kapoor — asked when she plans to put an end to the never-ending "Kyonki Saas ... " and "Kahaani Ghar... " — said, "I would be mad to shut down such a successful and profitable venture. They make everyone happy. The TV channels, the producers, directors, actors, writers and most of all my viewers." Programmes like these run on commercials, which need to cater to the viewers who throng to watch them. The manufacturers would be insane not to capitalise on a captive audience.
Hotels, travel industry and nightclubs are also going all out to make the woman happy. Five star hotels have special rooms reserved for single women travellers to make them more comfortable and secure with women attendants, feminine knick-knacks... Mikanos, a poplar watering hole in Mumbai, has an all women day on Wednesday for women partygoers to have fun. Cars, credit cards and every other conceivable product are today being aimed at women.
So the customer, who for long was the king, has now truly become the queen. So hail the queen.
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