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Marketing to 'Generation Einstein' in India

Jeroen Boschma and UTV Bindaas have authored a book that tries to decode how marketers should communicate with the young consumers

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Marketing to 'Generation Einstein' in India

Marketing to 'Generation Einstein' in India

Jeroen Boschma and UTV Bindaas have authored a book that tries to decode how marketers should communicate with the young consumers

Ananya Saha | Delhi | March 30, 2012

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Communication lies at the core of a brand and when the aspiration is to reach the youth, communication becomes a challenge. In an attempt to decode the young consumer to the marketers, Jeroen Boschma wrote the book, 'Generation Einstein, smarter, faster and socially more aware', in 2006 which led to a major media hype in The Netherlands. The book was published in Spain in May 2008 and in the US in early 2009. Version 3.0 was released by the publisher AW Bruna in Amsterdam on October 14, 2010.

In an attempt to decode the young Indian consumer, Boschma and UTV Bindaas have co-authored 'Generation Einstien'. The announcement of the Indian edition is another step by UTV Bindass to create awareness about internationally recognised methods of understanding and engaging brands in India. The book is specific to the Indian market and will speak about the emergence of a global generation in India, their likes, dislikes, lifestyle and what sets them apart from others.

The book throws light on the new age communication strategies like 'Increation', a more effective method of communicating with the youth. The new 'increation' methodology of research involves putting many ideas to test, then trying to use the reactions to narrow down the ideas.

The Indian edition of 'Generation Einstein' also goes on to explain the communication strategies that marketers could adopt in reaching out to the youth with the help of India-specific case studies like Tata Docomo, Bindass, Virgin Mobiles and many more.

The book that took a year to finish is expected to hit the stands by end of April 2012. Author Boschma assures that every written word in the over 150-page book has been re-written using Indian contexts and examples, “and it is not an international version”.

Boschma, co-founder of Bureau Keesie, which finds solutions for organisations that want to really get in touch with today's young people, said, “I published the first edition two years ago in Holland. It was always the idea to write this book individually for different markets, taking in context their own local examples and case studies. Here in India, UTV extended their support and allowed me to use their research material for the book.”

Bureau Keesie has presented creative solutions to clients including ANWB, the Dutch houses of parliament, Masterfoods (Mars, Mini's en Snickers), Dutch Rail, Procter & Gamble, Unilever The Netherlands, and various governmental organisations.

Keith Alphonso, Business Head, UTV Bindass, said, “Study after study show an extremely high level of aspiration and confidence but this is coloured by a certain fragility, which is almost unique to India. Marketers need to realise that youngsters are very savvy costumers and you can't reach out to them without understanding their needs. As a part of Bindass Open Source, we believe that by sharing our insights with brands and partners like Jeroen, we will all be able to get more robust and current understand of Young India.”

Sharing his insight about Indian youth, Boschma said, “There is not much difference between the two, even as Indian youth seems more social and an extreme version of 'Generation Einstein'. But the generations before this generation – their parents or grandparents – there was definitely a huge difference.” He added, “It is important for brands in India to know that there is no 'best' way to communicate with the young consumers here. The communication depends on what your story is, which defines how to 'engage' the youngsters and make them fans of the brand. The big mistake that brands do is that they do the same thing across all mediums.”

“For instance, if you use Facebook to network to the youth, then it is fine, but if you use Facebook to advertise, it is not going to work,” Boschma cautioned. He added, “The case studies in the book only talk of successful brands because it is easier to look back and comment on failures and that is something I did want to write about. I only want to talk about cases that have worked and why. The book talks of successful campaigns, the description of campaign and how the brand could have taken forward the campaign.”

Ananya@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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