A TALE OF THREE CITIES
Globalization is not a new phenomenon, but a more recent trend is that brands are hoping to become not global, but “glocal”. While they want to be present in various parts of the world, they want to adapt to each market at a fundamental level so they integrate into the culture as well as a local brand would. For this, they not only need to understand the similarities between their consumers in each in order to develop an umbrella strategy, but also the differences so that they can tailor their communication in every market accordingly.
Having lived and studied in New Delhi, Boston, as well as London, I have been able to develop an understanding of each of these markets. As an advertiser, this knowledge of multiple cities will help me better serve the global brands I may work with. The objective of this project is to identify similarities as well as differences within these three. This study focuses on one demographic segment, young millennials. In order to keep the demographic attributes as consistent as possible, one particular fictional consumer has been used as a reference point. More specifically, the project compares the personas of a 24-year-old female graduate student from an upper middle class family in three geographical contexts – Meera from New Delhi, Mariah from London, and Mary from Boston.
Click on each of the personas below to get a glimpse into their daily routine, and see how they compare. To explore some of the aspects in further detail, click on the terms highlighted in green.
Mornings aren’t great for Meera, a graduate student studying journalism in Delhi. Every morning at around 7am, she is woken up by incessant honking on the busy street outside her window, thanks to impatient office-goers who hate mornings just as much as Meera. In her half awake state, she reaches out to grab her phone and look at the notifications waiting to be checked. When she’s caught up on all the new activity on her Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat accounts, she reluctantly drags herself out of bed and into the kitchen. As she waits for her cup of coffee to heat up, she pops two slices of bread in the toaster and scrolls through her news feed on the Times of India app. An hour later, she’s in the shower blasting a self-curated sing-along playlist on her phone.
Once she’s ready, she walks down to the metro station with her roommates so they can head to college together. Between classes, her friends and her walk down to the shack on campus to get some chai and momos. Some days, they regroup after classes are done to grab coffee at the Café Coffee Day nearby before heading home. On the way, she makes a quick stop at Reliance Fresh for groceries. Exhausted by the time she gets home, Meera drops her bag, plops down on the bed and opens up her laptop. Nitesh found a high quality download link for the newest Game of Thrones episode and she can’t wait to watch it. The wifi is spotty, though, and frustrated, she decides to try again later at night and work on her assignments instead. She isn’t too successful, because soon enough her phone is flooded with WhatsApp messages. The group she has with her friends is exploding – there’s a plan to catch a movie at the theatre, and it’s actually working out for once.
Half an hour later, she’s standing under her house to hail an auto. Sonia bought the tickets online, so everyone Paytm's her for them. After the movie, they head to Beeryani. As expected, their plan to get one drink fails spectacularly, and the five friends are soon on their third pitcher of beer. The TVs are screening cricket, so they have to shout over the cheering to talk to each other. It’s almost midnight by the time Meera gets home, and after setting the GoT episode to download, she logs onto Amazon to pick from the bags she’d been looking at earlier while she waits. At around 2:30am, once she’s finished watching the episode and discussing it at length with her friends, she finally slips into bed to get some shut eye.
Wardrobe essential: Kolhapuri chappals
This traditional Indian footwear came back into vogue in a big way once people discovered it matched with western clothing as well. Don't be surprised if you see Delhiites wearing, and looking good in, the same pair with festive Indian attire as well as jeans and a t-shirt.
Mornings aren’t great for Mariah, a graduate student studying journalism in London. Every morning at around 7am, she is woken up by the whirring noise of a blender – her upstairs neighbor just cannot start his day without a glass of a well-blended smoothie. In her half awake state, she reaches out to grab her phone and look at the notifications waiting to be checked. When she’s caught up on all the new activity on her Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat accounts, she reluctantly drags herself out of bed and into the kitchen. As she pulls out some ready-to-eat porridge for breakfast, she scrolls through her news feed on the BBC app. An hour later, she’s in the shower blasting the radio through her phone.
