By Abhinav Trivedi
(With inputs from Sneha Ullal)
Today’s alpha male cuts a different picture from his macho predecessors in the 80s and 90s. This poses an interesting challenge to brands and marketers alike, when it comes to getting their message across effectively to such a socially and emotionally evolved species. We attempt to profile this new-age man, and also discover how brands and marketers need to accordingly tweak their strategies to get his attention
You must’ve seen this series of Old Spice TV commercials, starring ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell Like’, a well-built, handsome guy oozing with confidence and charisma, who just happens to be a hilarious blabbermouth. With a low baritone voice and a pompous, arched eyebrow, he urges his female audience to compare their partners with himself, “Look at your man, now back to me, now back to your man, and then back to me. Sadly, he isn’t me, but if he stopped using ladies’ scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could smell like he’s me.”
The humour aside, this is an interesting example of how today’s Indian man too has evolved over the years. He’s more aware of his personality and appearance—which he knows he can’t maintain anymore by using his girlfriend’s or his wife’s beauty kit discreetly—and is more vocal and direct about what he wants. And as man is evolving, so are advertising and marketing strategies of brands, so much that we’ve come to redefine the term ‘male gaze’. Years ago, advertising of consumer brands was mostly female-centric, perhaps because roles for men and women were pretty much structurally defined as ‘officegoer husband’ and ‘home-maker wife’ respectively. Now, thanks to a changing society, a man is more driven to adapting to changes and hence, more open to taking on diverse roles at work and at home. “Today’s Indian guy can be compared to the American man in the 90s,” observes Jamal Shaikh, Editor, Men’s Health India magazine. “He is ambitious, but not foolishly so, like the generation before him that wanted to get rich fast. He wants longevity, happiness, success.”
In fact, according to a global study on men conducted by Leo Burnett back in 2005, titled ‘Metros Versus Retros: Are Marketers Missing Real Men?’, men are driven to adapt to social changes “to hold on to power, to maintain meaningful roles in changed family dynamics, to keep their jobs and careers on track, to indulge themselves in newfound pleasures (things they couldn’t before), and to attract the ladies.”
So for advertisers and marketers to cater their brands to this man effectively, it’s important to know exactly how he thinks, how he perceives certain products and ideas, and what he really wants, and doesn’t want, from his brands. With a little help from industry experts, we try to profile this new-age alpha Indian male.
Does the woman have a say in the man’s buying decisions?
INTERESTING STRATEGIES OF MALE-CENTRIC MEDIA
Important pointers for marketers and advertisers
Interesting strategies of male-centric brands
The Indian male’s brand perception
He is self-centred, but wise
Today’s man wants to break social barriers and live life on his own terms. “The Indian man is a little selfcentred,” rues Jamal Shaikh. “He wants fulfil his own dreams, while his loved ones tend to take a backseat.” Men also tend to value only selective relationships and move on easily. They are practical about being emotional, but tend to be emotionally weaker than women. “The Indian guy is also worldly wise,” adds Shaikh. “He knows he is at par with the best in the world, and that being Indian in a time when the world is looking at us is only an advantage.”
He’s a conscious shopper and a rational spender According to the Q3 2012 Nielsen Global Survey, which considered men between the ages of 35 and 54 around the world including India, men’s brains are “pre-conditioned for concrete thinking, goal-oriented tasks and logical solutions.” Women may be considered to be good shoppers, but men are good, rational buyers. They tend to think twice before making a purchase.
“Due to the economic slowdown, men don’t want to splurge unnecessarily but wish to seek value proposition from their brand,” explains Ashish Khazanchi, National Creative Director, Publicis Ambience. “This is common with all the classes: middle, high and low.”
