Young consumers

LAHORE: Technology has created more jobs and enterprises in recent years than the manufacturing sector in the shape of riders, couriers, e-commerce platforms, and textile designers. Even the plumbers, electricians, painters, carpenters, motor mechanics who have established reputations are available through WhatsApp or SMS.

Pakistani consumers are increasingly served by an IT savvy young population that has developed rapport with the 78 million consuming class aged 18-34.

This consuming class is better equipped to verify the quality and price of any product through technology.

These young people are the generation that bloomed in the 21st century when the world actually became a global village. Now, even illiterate youths knows how to use Skype or Viber through their android mobile sets. The shopping habits of these new millennium bloomers are quite different from the earlier generation.

Entrepreneurs now realise that this generation is transforming consumer marketing. They are on the rise in Pakistan, as every year 3 million enter the age of 18, which is considered the prime consuming age.

The new generation differs from older generations in their spending habits, brand preferences, values, personalities, and general outlook on life. Furthermore, they engage with brands far more extensively, personally, and emotionally—and in entirely different ways—than have other generations.

It is this consumer class that determines the success and failures of branded lawn in Pakistan.

Many new ladies fabric brands have gone ahead of established big names by engaging consumers positively on their social media pages or their Facebook pages. Gone are the days when a few top textile tycoons monopolised the market.

According to a conservative estimate, the country currently has over 300 designer brands.

The beauty of technology is that the quality of fabric and general designs of each brand are instantly appreciated through social media and brands with inferior fabric and design are immediately rejected. All brands now ensure the quality and designs and closely monitor new offerings in the market. All have social media teams.

The share of textiles in the domestic market has increased from 15 percent to 35 percent in one decade because of the entrance of young designers.

In value terms, the ladies fabric market has increased from Rs200 billion to over Rs700 billion now.

The cotton lawn market has doubled in the past four years from Rs200 billion to Rs400 billion. Buyers are the young generation; the bloomers of this millennium. These bloomers exchange designs through their androids.

The Internet, social media, and mobile devices greatly amplify bloomers’ opinions and accelerate their impact. Companies can expect that a positive brand experience will prompt these youngsters to take favourable public action on behalf of their brand.

A bad—or even just disappointing—experience can turn a youngster into an over vocal critic who will spread the negative word through social media, reviews, and blogs. And that criticism can go viral.

This young generation is influencing and accelerating shifts in consumer attitudes, spending habits, and brand perceptions and preferences.

This generational transition is making the traditional consumer marketing redundant and a wastage of money. The conventional, linear framework that most companies have used to manage brand engagement has become redundant.

Marketing is an ecosystem of multidirectional engagement rather than a process that is controlled and pushed by the company.