Sixth Sense of Marketing

A market may have unlimited definitions. Let’s just get down to the basics and say out loud the first line that comes to our mind. Markets – A place where buyers and sellers meet, a place where goods are being sold to customers, a place where commodities are exchanged for money with the buyers– three answers that top the charts. But, for argument sake, let’s imagine  a market without the buyers . A place where sellers are selling, goods are being sold and commodities are getting exchanged for money – & No sight of customers. Incomplete? Self-implied? Or does it sound familiar? We see markets packed with people. And more often than not, we wish that the crowd around us would just disappear! Won’t that be so easy? No hassle to look for your size and a much needed break from the endless queues outside the trial rooms & billing counters. And snap goes the genie! You wished for it – you got it! Here comes the “e-commerce” boom. Isn't that “trending” these days? W

Innumerable brands and innumerable products – all shouting at the consumer in  their own ways! Ways, which are different and yet, in essence, are all the same. In  this mayhem, each of these brands is trying to grab attention, trying to do something  “out of the box”. Ironically though, the term itself has become somewhat a cliché.  Appealing to the 5 senses of the consumers seems no longer enough and brands now need to touch that sixth sense which will not only strike “a” chord but, will strike the “right” one.Looking past the 5 levels of differentiation, i.e., technology, price, product, customer service and user experience, seems only a sensible option in this case. But what is the sixth level? To what extent has it been explored? - are the questions that still lay unanswered. India, a nation guided by sentiments, has at its heart the festivals that, in many ways,  define the people residing in it. To touch the chord connecting a brand to a  customer’s sixth sense, b