How new age consumers are bringing about change in brand communication

There has been a significant change in the consumers of today. The new age consumers, as we call them, know exactly what they want, and they are more cautious while purchasing stuff. They are more aware about trends, new products in the market and their benefits. They are more open to checking for ratings and reviews before any purchase. To grab the attention of such consumers has become a challenge for brands. They navigate between different things in the online world and hence, it has become quite a task to gain and retain their attention.

Speaking about the new way of communicating with the new age consumers, Brand Guru Jagdeep Kapoor, Founder, Chairman & Managing Director of Samsika Marketing Consultants, said, “It is not only urban consumers who are New Age consumers, but also rural consumers. It could be progressive farmers or teenagers in cities or traditional housewives or young kids or even senior citizens. Also interestingly, it is across categories of products and services – it could be hospitals or hospitality, hotels and restaurants, it could be consumer durables or technology devices, it could be FMCG or garments or it could be pharma or OTC products.”

Consumer behaviour is constantly changing and brands need to continuously adapt themselves to connect with them. Whilst AI, Chat Bots, Machine Learning, finger-tip access to information have all helped push the envelope on better decision making for marketers and customers alike, it has also opened up several challenges for people. Influencers, too, play a huge role in the way customers perceive themselves, perceive brands, fashion and the new way of doing things. Even GenZs are influencers today.

Elaborating on this, Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru & Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., said, “New age consumers do strongly believe in communication. But not in the old way. Communication in the days gone by was a one-way street. The brand spoke to the consumer through the age old tools of marketing, advertising and PR, top-down. The new age consumer is about a two-way communication format. He, she and they want to be able to talk back. Brands that recognise this and incorporate this dynamic reverse process into their brand DNA, do well.”

Sambit Dash, VP - Marketing, Mamaearth, added here, “Not just their ambitions, desires and expectations, but even the media habits of the millennials have changed over time. Digital media in the form of social media, video streaming platforms, OTT channels, have all seen increase in viewership. At the same time, online commerce through D2C brands and e-commerce marketplaces have also grown in penetration and business size. All this is allowing brands to become more data-driven and use analytics to understand consumer preferences at a granular level and create customised communication strategies, targeted to provide solutions for their needs.”

Millennials are looking for brands that make great quality products, at good value, and go beyond with a purpose that affects society and environment. They are looking for transparency and authenticity. New age consumers are good at sifting mere words on brand advertising from the real actions that brands do. And they're increasingly gravitating towards purpose based brands.

For instance, Mamaearth is a purpose-driven brand that makes toxin-free personal care products that are good for the consumers and for the environment. Giving a brand’s perspective, Mamaearth’s Sambit Dash said, “With the purpose of ‘Goodness Inside’, the brand is on a quest to add goodness in its products and actions too. It’s a brand that continuously plants more trees with our partner NGO Sankalptaru and also recycles more plastic than it uses. Similarly, a lot of brands are choosing to connect with consumers through their purpose beyond products.”