Opinion The Zap connect to profits
Last December Id written about how Indias three generations: the Retro and Compromise generations seem to have connived with this countrys peculiar socio-eco-political circumstances to create Zap86....
Last December Id written about how Indias three generations: the Retro (above 45 years) and Compromise (between 30 and 45) generations seem to have connived with this countrys peculiar socio-eco-political circumstances to create Zap86,a generation different from them. These below 30 youngsters,particularly those born in 1986 who were five-year-olds in 1991 when Indias economic reforms were introduced,have only known their parents open pockets. The economy had started booming then,new jobs had opened up and foreign goods had become freely available. People started to spend on unfulfilled urges. More importantly,they indulged their children,whose whims and fancies continue to influence all buying decisions made in every home.
From my travels around the world,Ive come to realise that the Zap,Compromise (they try to adjust with both sides) and Retro generations are not an exclusive India phenomenon; they exist everywhere. My classification of the 19th century being the mechanical era,electronic technology ruling the 20th century,and 21st century being the digital age is doubly endorsed from watching how the Zap generation operates. Like zapping TV channels,Zappers are most comfortable with change. Their text messaging is phonetic,and giving vowels a miss is accepted script today. The above 30s may find it jarring,yet their mentality is to co-opt Zapper trends because clearly,discrete numerical form is ruling this digital century that’s become totally Zap driven.
The establishment and its doctrines do not work anymore today. Take the world of high fashion. Chanel,the French haute couture design house Coco Chanel founded in 1909,had maintained an elegant,prim and classical tradition up to the 1990s. Chanels classic,rectangular shaped perfume container was so coveted that it was impossible to think it could be disturbed. But even Chanel had to bow to the Zap generation. Their recent perfume called Chance broke Chanels classicism by having a round bottle with a half naked,funky girl. To make the brand contemporary,Chanel radically changed its dresses too. Chanel now stitches jeans for Zap girls to look rowdy and sexy. Levis Strauss had popularised the cowboy logo for the jeans back pocket to sport,now Chanels CC logo also adorns back pockets of jeans. From archetypical French haute couture to jeans is a daring step. By doing that Chanel has not reduced its brand value,rather it has extended to the youth.
Another example is reputed French designer Christian Dior who started in 1946. His legacy was carried forward by Italian designer Gianfranco Ferré in Paris in 1989. After Bernard Arnault,chairman of the luxury conglomerate LVMH,acquired Dior,he found Ferre too straightlaced. So in 1996,he appointed John Galliano,the most eccentric English fashion designer,for Christian Dior. Galliano had demonstrated the ability to redefine existing subcultures to create fashion garments for the younger,funkier set. My role is to seduce, he confessed. He recreated some of Diors period clothing for Madonna to wear in the film Evita .
Gallianos fashion radically shifted Diors old classicism. The perfume Miss Dior has been a French classic. From such a gentle perfume,Dior went on to create the provocative Poison,a new departure in perfume. Christian Dior used to be dressed in classy suits when in the fashion ramp with models,but Galliano came to his first Dior fashion showing a great deal of skin. By doing this,the Dior brand has not lost its value in the world. It has instead connected to the Zap generation and contemporarised its image for the continuity of the brand.
The designer shook up the haute couture world,infused energy into an industry that was showing signs of losing sales. These two examples among many show how connecting to Zappers is taken so seriously.
But in India,theres still a huge distance between industries and their attempt to appeal to the Zap generation. Most connect their products and services to Compromise or Retro generation buyers. They are not sensitive to the fact that the Zap generation has,and will continue to have,a significant influence on their elders. Without this realisation,Indian brands will become old fashioned and the country will be swamped with foreign brands. Developed countries have the capability to co-opt the trend in advance to drive the world. But the Compromise and Retro generations running business in India,either choose to neglect or do not notice the attitude of the Zap generation.
Working in the West through almost four decades from 1970s,I have meticulously used disruption as a weapon in strategising for brands,industrial products,retails or in corporate structure design. Industries there welcome the fresh perspective as a point of differentiation because they set the cash registers ringing. In India,almost two decades have passed since liberalisation that brought in gigantic changes to the marketplace. Indian industrial houses first refused to believe that Indian consumers would ever discard their savings mentality. Now that the market has become vibrant,they are wondering how to get back the consumers they lost to foreign brands. But I still dont see any attempt to apply the disruptive attitude to retain market share thats escaping to new foreign players. If Indian brands dont think about using disruption for profitability and sustainability in the face of incoming foreign brands,they may grow in volume but the bottomline will be ruined.
Shombit Sengupta is an international creative business strategy consultant to top management. Reach him at
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