IndianMaze

Over the much touted by management but insipid lunch in the canteen on the 3rd floor of the office, our marketing manager was seriously hot. It, unfortunately, was not because of the special small green chillies on the table. "I hate that bloody b!@#$%^" in a hushed tone. "Swears by A programme but will not advertise on it. DOUBLE STANDARDS." We all hate but practice. The case in discussion is language. Why is that language of comfort amongst family/friends is different from colleagues? Even if so for a valid reason - is one more valuable than the other. English Medium School English comics English novels are all valued and paid for at a higher level than the language ones. English newspapers attract a much higher advertising rate than a vernacular one. Why double standards? How do we price our offerings? How and why Hindi TV channels command a higher price than English ones? Food for thought.....

Indian consumers have a nasty habit of throwing us off balance once too often. No wonder it is a country of paradoxes. Here is an instance that is fresh in my mind from a first hand experience sometime ago. Lady of the house ordered on the mobile phone a range of exotic foods like celery, broccolli et al and not even once batted an eyelid on the prices or the total bill amount. Just then the door bell rand and there was this newspaper canvasser trying to push that extra newspaper at home. A major discussion followed as to why this extra expenditure (all of less than vegetable bill and that too for the full year supply of the newspaper) that is wasteful. But then boy knew a few tricks of the trade and clinched the deal with a masterstroke : "You will recover more than expenditure by selling the Raddi of the newspapers over the year". Bravo Indian consumer. Keep on surprising us marketers and throw us off balance.