Once she’s ready, she walks down to the tube station with her roommates so they can head to college together. Between classes, her friends and her walk down to the cafeteria on campus to get sandwiches. Some days, they regroup after classes are done to grab coffee at the Pret a Manger nearby before heading home. On the way, she makes a quick stop at Tesco for groceries. Exhausted by the time she gets home, Mariah drops her bag, plops down on the bed and opens up her laptop. Now TV has released the newest Game of Thrones episode, and she can’t wait to watch it. The wifi is a little slow, though, so she decides to try again later at night and work on her assignments right now instead. She isn’t too successful, because soon enough her phone is flooded with WhatsApp messages. The group she has with her friends is exploding – there’s a plan to catch a movie at the theatre, and it’s actually working out for once.
Half an hour later, she’s riding the Santander bike over. Sarah has bought the tickets online, so everyone PayPal's her for them. After the movie, they pick up PIMM'S and some crisps and head to the park nearby, and once it gets darker, the party shifts to Zetland Arms. The TVs are screening football (the real one), so they have to shout over the cheering to talk to each other. It’s almost midnight by the time Mariah gets home, and after watching the Game of Thrones episode, she logs onto Amazon to pick from the bags she’d been looking at earlier. At around 2:30am, once she’s finished making a choice and discussing the GoT episode at length with her friends, she finally slips into bed to get some shut eye.
Wardrobe essential: Denim dress
This particular denim off-shoulder dress with ruffles is quite a favorite style around the world, but it's especially popular in London. As one local young woman put it, are you even a Londoner if you don't have one of these in your wardrobe?
Mornings aren’t great for Mary, a graduate student studying journalism in Boston. Every morning at around 7am, she is woken up by her noisy roommate who has enrolled herself in the earliest spin class she could find. In her half awake state, she reaches out to grab her phone and look at the notifications waiting to be checked. When she’s caught up on all the new activity on her Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat accounts, she reluctantly drags herself out of bed and into the kitchen. As she adds milk and berries to the blender to prepare her morning smoothie with one hand, she scrolls through her news feed on the New York Times app with the other. An hour later, she’s in the shower blasting a self-curated sing-along playlist on Spotify.
Once she’s ready, she walks down to the T stop with her roommates so they can head to college together. Between classes, she pulls out a Nature Valley bar – she needs one to keep her going on such long days. Some days, her friends and her regroup after classes to grab coffee at the Dunkin Donuts nearby before heading home. On the way, she makes a quick stop at Star Market for groceries. Exhausted by the time she gets home, Mary drops her bag, plops down on the bed and opens up her laptop. HBO GO has released the newest Game of Thrones episode and she can’t wait to watch it. The fast wifi allows her to watch it without interruption, and once she finishes it she decides to work on her assignments. She isn’t too successful, because soon enough her phone is flooded with text messages. The group conversation with her friends is exploding – there’s a plan to catch a movie at the theatre, and it’s actually working out for once.
Half an hour later, she’s leaving her house to walk over. Sarah buys the tickets at the counter, so everyone Venmo's her for them. After the movie, they head to Cornwall’s. As expected, their plan to get one drink fails spectacularly, and the five friends are soon on their third cocktail each. The TVs are screening football, so they have to shout over the cheering to talk to each other. It’s almost midnight by the time Mary gets home, and before going to sleep she logs onto Amazon to pick from the bags she’d been looking at earlier. At around 2:30am, once she’s made her choice and finished discussing the GoT episode at length with her friends who just watched it, she finally slips into bed to get some shut eye.
Wardrobe essential: Combat boots
Given the nasty Boston weather, boots are an absolute must-have for anyone planning to survive here, and there's a whole range of styles to choose from. But these black combat boots are such a standard amongst Bostonians, they're basically the 'little black dress' of footwear for them.
Through my experience in the three cities as well as the research conducted for this study, it could be seen that in current times, thanks to globalization affecting not just economies but cultures as well, the general lifestyle in large hub cities around the world is not very different. The devil, however, lies in the detail. While people in all three cities - New Delhi, London, and Boston - may have similar daily routines and enjoy similar activities, the media channels and brands that they interact with while doing so can be starkly different at times. As a marketer, understanding what elements of my communication can be generalized across the three target groups and what must be customized for each is crucial, and through this project, I was able to put this knowledge to use.
Note: The information in this project is based on primary research in the form of my personal observations and telephonic interviews with respondents from all three cities, and secondary research. Due to limitations such as lack of resources to conduct proper sampling for primary research and limited access to data for secondary research, the findings represented above may not be completely accurate when generalized.