His brand choices are influenced by peers and research
Khazanchi adds that today, men respect values too, in terms of their attitude and behaviour, and feel strongly for the society they are in. “This explains their rational approach towards choosing certain brands. They are driven by logic, value for money, peer suggestions and research on products, especially automobiles, home appliances, electronic gadgets, and financial services.” Harshid Karia of social media agency Foxymoron adds, “Men are aware of the details and are educated enough to understand what they want.” However, men aren’t always driven or influenced by the brand name. “Men go for comfort and style which suits them, rather than just the name,” adds Khazanchi. “If he likes a T-shirt he’ll buy it even if it’s Rs 150 or Rs 1,500. But such a trend is confined to casual clothing.” With formal wear, it might not be the case as the right brand usually equals the right fit, tailoring, quality of fabric and pricing.
He likes to experiment
Although men today are sensitive about their masculinity, they’re more open-minded about trying out new things. “Men want new experiences and are ready to experiment in as many ways as possible,” says Ranju Kumar Mohan, Director and Business Head, JK Ansell. “But more importantly, they tend to link themselves with a brand that enables them to do better.” They are open to wearing printed shirts, visiting the salon for their monthly manicure and pedicure, boasting about their cooking abilities, and doing household chores too.
For him, technology = convenience
Men embrace the luxury of convenience that technology offers. They are more hooked to e-commerce as well as m-commerce and prefer buying online than visiting physical stores, according to market experts. In fact, they help scale online sales of electronics, cards, gadgets and computers, and games. To add to this, according to a recent report compiled by DraftFCB Ulka, 61% of mobile shoppers in India are male.
He is conscious about his looks and wants solutions
The biggest trend we’ve noticed among today’s men, however, is how they are more aware of their appearance and also their increasing, diverse options in grooming and personal-care products. “Certain male consumers have woken up to the fact of personal care, and there are others who have also expanded their range of personal-care products,” says Sunil Gadgil, Director, Marketing, Nivea India, which has recently re-launched its range of special skin-care products for men. “I only see this demand increasing with time, and hopefully men will curtail the use of women’s products.”
One of these products happens to be fairness creams, and there’s been a curious increase in demand for them among Indian men. In fact, a recent survey by the Institute of Clinical Research (ICR) indicates that almost 30% buyers of fairness creams in India are men. “Men were using fairness creams but were ashamed to use them or admit that in public,” explains N Krishna Mohan, CEO, Sales, Supply Chain and Human Capital, Emami Ltd. “A number of shopkeepers said that men would come to their shop, buy a tube of fairness cream for women, throw the carton away and put the tube in their pocket. Men are closet users of female fairness creams. This presented us with an opportunity to serve this need gap.”
Why this sudden attention towards their own looks? Josy Paul, CEO, BBDO believes that Facebook could be partly responsible. “People are uploading their photographs every day. With so much online exposure, men want to look good and feel their best. This results in excessive focus on one self and one’s looks. So grooming becomes a natural focus.”
Harshid Karia of Foxymoron, the agency that manages the Facebook pages of Garnier Men, Castrol and AXN says that a lot of men send queries on Facebook about grooming tips. “They range from hairstyling to dress sense. Men today are more aware of themselves and want to display their style and attitude with a powerful presence.”
He wants to make a difference
Men today are not just aware of what’s happening around them, but they do something about it. Karia says that through the queries of the male target audience that his agency has received via social media, he’s come to understand that men want to make a difference in their society and stand up against social evils. “An increasing number of men are very vocal about condemning violence against women,” adds Karia. “Men are expressive about social elements that are derogatory to society. While some might be impulsive and at times aggressive in their remarks, the rational lot tend to express themselves in a composed manner and also succeed in getting their message across.”
Brands must speak his language Men want to stand out using brands that define his USP. Branding expert and CEO, Brandwala, Ritesh Sahani agrees, adding, “Men look for a brand that’s parallel with their image. The moment they find a misfit with their brands, they are quick to renounce it. They, therefore, wander a lot and are very selective with the brands they choose, but once it is chosen, they are likely to stick with it.”
“Young men want leadership, freedom, bonding, status, power. We identify this through need scope and therefore our different categories of beers resonate different aspirations of men; for example, rural men have an affinity for strong beers while the urban men have an affinity towards mild beers,” said Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice President, Marketing, United Breweries Limited.
Feedback: abhinav.trivedi@exchange4media.com
