Anywhere in the world, whenever there is a mention of the Indian economy and market, people often talk about the demographic advantage this country enjoys. It is a youthful country with high disposable incomes, they say. The oasis for marketing companies across the world! But there are few studies available that give insight into the attitude, behaviour and perceptions of this huge consumer base.

Blyk, which is a youth-focused brand addressing consumers in the age group of 16-29 years, reached out to its 1.68 million members to understand them better. There are three observations that I particularly wanted to share from this study. These observations are key to understanding today’s Indian youth, because it looks at the essential parameters that make them tick.

What comes out very strongly is that the Indian youth is trying very hard to balance modern and progressive outlook with the rootedness in culture and family. They are faced with contradictions of behaviour and mores. It was interesting to note that while 46 per cent admitted to cheating in a relationship, 61 per cent youth thought it was un-cool to be rude!
They are to a great degree driven by perception and are highly aspirational. For example, 3 out of the 4 youth that we spoke to wanted to change the way they look in some way or the other. And there is a significant proportion of young people in India who own more than 5 pair of shoes, use cosmetic products on a daily basis and want to sport branded clothes. Image is everything and they take good care to build a good image.

And finally, the gadget closest to their heart—no prizes for guessing this—is the mobile phone! The youth spend the most time on it. It is the most stated object of desire and used most extensively, which highlights the growing importance of the third screen as a vehicle to reach out to this group.

Having shared these observations, I would still say that this is a very dynamic group. For any brand marketing to them, there has to be a finger on the pulse at all times.

It’s time to pop the bubbly—Blyk turns 1 in India! Time sure flies when you’re having fun. And the year gone by has been nothing if not fun. From launching our services to having a subscriber base of 1.68 million opt-in profile members, the journey has been extremely thrilling.

Take a moment to absorb that number: 1,680,000 young (16 to 29 years old) people in India have voluntarily chosen Blyk and given it permission to send them marketing messages from the brands we have tied up with.

Since they have voluntarily given permission to be contacted and have shared their basic information, it makes for a very potent mix for advertisers. Our formula is simple: Basic Targeting + Behavioural Targeting (based on responses) = Relevant Content + Relevant Ads. The result—an impressive 25 percent response rate.

For the consumers, it is a no-fuss service where they get to enjoy deals, information and more in the areas they want—and only in the areas they want. At a time when SMS spam is driving people up the wall, here is a service that only sends them relevant information that they asked for. It never crosses the line between permission-based marketing and spam. Never. And this is why we are able to add 3500-4000 members every day.

In the one year of our existence in India, we have acquired deep insights into the mind of the Indian youth. We have been able to bridge brands with their consumers and built a successful three-way relationship.

In the coming years, I have no doubt we will increase our subscriber base and our client base exponentially. Our ambition, however, is to continue to enhance the user experience—both for the consumers and for the brands. Cheers!

If I asked you nicely and gave you deals, discounts and gifts against things you wanted to buy anyway, would you allow me to share my marketing message with you? That is the premise that permission-based mobile marketing works on. It is marketing that has a buy-in from the target audience. It is not just about transactions, but about building a dialog between the consumer and the brand.

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) recently came out with a white paper detailing case studies from around the world on permission-based mobile marketing. Supplied by the MMA Task Force, of which Blyk was a part, the case studies illustrate what I have long held—if you get a consumer buy-in with customised and targeted marketing, instead of blind mass-dissemination, you have a consumer for life.

The basic premise of permission-based mobile marketing is simple—it is about value exchange. It is a tacit agreement between the consumer and the brand. In exchange for their contact information and personal preferences, consumers expect the brand to respect their privacy even as it offers them value in tangibles like coupons, offers, deals, samples, or intangibles like apps and content.

It is essentially a four-step process. You start with giving the consumers the chance (and, of course, a compelling reason) to opt in. When they do, we can create a database of their preferences, which are then shared with the brands. The preference profiles are kept updated so that the engagement remains relevant for the both, the consumer and the brand.

For the brand, the benefit is the potential of a long-term relationship and compelling engagement with the consumer. And we all know that translates into higher return on investment. For the mobile networks, it is a chance to increase customer satisfaction and stand out among their peers with compelling content.

The study also illustrated that this type of marketing is best suited for a device as personal as the mobile phone. It is a device that offers the best one-to-one platform for interaction, giving the consumer personalized content and services.

Even though it is new in India, permission-based mobile marketing is already beginning to take off. After all, gives Indian consumers what they’ve never had—a break from being treated by marketers as just a huge mass.

Ever tried bargaining for something by promising the shopkeeper you’ll buy more if you get the right price? We all do it. And the discount we get by doing that is usually 2-5 percent, 10 at the most. Now if you get your friends also in the picture, that percentage notches up slightly more. What if you brought in the promise of 10 or more buyers? The shopkeeper becomes more pliant and the discount goes up to 15-20 percent.

This is the concept behind group buying—a concept that saw a big surge in India last year. Several group buying portals sprung up, offering unbelievable deals on everything, from gadgets to designer-wear, restaurants to spas, cruises to movies, and more. The way it works is that the portal ties up with the retailer and promises to pull in a certain minimum number of buyers for a particular product or service. If the minimum number is achieved, the deal kicks in. If not, it doesn’t.

Globally, group buying has been around for the last few years, with players like Groupon and Living Social growing meteorically. It took some time for the model to be evolved and its chinks to be ironed out in the US and Europe. The Indian players, consequently, have it a little easier, since they’ve recently entered the fray.

The biggest factor in making group buying successful is that it makes these deals available where you are. The idea is that if you are getting a discount for a spa treatment, you would want the spa to be close to where you are. And this is where group buying on mobile can help. Combine group buying with location based services and you have a killer model. Imagine you are in another part of town and your mobile tells you there is a group deal in the works for a restaurant there.

The other important factor is getting the number of people signed up to make the deal you want active. And social networks have started to play a big role here. Share a deal on your personal network, get your friends to join the fray, and the deal is yours. The more the number of people following you or networked, the better the chances of your deal. And since the social networks are available on mobile and are adding location mapping to their list of features, you get location, mobile, social numbers, all at once. At least that’s how it should work theoretically. But it needs to be tested out more intensively in practice. And the Indian group buying sites could take advantage of the high mobile penetration as well as social networking numbers.

The market awaits, are you ready?