Consumer India: Inside the Indian Mind and Wallet - Softcover

Sinha, Dheeraj

4.27

15 ratings by Goodreads

9780470824658: Consumer India: Inside the Indian Mind and Wallet

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470824654 ISBN 13: 9780470824658

Publisher: Wiley, 2011

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A richly insightful account of one of the most significant transformations in the world today. Dheeraj Sinha's intelligence vividly illuminates the intersection of culture and commerce in New India.
Adam Morgan
Founder
eatbigfish

Among the many books I have read on the cultural evolution taking place in India, this is perhaps the most insightful. It does not just map mindset changes; it does so with the certainty of a person who has lived the changes as much as he has witnessed them. Every marketeer should keep this book on his office desk as a ready reckoner.
Ranjan Kapur
Country Manager – India
WPP

India in many ways is a "Nation of Nations." So much heterogeneity and hence complexity in understanding consumers and consumerism. Dheeraj has done a commendable job in peeling off the layers from the onion—creating frameworks and providing very relatable examples to understand the culture. For instance, Dheeraj has used Bollywood as an effective mirror to portray societal changes. Consumer India is a must-read for those who want to understand the cultural evolution of India with its nuances.
Rajesh Jejurikar
Chief Executive - Automotive Division
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

A labor of love. For years, I have marveled at how Dheeraj's inquisitive brain continuously churns away to make meaning of everything he observes. His writing simultaneously reflects him as a "sutradaar" telling the captivating story of a changing India, even as it does so with the unbiased and expert credentials of the "computerji" he describes here. Dheeraj insightfully marries the rapid changes he chronicles with the assimilative fabric of India; where "and" trumps "or." Against the clich� "change is the only constant," he underlines that in India, change works with the constant. Enjoy the ride on Dheeraj's time machine!
Prasad Narasimhan
Managing Partner, Asia
Brandgym

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From the Inside Flap:

Today’s India is seeing things it has never seen before—medals in Olympics, cheerleaders in cricket, ready-to-cook pastas, kissing scenes on national television, institutes for air hostesses, fairness creams for men, agricultural tips on SMS and marriages arranged on the internet. In Consumer India, Dheeraj Sinha weaves the narrative of a changing India through examples of Bollywood, our cultural conditioning, today’s role models, our behavior as consumers, and the role of brands and marketing amid all this.

How does a culture that has been taught to be wary about money now respond to its abundance—what implications does this have for finance brands? Does
Kakaji Namkeen qualify as a brand? It sells the same wafers (well, almost the same) as Lay’s does, gives more value for the money, and spends nothing in
advertising. Can a mass brand have a premium offering in India? What is it about caller ringtones that makes them such a success? India is about its large middle-class consumers, but isn’t there a profitable premium segment emerging? In a country where everyone is feeling young, what happens to the real youth?

Like everything else in India, marketing too is part logic, part gut. Drawing upon facts, fiction and personal experience, Sinha unravels the interconnections between the mind and the wallet of today’s Indian consumer. A practitioner’s account of what Indian consumer wants—from the playing field, not the sidelines.

About the Author:

Dheeraj Sinha is currently chief strategy officer at Bates141 India (a WPP Group company). Previously, he worked with McCann Erickson and Euro RSCG in India. Sinha has twice been chosen for the Atticus, the WPP award for best published thinking, and has won several effectiveness awards, including Effies, the Jay Chiat Planning Award, and the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Award. He has spoken on topics related to the Indian consumer at the Esomar Asia Pacific Conference, the Global Youth Marketing Forum, and the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival. Sinha has worked on the brand strategy for several multinational and Indian brands, including Fiat, Virgin Mobile, MasterCard, LG, Reckitt Benckiser, TVS Motorcycles, Max Bupa, Marico, Dabur, and Cavin Kare. He holds a postgraduate degree in communications and a graduate degree in economics. He lives in Mumbai with his wife and five-year-old son.

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