HNI’ s - Ambitions, Aspirations, Angst...

THE HNI TODAY - IN A NUTSHELL

• Interesting similarities in attitudes across centres and segments.
• Are label conscious - aspire for them
• Very comfortable with his 'Indianness' among foreign customers!
• Values professional advise and a few actively seek it.
• Believe in the value of knowledge.
• Are quick to 'write off' or discard anything that does not make sense to them.

Rokeach values

Interestingly, the instrumental values were slightly different across the centres!

Category	Terminal values	Instrumental values
Mumbai	Family security, Comfortable life, Self respect, Independence	Responsible, Honest, Intellectual
Bangalore	Comfortable life, Family Security, Happiness, Inner harmony	Ambitious, Honest, Broad Minded

SELF IMAGE

• Free Thinking
• Open to change
• Imaginative
• Spontaneous

THE NEW HNI...

'Consumers want brands that perform, treat them well and make them feel appreciated.They do not want to be rescued but empowered.'

KEY TRENDS AND ASPIRATIONS

Bohemian enjoyment of life

• Across board, there is a tendency to live the high life – pubs, picnics with friends, and to live for the 'here and now'.
  
  

  " We have to go to the pubs and enjoy life"
  
  " We cannot live it up by wearing an Armani suit when we are in the 60's . We should think of designer labels now"
  
  "When you are among 1000 people the way you are dressed, the watch you wear, the mobile you use all sets you apart for the rest"
  

  -Youngers

  
  "You need to play ball with the rest of the world, so you need to show it off."

Lower Attention Spans and Easy Access to information

• Consumers across centres believed in being well informed. Also there is an increasing reliance of those 'in the know' .
• They actively sought out information and were highly networked.
• Anything that did not make sense 'immediately' was often ignored.
  
  

  "We trust the reports of friends and like minded people"
  
  "We always do a little bit of footwork before honing in for the kill"!

THEY OFTEN CHECK ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF ADVISORS!

Intrinsic sense of Worth /value

• What they may lack in substance, they seem to make up in a breezy self confidence and 'street smartness'.
• A certain amount of risk taking also seems to emerge.
  
  

  "This is a stage when we can experience and take risks , have a certain sum and will not go to the streets-"
  
  "We have to evaluate various alternatives before taking decisions"

KEEN NESS TO INVEST IN EQUITY BASED MUTUAL FUNDS, UNIT LINKED PLANS

An underlying Angst

• In tandem there is also an 'angst' about life expectancy and the risk of illnesses!
  
  

  "There is so much pollution that we should be happy to live up to 60 years. So we may as well enjoy while we can and provide for later years."
  
  "All of us work in call centres /software. We may have to deal with job loss"

INSPIRED BY WARREN BUFFET..

Grow Rich Quick– A major financial goal!

• A key aspiration across centres was to 'Make money work' or get 'money to make more money'
• Consumers defined the age of 25 – 35 years as the 'most productive' years –where the chances of earning the maximum money were high.
• Interestingly, the worry about job security also made them believe that returns would need to be maximized soon.
  
  

  "We should plan in such a way that we get the maximum returns by for our family and parents soon – whenever that may be .At 45yrs..then I would like to do something on my own"

..financial goals

A tendency to pay for professional services.

• Dovetailing with their ambitions to be worldly wise, informed and networked.. consumers also are willing to pay for professional services.
  
  

  "It is important to get professional advice – especially on investments, how to put clothes together, what are the latest styles in dressing abroad.. "

HENCE, ALWAYS WILLING TO LISTEN TO NEW SCHEMES FOR MAKING MONEY

Desire for Creating the right image for themselves.

• Across board, use of exclusive, name brands create an impression of distinctiveness.

  "These set you apart from the crowd".

• For many olders, there is a deep sense of personal satisfaction in owning a name brand.

  "I have reached a certain level and I can afford it".

• And to a small connoisseur segment the sheer joy of owning a lifestyle item like a Swiss watch and the perceived convergence of the brand image and self image was a key driver.

  "To me a watch is like a piece of jewellery – I am very particular".
  "I am very particular about pens. I always have a passion for pens- older."

Fashion Signifiers

YOUNGERS ( 24 – 30YRS)	OLDERS ( 30 – 35 YRS)
Cars Branded Clothing Polo, Dockers, Arrow, Van Heusen Shoes (Reebok, Lee Cooper) Sunglasses Latest mobile PDA Watch	Shoes(Timberland) Branded Clothing Polo, Colour Plus Arrow, Van Heusen, Indian Terrain Pens Watch Perfume : Dior, Davidoff, Miyake Belt (Armani..Gucci) Sunglasses

Lifestyle Aspirations

YOUNGERS	OLDERS
Stylish, display of wealth Vijay Mallya, Ambani, Michael Schumacher Display of style /stylish living Amitabh Bacchan and his style of dressing /Talking as in KBC Fast & Glamorous Lifestyle–Aspirational	Wearing internationally acclaimed brands with élan. "Wear international branding on our sleeve" Quiet Confidence and Maturity – 'Like Narayanmurthy' Inner Pride through name brands - aspirational

Character traits – A Building Block

PROFESSIONAL TRAITS High sense self worth /discerning Value peer recognition Comfortable in Indian skins ( take pride ) Value honest open communication High propensity to cynicism and skepticism Not convinced by rhetoric PERSONAL TRAITS Prefer to work in small groups Strong work ethic Value autonomy and personal space Inquisitive, intuitive fast thinkers

REACTIONS TO THE NEW SINGLE PREMIUM PLAN

• Comprehension of the lines was clear. The words good life were also understood from the context to be one of leisure, enjoyment.. 'Not worrying about whether the money was growing'
• Considered as nothing new – already single premium unit linked plans are available in the market.

"What’s new /different in this? "
"How is it going to be useful to me over all that I already have for the good life?"
"Convenience and flexibility are offered by all. So are top ups!"

The Press ads

• The lead in lines were not considered hard hitting – 'all insurance communication is like this'. (No clear insight line emerging.) more generic. "not like hum hain na!"
• Did not seem to resonate since no great emotional connect felt.
• The couple visual was understood to be too hedonistic – also sitting in front of the Notebook PC conjured up images of still at work…the hammock made a reasonably good connect..
• There was also no reason to believe ( RTB) emerging from the communication.
• While the words 'good life' were understood, and made a connect, the absence of the RTB and the ‘differentiator’ was not making this communication positive on call for action.

Overall approach in right direction

• The overall approach does connect – the individual elements do not dovetail to create the synergy.
• The visuals, the words and the special features of the plan would need to be synergized to offer a clear differentiator for this versus competition, the RTB for the claim, and the Payoffs !
• Also the business men segment would need to be addressed specifically – none of the visuals show a strong connect as yet!
• Since they are very savvy and with low attention spans, the differentiator has to be spelt out up front, buttressed by the key insight line.
• The Advisors should b e very knowledgeable and should be quick to respond /follow up. Transparency in showing the track record ( not just offering a sales pitch) was considered very important.
• A key aspect that was disliked was the advisor hounding them to conclude.

'I bought the Royal Sundaram Health policy because the advisor told me that he would not hound me and would get back to me exactly after a month'