The most interesting thing about consumers is no one can exactly predict how they will behave or how they don’t behave.
Sample the following:
- Why is that women have not taken kindly or enthusiastically to machines that can automatically knead the chapatti or poori dough?
- Why is that an obviously convenient product like a cream that does not allow hair to grow on a man’s face become a successful product? (only 1 out of 100 surveyed men wanted to buy but not for the intended product use)
- Why is that during Deepavali time demand for I litre paints (usually customers buy paint in 20 litre cans) goes up in the state of Maharashtra?
- Why do products with names like Pantene, Hero Puch or Chik Shampoo do not sell well inspite of being excellent products?
- Why is that antacid sells more in Gujarat than any other state in India?
- Why does Glycodin (a cough syrup) sells well in shops near student hostels?
- Why is that small washing machines sell very well in Punjab?
- Why that is Tractors In India are very spacious and roomier than tractors in USA and other developed countries?
- Kneading of dough is an intensely emotional experience for the lady. It is like to giving birth to a baby. Very painful but at the same time very satisfying. That is why women can’t give a convincing answer for their preference to the traditional method of making dough by hand.
- Shaving of the beard again is a very intense manly activity. It is very assuring for a man to be reminded that he is a man albeit in a very painful way. All the time smooth beard is very feminine. The only man who wanted to buy the product wanted to use the product to remove underarm hair permanently.
- The cattle loving farmers use the 1 litre paint to decorate the horns of their cows and buffaloes. This was encashed by Asian paints which introduced exclusive paints for painting the horns of livestock.
- These words have very negative meanings; the first is a woman’s under garment, the second sounds like fresh vomit and the third means semen in Marathi!
- Antacid is not used for curing acidity rather to make very soft and fluffy Dokla.
- Glycodin is a very cheap and easy way of getting intoxicated. That is why the label tells the users not to drink and drive.
- The small washing machines are used to make tonnes and tonnes of lassi for customers (The resident detergent adds to the taste?)
- In USA a tractor is a tractor – it is used to irrigate the fields. In India a tractor is more than a tractor, it is a rural vehicle. It carries the family to the market and to social gathering like a marriage and is the lifeline that connects the village to the nearest town.
Keeping all this in mind it is a very brave man who can confidently say that he knows the exact behavior of his customers. Well.....well his customers will teach him a lesson that he will not forget in a life time. Ask Rahul Bajaj. He will only very eagerly tell you the story of customers who happily deserted the company and made Bajaj Chetek what it is today – a dodo.
No comments:
Post a Comment