Went shopping to town last Saturday, for khadi wear - kurtas to be precise. In Mumbai if it's khadi, it's got to be good ole' Khadi Bhandaar, (KB), D.N. Rd, Fort. Thankfully, the place hasn't change one wee bit since I visited it last year.
For all the hustle and bustle synonomous of life in this mega metro and the seductive sheen of its avant-garde trappings, KB continues stubbornly unaffected and untouched by the transient whims of time. Here at KB, you are now besieged by a time-warp.
The thick air inside the shop is still heavily laden with the scent an all-engulfing languorous charm, courtsey the socialist mettle of a (once) pre-liberalized economy. The dusty window panes, musty wooden paraphernalia and an asynchronous drone of an array of huge four-blade - weather beaten - ceiling fans suspended from an ashen coloured ceiling, made me acutely aware of the anomaly in time I was witness to. The dull passing of every formidable minute in time spent here was not wasted on me, for sure.
Not for this place, are clichés like: 'Customer is King', 'customised service' or 'customer delight.' All these hold good outside; once inside these are passé - and I for once am not complaining! And mighty good reason for that there is too.
In a world where 'Clothes maketh a man', beauty truely lies in the eyes of the beholder. It is of little wonder then that even simplicity today comes at a price and with a designer label. Chic and ethnic no longer stand for rustic mix-n-match of contrasting apparel - that you once put together at your sole discretion. Today, alas, they stand for the approval of fashionistas of the likes of the Satya Paul's and Rina Dhaka's of this country - and I say this with due respect to their talents and those of their kinsmen.
It's a democratic world after all, governed largely by a capitalistic society! And so everyone's got to make money while the sun shines. However, to keep the sun shining bright Marketeers have to do all they possibly can to extend this period of daytime for as long as possible. Enter concepts like "Branding," "Positioning," "Customer Satisfaction" and the like.
But then, to quote economist Milton Friedman, there's no such thing as a free lunch in a capitalistic society; everyone's got to ultimately foot his portion of the bill. However invariably the buck stops at the customer - and I'm fine with it if he can afford it for the 'tailor-made' luxuries he is bestowed with in name of enhancing his (otherwise incomplete) shopping experience. Every consumer is treated the same way, and the phrase ‘mass customisation’ is then abused till kingdom come.
Not for me, however, the razzmatazz of all this marketing gimmickery - at least when it comes my purchase of the humble homespun khadi kurta.
As I side-track here a little, I cannot but help but mirror FE columnist Suhel Seth's sentiments (http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=91274) as he lashes out at the inept and fuddy-duddy logic at work in operationalising the 'permission marketing' concept which modern day marketeers have so blatantly violated, much to the chagrin of a growing base of harried customers.
To be honest, I've had it with overtly patronizing salespersons and the 'all-your-needs-addressed' brands they promote making you believe they know you inside-out - sometimes better than you know yourself - and non-challantly breathe down your neck with the all-knowing alacrity of your bum-chum langoti buddy! And it would help recollect whilst at it that, they're not doing you a favour, doing it as they are in your time and on your account.
Customised service aside, I'd rather partake of handsome bargains for moderate prices at a no-frills, humble KB outlet that doesn't pretend to know all by offering you the all and sundry equivalent of a Kotler text on Services Marketing. And in the process, as a welcome a change, revisit - if only for a few minutes - the 'take-it-or-leave-it' socialist charm that stubbornly refuses to peel off at these places, even in these competitive times. Coming from someone who has grown up in thriving capitalist times, some irony that now, ain't it!
If fluidity is the plasma of time, then ideology is the plasma of my life!
6 comments:
hey trevi boy,
Lets just go back to that Pre-Liberalised period. And then lets think about buying an all enduring Ambi. Now,thats a big enough investment to give u nightmare if thing were to go wrong. You walk into this medival and grumpy looking show room of Ambi. Enter a 40 year old salesman, in off white dhothi and redcolour shirt. He's iritated b'coz you woke him from his sieasta that started at 12 sharp. He will, in his irritation not entertain any of your questions and you suddenly are aware that you are on borowed time here. You ask for manual so as to get out of this place asap but the stocks of the same got over 6 months back. The company dont send it any more. Well, then ask for the price quotations and he's very happyto oblige you with figures that will sound like corporate acquisition than a Ambi price.
Well, the price have gone northwards since liberalisation, but rest assured the premium that you'd be paying is not for the commodity assuch but for the confidence that you have that you'd be treated just right. And, if not then, you always have the something called the 'Word of mouth' that will make sure that you get back on that brand.
my thoughts.
I don't contest a liberal market regime or its Capitalist offspring, Karun. I'm all for it myself.
The point, however, I'm trying to drive home is that given the technological progress we as a society are witness to and the rat-race of a run-up to increasing market share, the day is not far off when Marketing as a function will ride piggy back on the hoofs of any willing, intrusive peeping-Tom/Dick/Harry, for a 360 degree dekkho into the lives of its customers to decode their purchase patterns and behaviour.
Tools like data-mining, unscrupulous exploited by credit card companies of the likes of a Citibank/ICICI to peddle their wares already signal the advent of such an age, what with them keeping your cell phone buzzing with cold calls - and it doesn't matter even if you are already a registered user with name.
Th piece was just meant to be an ironic yet telling comment on how in times like these, customers like me (who are otherwise staunch supporters of an open and competitive market policy) actually feel at loss for not being able to enjoy their shopping experience in the peace and tranquility of their own decison making, thanks to an over-indulgent and ever patronising jamboree of a salesforce who think they know best.
Faced with such a situation, a casual visit to an indifferent and impersonal KB store therefore provides one with an altogether jarringly different experience. And I'm NOT for once advocating a retreat into the preliberalised times. It's just that I couldn't help witnessing the difference!
Cheer's,
Trev.
Your entry was superb da! And it was really a treat to read Karun's comment and your fitting reply to that!
I just want to add something here....though marketers talk about customer service and customer delight, though they hover around you and pester you during your shopping, the moment they open their mouths, you realise - they dont have a face! Customer service these days is all about 'mechanised' communications - dont u think? They are trained as to what they shud say to what kinda customers, there is not much of a human aspect to it. This is what you mostly get even at the billing counters in most big stores where the guy at the till is looking elsewhere while mouthing the words "Thank You, Please Come Again" with a trained smile on his face! That is what irks me the most!
It would be better to go to the roadside shops once a while if just to get away from this unreal experience and have a great time bargaining, arguing or even fighting with the seller....atleast here you are dealing with a Human entity! :)
--Raghu
hey treviboy,
Raghu's comments did drive in a point that in this marketing mania the actors (thats the staff) have become more of a mechanised robos. We do the same this again and again in so much that we do it as ifwe are programed in such a manner. After a point that smile becomes permanent for our lip muscles have adapted itself to the 24/7 smile that is programmed for customer satisfaction. Its like the matrix, we live in our dreams. Everything happens because its programed to happen that way. Its when you seebeyond the veil that you realise that you are not living an real life- all your life. Thatwhen you get loggged out.
I guess in these times the fountain head is a really teacher. I religiously believe in the fact that everything that happens to me affects me to a point. Beyond that I'm free. So, a corporate unscruplously knows everything about you. It does this so that it can sell and getyour money. But, till you dont decide that you will get affected by the same is till you are free from any of these attempts.
My thoughts.
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