Connection is key: Veteran marketer Subramanyeswar prescribes effective marketing tools
Telegraph | 3 February 2025
Thrust on Gen Z. Cultural connect with the audience.
A veteran marketer prescribed effective marketing tools at a programme in Calcutta earlier this month.
"Thirty-two per cent of the country's audience are Gen Z (the generation of people born between the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s) and the other 32 per cent or 33 per cent are millennials. Two-thirds of this country are people younger than 40 years," said S. Subramanyeswar, group CEO-India of Mullenlowe Lintas Group and the chief strategy officer, Asia Pacific.
"We have to do business with such people, look at the mindset of those audiences and how beautifully they're switching between one and the other, and how beautifully they are wearing everything with pride on their sleeves," he said.
Subramanyeswar, also the head of the global planning council of Mullenlowe Global, was the speaker at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry presents at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry presents the THINK Series, in association with The Telegraph, on January 10.
His talk was titled — Clash of Culture: India's Diversity Demands a Fresh Marketing Playbook.
He began the session with a video showcasing the diversity of India.
Speaking about regionalism and ethnicity across the country, he said: "In the last 10 years, there has been a rise in regionalism and ethnicity across the country, perhaps it is a global phenomenon. When I look at the younger people today, they are very well-read or well-informed... you start wearing clothes from global to local... you are wearing all of them with pride on your sleeve".
He showcased videos to illustrate how "masculinity and femininity manifested differently across cultures in India". He gave examples from six states, Gujarat, Bengal, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
He prescribed "connecting with people, with their roots". The connections then forged "will be far stronger," he said.
Brands should give a culture "its due and create strategies that respect the sanctity of the culture", he said.
"My appeal to the marketing fraternity and all people responsible for marketing and building brands; please look into this aspect and you will see far bigger and better results and connections. In the end, it's all about forging those relationships," he said.