A study on Global Indian by JWT India

Itreveals the centrality of work is worship and identifies hot Chakra Payoffs that brands across categories can use. The research was done among men and women between 25 and 45 years of age, in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, who are frequently interacting with the world. They included people who have returned to India after stints abroad, as well as Indians currently living abroad. The study also draws from media monitoring and blogging.

We are very pleased at the depth of insights that this new Indian way of looking at brands and consumers has generated, says Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT India. The global Indian symbolizes and drives Indian optimism today and we are the first to study this leading edge target group. The findings are applicable for brands across categories and have a basket of insights for creative to dip into, he adds.

Brand Chakras is the first Indian strategic planning tool that applies the 2000 year old chakra system as laid out by Patanjali, to consumers and brands, says Mythili Chandrasekar, Senior VP Corporate Initiatives, JWT, and originator of Brand Chakras.

This original system of understanding human behaviour based on the seven major nerve/energy centers in the human body has never been used in brand planning, and is an initiative of Strategic Planning at JWT India.
Looking at Indians through the seven chakras that drive and determine all human behaviour, the report - titled The Power and the Glory - reveals that the global Indian today is largely driven by:
* Manipura: the drive for power (solar plexus);
* Vishuddha: the voice of creative expression - in search of truth and higher creativity (throat);
* Ajana: desire for transcendence - active intelligence (third eye).

The overriding finding is that for the global Indian, work is clearly worship - at the altar of fame and money - and a stepping stone to playing God, some day soon.
Through Brand Chakras, the study identifies and zeroes in on 16 hot payoffs (from a battery of about 60 fundamental payoffs) that marketers should use to address the new Indian who has set his sights on the world stage.

SUMMARY:
Work is worship.
*Career is at the heart of life.
* Work is an avenue for creativity and innovation
* Independence, reduction of distance to the leadership and organizational backing of ideas are important values that companies must offer
* There is a driving desire to have the power to take decisions and have people reporting to you
* One must build ones name to be bigger than the company one belongs to
* There is growing unwillingness to work for others and need to get credit for ones own work and not give it to the company
* Younger men like the idea of having a hold on their leaders through being a specialist/expert
* Dealing with younger, more talented people is one of the challenges for the older people

Globalness
*It is important to work for an international company
* Ambitions must go beyond India.
* Through work, they want a name for boosting the countrys economythirst
to play a role in the global impact India is going to have; create jobs, wealth and technology
* They feel a certain responsibility to make India a better place

Relationships
*All other areas of life stem from success at work and must contribute to the search for glory.
* Family respect depends on career success
* Wife must actively help and support the search for glory
* Men feel wife is second to career, and she knows it and it is to her advantage, because his success brings her greater social respect
* Friends and networks are important because they come in handy, you never know who you will need, when
* Friends must help you with your ideas
* Women want their spouses to be a source of inspiration.

Money
* Money is a natural consequence of success at work
* Money leads to better lifestyle, which again reflects success at work, and feeds back to climbing the social ladder, which is seen as an important part of work life rather than separate
* Heightened personal confidence, ability to take risks, broadening of views and fearless expression of views, social and legal insulation, are some of the other payoffs of money

Relaxation is important but also a waste of time, the time is better spent making more money
* Money is better spent, leveraged and shown-off in India rather

than outside the country
Social give-back
*Extreme expertise at work and money allows one to transcend to social
give-back, which actually makes you feel you are playing god. This benevolence too is a reflection of, and route to, glory
Spiritual liberation
* Its the cushion of affluence that will allow and facilitate even spiritual
liberation

Experiences
* The value of life is now estimated in terms of the quality of experiences one has, and work is central to this too * Work itself is among the possible enriching experiences
* Work leads to money, and money makes many new experiences possible - leisure experiences, tech experiences, entrepreneurial adventures as well as (supposedly) noble activities

Technology
* Increasing familiarity with technology and the fact that more numbers of people
are actually involved in creating technology, means that technology products need to talk a different language and this is not necessarily a marketing language
* These workers take great pride in the ability of individuals and like minded groups to create revolutions; there is some disdain for large organizations even as they work in them
* They see through organizations and manufactured claims very quickly
* They demand proof, higher degree of relevance and demonstration of
experiences

Masculinity
* Above all, the global Indian spirit is in fact driving the Indian males rediscovery of his masculinity, which was somewhat under question in the light of growing woman power, growing child power, and too much media talk on the feminine side of him
Implication for Brands
1) Compliment, partner and further the newfound rediscovery of a high level of self worth.
2) Give him a role to play in shaping the brands success rather than be passive receivers of brand messages, co-custodian rather than consumer.
3) Stand for more elevated, inspiring, larger life purposes brands that aim to transform economies, societies, and the way individual lives are lived, will find greater relevance than brands that offer transient payoffs, or operate in the area of just reflecting his personality, attracting female attention or being a statement of style and achievement.
4) Draw from the 16 hot Chakra Payoffs that most resonate with this leading edge target group.