What according to you makes a brand `hot’?
The hottest brands are those that are in tune with contemporary ideas and culture in creative ways while reflecting both the customer value and social value of the product(s) or companies they represent.
Ways in which you connect with the new age customers?
New age customers are not just about predictable things such as gadgets, swinging lifestyles or high spending. They increasingly stand for honesty, originality and concerns over social and environmental issues — and are also diverse within themselves. The trick is to be equally diversified and sensitive in addressing them. They don’t like to be fooled, and have the social media to take revenge if they find themselves patronisingly fooled.
Has the Indian consumer changed the way they consume and how?
Lots. Indians are increasingly adventurous, less concerned about budgets and more concerned about overall experience. They are also more social than ever before, and their choices of consumption and sharing of experiences about products and services involve social expression. The younger ones are also more aspirational — not just in the products/services they consume but in overall experience that includes customer service, after-sales experiences and intrinsic ethical, social corporate values linked to the experience. Budgets matter less than they did before.
What makes Delhi NCR a unique brand?
Delhi is no longer a north Indian city. Delhi/NCR represent a mini-India. I call it a cosmopolis. What Mumbai used to represent in the 1960s and 70s is now on steroids with higher purchasing power. It has sub-communities and sub-cultures that resemble New York. All this make Delhi/NCR, spread over three states, a unique experience.
Profile: Narayanan Madhavan, currently is a Senior Editor at Hindustan Times
He has more than 30 years of experience in journalism. Though focused mainly on business and economic journalism with a strong exposure to information technology and the Internet, he has also covered or written on other issues including politics, public policy, diplomacy, cinema, culture, biographical sketches, cricket and social change.
He started his career as a trainee with the Times of India group, where he spent 7 years, mainly in Economic Times before moving to Business Standard. He later joined Reuters, the world’s biggest news agency, where he spent about 12 years, during which time he covered IT and Internet as Chief Technology Correspondent in Delhi and Senior Correspondent in Bangalore. He left Reuters in 2006.
After a brief stint in the magazine division of Indian Express, joined Hindustan Times where he has been business news editor and technology columnist. He has been writing for 5 years a blog in Hindustan Times, which he calls India’s first current affairs column completely in verse. He is active on the social media, and is listed in the Top 100 list of Indian influncers by Pinstorm. He also serves as an occasional commentator on the BBC, Al Jazeera English and Doordarshan. He has an honours degree in economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi and a master’s degree in political science from the University of Delhi.
Madhavan is a speaker at Delhi Brand Summit 2015.
