The vibrant colours that are splashed all around in a departmental store, someone must have made a verdict on how these colours would embrace the life of ‘mango man’ aka ‘aam aadmi’. I have used the word ‘colours’ as a metaphor for all the FMCG products which comes in utterly beautiful and colourful packs. Right from the time you wake up and prepare a slice of bread for your breakfast to the coke you consume along with your dinner in a restaurant, we all are blockheaded with packaged goods in flashy colours.
You enter a store and so many colours start popping out of their place, forming beautiful figures and pull you while saying, “hey buy me, I am your need”. Then you pick the bright ones, check the figures printed backside, compare experiences, and decide which should belong to you. It’s just amazing to see our needs and desires wrapped up in glistening, sparkling paper. And it adds when you see your favourite celebrities clinging to the names of your wants. ‘MARKETING’ has just done a dynamic task of converting commodities to a brand i.e. a differentiated commodity, to a product with a universal ‘persona’. Yes, I’m talking about products with a personality and individuality; marketing has changed the scenario to this extent. After all its about the existence of You, Me, Earth and these manmade Products.
Every day we witness a new facet of this fast moving industry, just manipulating our way to accept their products. But as a consumer do we “really” realize the mechanism or the system involved behind those colourful racks? While working as a summer intern for Coca-Cola, I had an opportunity to acquire the art of reading market, and realized how the perspective changes being on the other side of the consumer. The thought process was reverse to when as a consumer I used to visit a store; rather I developed an obsession with the brand. Now where ever I go, and there is some flex or fledge or painting or visicooler, it is more vivid and magnified to me than anything else in the surroundings.
Then I realized there is so much effort putting by the companies besides money to drive their customers to their products. While buying do we think deeply upon the marketing factors in FMCG sector that are, Visibility and Availibility? We understand the slogan,”Jo Dikhta Hai Wo Bikta Hai” very well, but in actual it is “bik to sab jaata hai, bikne ke baad jo dikhe, wo hi bikta hai”. There is much more than just colours which attract you, marketing is NOW about affecting the subconscious mind of the consumer. The era has changed, marketers have to work apart from just at the skill of selling and find ways to attach uniqueness to their product, be it an ad, a celebrity, an idea or a cause. This industry is at such a great pace that, even the concepts of marketing is changing at great frequency. Every household holds a major part of its income for FMCG products, inevitably. Every house has become another multi-brand store. This sector is contributing to country’s GDP in leaps and bounds. Therefore, something which really changes in the market is the consumer; and when something changes, its changes the environment.
