Didi your nephew Tanmay has become such an upstart that I think he needs a good whack.” This fed-up-to-my-gills tone was so unlike my mild-natured sister-in-law that it stopped me in my tracks and I quizzed her about what had happened. “Well, yesterday evening we had gone to watch Pirates of the Caribbean at the mall and there was a fancy shop selling small dinky cars. There was this red Ferrari that he spotted and insisted we buy. And guess what, it was a scale model car costing a whopping Rs 57,000!” I was still reeling from the shock but humbly told him that this was way too expensive and we couldn’t afford it. And do you know what he had the cheek to tell me? ‘So why are you sitting at home? Why don't you go and get a job so that you can buy your kids what they want!’ You tell me could any of us have ever dreamt of such a thing?”
Tanmay for your information is all of five years old. Shveta had a point and got me thinking — was this the new evolving society or had we become ancient old fogies? To soothe my frayed nerves I sought ye old faithful pal — the television. Coincidently the commercial that unfolded was a takeoff from where Shveta had finished. A young father, attempts to scare his four-year-old son to sleep by telling him about this bogey man. As he describes the fictional character, the kid asks whether his dad had seen the man. Daddy affirms that he had, when he was a kid. The kid smartly says Tab to woh buddha ho gaya hoga, aane do dhekh lenge. The dad is nonplussed; apparently the DHA in the Bournvita leads to dimag ka vikas and a smarter kid!
The growing up process which Freud had advised us takes 13 years to reach gestation was sure on a fast track. Every dogma questioned or rejected and thrown out of the window, Generation T (Tsunami) had arrived. The dutiful nerdy mama's kid who advises everyone to wash their hands for a whole minute in order to be germ resistant is told by a street smart young girl: Arey Bunty tera sabun slow hai kya. The new kid-on-the block has a 15 second Lifebuoy solution. The old cadet hairstyle is passé, he wants change and variety, so whether it is a haircut or noodles, he seeks innovation. The Yippee kid slurps his scrumptious noodles and observes, factually — It is better no? This budding adolescent is decisive and has a mind of his own; a diehard non-vegetarian little Sardar, who loves the nutri nugget preparation in his friend's tiffin, contemplates, Mein soch raha hun me vegetarian hi ban jaun. And if you want to talk about dew drop innocence, well you can throw the misconception out of the window. This is one smart youngster you are talking about. He is unscrupulous when he blackmails his grandmother for chocolates, or else he will reveal to one and all about the seductive Aaa…aaa….aaja number which she croons for dadaji. He swipes his dad's larger chapatti and dollop of Kissan jam right from under dad's nose, as he cheekily asks, Teacher ne share karna nahi sikhaya?
Alas! Yes, phrases like Masoomiyat, saralta, ingenuity and wholesomeness may be folded away into the coffers of yesterday as we move into the “two-minute world.” The explanation could be anthropological, physiological or economic; the point is not to establish causality but to comprehend that the life like Youngistani portrayals by the marketeer maybe like real life. The curiosity, cognitive reasoning, the logical and confident demands are the defining traits of this Gen T person. However, even though it might sound clichéd and hackneyed, the communication exposé needs to be handled responsibly as the line between analytical and arrogant and the one between precocious and promiscuous is very thin. As the Roald Dahl like marketeer inducts impressionable minds in-to… I want the whole works… Don't care how, I want it now; he needs to contemplate — is a stunted innocent childhood and an illustrative lesson into a surreal consumerism justified? Won't this young cynic become a jaded monster, extremely hard to convince and cajole tomorrow?
Thus the decision depends on the brand offering. If the intention is to create a brand connect with the young user, the cloning of the Gen T personality is advisable. However, if the brand communication pans all age groups — including adolescence — then Mr Marketeer tread gently and let the golden daffodils, frolic on the canvas of innocence and let nature take its course in leading the spring of this child into the summer of his youth.
The writer is professor, marketing, International Management Institute, New Delhi