Exclusive | Pursue what you believe in: EYM's Samyak Chakrabarty

Teenage is that age where people are carefree and enjoy life to the fullest without the burden of responsibilities lurking on them.18 year old Samyak Chakrabarty utilized this golden period of life to bring about a change. Samyak launched  Electronic Youth Media (EYM) ,which is a social entrepreneurial venture whose primary aim is to connect the youth for making a difference.EYM started a social networking portal in 2008 catering to various needs of the youth.

 

Samyak Chakrabarty is also the founder of Indian Youth Conclave. Samyak is India’s youngest media CEO.He recently co-authored the Indian edition of ‘Generation Einstein’,a book by Bindass.The book talks about the significance of youth as a market in themselves and how marketers  need to understand them better.

 

Sharing his experience of his interactions with youth across the country,Samyak says that,” I came to realize that each individual,each demographic is completely different .Also,I think the youth fundamentally differ through mindsets.There has also been a rapid shift in their consumption behavior on a constant basis.”Samyak goes on to add that how much ever people would like to believe it;social media is not a great medium to judge brand loyalty or brand popularity.

 

A brand which has a number of likes on Facebook does not neccesariy mean that it is a popular youth brand.The most important thing that brands need to do,as a brand;be loyal to the customers  which in turn will lead to customers being loyal to you.It is very critical especially for young customers as they are constantly evolving.It is important to keep on listening to evolving customer needs,elaborates Samyak.

 

Samyak Chakrabarty says that one of the major challenges that any teenager who tries his hand at enterprising will face is achieving the confidence of people who can play a role in making things happen.Ensuring them that a 17-18 year old can run a profitable enterprise is one of the biggest challenges.He says that giving up a fun filled college life to start a venture like this was one of the biggest challenges of his journey.The most ideological challenge he adds,is to keep in mind that while you learn,you don’t mess up things.

 

Samyak says that youth are the target audience for most of the brands today ,because of their size in our country.Strategically,you have to define the segment of youth you are targeting.At one point of time,youth channels were either about music and movies.Today it is mixed content.

 

While there is immense potential to convert youth into brand-loyal customers,you have to choose what segment of youth is it that you want to target,says Samyak.

 

Talking about how he went about the whole targeting process while setting up Electronic Youth Media, Samyak recounts that they used a very simple methodology.He and his team personally went and spoke to different youngsters.Interpersonal conversations helped them gain more realistic responses from the youth.

 

Samyak who has been a part of various international conferences  for youth enlightenment says that   “These are the platforms through which I got to meet different people,and got to know varied perspectives.Also,I got to know an international perspective of things. Generation Einstein is all about these experiences and it will be of great help to marketers.”

 

Samyak’s message to budding entrepreneurs remains that,”Never call yourself an entrepreneur at the start of your journey. Focus more on your idea and what you have to do and then hold entrepreneurial mindset, because what happens is nowadays it  is very cool to be an entrepreneur. It is the conclusion, not the beginning. Pursue what you believe in and give it time.”

 

On an end note,Samyak says that,”Youth today are being treated like an alien species.Don’t over complicate youth.It is just a generation.Rather than putting money and efforts into figuring them out,marketers should focus on making a cool communication strategy.It may work or not work.Don’t try to be youthful.” | By Aditi Popat [aditi(at)adgully.com]