Craving Acceptance

Sunil Deshpande, 35, is actually two people rolled into one. He doesn't really know it, but at a visceral level, there is nothing very different between him and Karthik Narayan. Yes, Narayan is single, and Sunil is married (to Megha), but the man is essentially a Pleasure Seeker. But he is driven by what others think of him, of his purchasing behaviour, of his appearance, of his career, and of the way he treats his wife. To the world, Sunil is a loving husband and a caring father, who does his share of chores around the house; but deep down, he believes a woman's place is at home.

Deshpande and his ilk are hesitant hedonists. They are highly individualistic, yet, everything they do has to find the acceptance of society. Meet the Social Chameleon. The Pleasure Seeker is his fuzzy foetus, but he is something else altogether, a man who draws his identity from the way the people around him see him, and react to him. The Social Chameleon feels the need to differentiate himself, but will only go as far as he can without breaching societal norms.

That's the principle on which General Motors India based the launch and the communication strategy of its station-wagon Opel Swing. Research told GMI that some Indian men wished for a car that wasn't really a car -a set of wheels that would set them apart and get them noticed. ''It needed to be different, but not radical enough to cause embarrassment,'' says Johnny Oommen, Manager (Advertising), GMI. The Social Chameleon likes to consider himself as a caring individual who nurtures his immediate family. Family-orientation and gender-equality are overtly desirable qualities. They are, after all, great social assets. His ego can't bear even the thought of failure: ads built around loss-of-face or position get right through to him.

Tomorrow's Man

Rahul Kailash, 27, is a finance professional employed with one of the Big-Five audit firms. He lives alone in Mumbai (his parents are based in Delhi, and he talks to his Mom every other day). Kailash has just been put on a tough account, but he loves the challenge. Kailash earns a small fortune every month, but he doesn't throw money around. His investments are in order, his car is neither too flashy nor too dowdy, and he is very sure of what he is and what he wants from life.

Kailash is a rare (and refreshing) bird. Meet the Intrinsic Progressive, the Complete Man popularised by several dozen Raymond's ads. ''Raymond,'' says Naubankar Gupta, Group President, Raymond, ''is an aspirational brand.'' Little wonder then, although the brand targets the Intrinsic Progressive, it appeals to all segments barring the Traditionals.

The Intrinsic Progressive doesn't crave recognition; nor does he seek acceptance. Restrained communication cues, that stress value, work best with this type of man. If married, he has a great relationship with his wife. Men belonging to this cluster are also acutely conscious of their larger social responsibility.

One For All

As must be evident to anyone who has read this much of the composition carefully, there is sufficient overlap between the four clusters. For instance, a communication strategy built around family-orientation would appeal both to the Traditional as well as the Intrinsic Progressive. Of course, to work, it would need to be neither too traditional (the Intrinsic Progressive will shun it) nor too individualistic (the Traditional will reject it). Still, not too many marketers are likely to bother with the Intrinsic Progressive. The segment is small and its constituents extremely rational when it comes to making a purchase decision.

Communication synergies are best between Pleasure Seekers and Social Chameleons. The two clusters share a common purchase-motivation: self-gratification. Merely by focussing on these too segments, a marketer can cover over two-thirds of Indian men. That proportion is only to be expected. The psychographic profiles of most Indian men are under transition, forced to transform by a clutch of internal and external stimuli ranging from the emergence of the new woman, to the cultural values the Indian population is picking up from the West, either through satellite television, or direct contact. And both the Pleasure Seeker and the Social Chameleon are transitory phases. Indeed, had this research been conducted a few years back the Traditionals may have constituted the largest cluster. And fifteen, maybe twenty, years into the future, Intrinsic Progressives could. The next time someone tells you men are all the same, throw this in their faces.

To find out which cluster you belong to, log on to www.business-today.com and take an interactive test.

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