Wave 6.0 - The Tailwind coming strong from the Far East!!!

Boilal Gangte (Boi) *

A map of the North East which shows their proximity to Myanmar and Bangladesh

That Nike sales man dilemma of whether that bare footed African nation was a "huge potential" or "no business case" would have been easier…had those people have some indigenous form, maybe floaters or some mechanism of covering their bare feet. If so, consumer behavior would have instigated some kind of curiosity that "these studs do need shoes and it's just that…they don't have the know-how or the resources to make themselves". Case shut and he would have got lofty annual bonus for entering an untapped market as first mover, because I'm sure Nike would have already sold millions of pairs by now if there was such African Nation!!!

I was discussing with my boss on the strategy for increasing rate in NE (North East States). The hub office in Kolkatta reverted back giving parallels of how stuffs are done in West Bengal. A witty (minted with deep sarcasm) Bengali, he cracked up saying NE consumers don't calculate that much like those "every pence counting" Bengalis and hence we will not budge on our strategy and will stay put. He jeered them saying they should come down and do some market visits before making those IVORY TOWER statements which is the cheapest available goods in today's corporate office.

While it may not be as evident for all, but hailing from the land I could sense a lot of merit in the casual discussions, a merit not because the evening laughter was loud but because the land does promise a lot for marketers. A land which is under exploited and which is not understood very well by corporate vultures because they are profoundly tainted by the many constraints - difficult terrain, lack of infrastructure and yea off course the security problems. But the fact is, in this saturated market you cannot expect to land in a Bombay Coast or Calcutta Coast like the East India Company did. Someone's got to tame the wild horse only after riding on it.

Very high on consumerism!!!

I'm sure most of us would have seen that episode where Russel Peter's compared how the Jews, Chinese and Indian do shopping. Somewhere his description of how the Jews buy stuffs fit the fundamentals of consumerism in NE - Straightforwardly evaluate internally and decides unlike his counterparts would bargain to the hilt or do a 360 degree comparison with every nook and corner shop or search and manufacture defects so that he can buy at factory price. Seriously, I maybe the most calculative NE being, practically and figuratively, but I know where I stand at the national level…

NE does well on literacy but is pretty low on BQ (Business Quotient) and hence they are inherent consumers and not sellers. If you check out most of the marketplace, you'll find the Marwaris controlling the high end business, people from Bihar flooding the low end and people from Kerala controlling the only structured service industry i.e. education.

There is also a strong current of "you live life once" attitude which is passed down sincerely from generations to generations. The young and old think alike when they spend because money to them is meant to be spent and not saved (Thankfully the credit business is not big and hence there is no threat of any SUBPRIME). They are born consumers, because they not only love buying but they are very low on the saving quotient and this syndrome is pervasive across. Maybe some "M" chromosomes which control "spending" have higher presence in people from this part.

Hence, consumerism at best form is exhibited in this part of the country.

A young (at heart) population!!!

A society driven around the local politics of MLAs, differenced by ethnic communities and habituated by groupism always need population of the same color, which is the key to bang the ballot box which will entitle them for the spoils post the election result. Population in NE has to grow and it will grow. While family planning is not a taboo but it's a sheer waste of resources for the people.

Hence, even without any statistical backing I'm pretty confident the land has a young mean/median age vis-à-vis the nation. Anyway, when the nation's statistical department always recalibrates their GDP figures after publishing, there is no point relying on CSO data.

Is there any more hinterland to be ventured in?

While I have not ventured much on the northern belt, but I would not be very far if I say there are more turned lands in the country then unturned ones. BOP (Bottom Of Pyramid) will always be a point of debate as to where are they located, but the fact is the reach of almost all relevant industry in the country is pretty fair and wet, maybe with the exception of the extreme North and extreme East.

Extreme North is an international tangle which "the never settling" government has to first settle and it is not an easy job for a respectable man like SM Krishna when your counterpart is Ms Hina R. This leaves out the extreme East which is the NE.

Hence, the next wave of consumer renaissance has to come from this east range.

They do have something in-house!!!

The land doesn't promise too much of fertile plain nor it may hold heavy deposit of underground jewels (at the face of it). However, it does have its own natural resources, which are trickling in some form and many are yet to be explored.

Apart from the rich flora and fauna, the land does have many unexploited resources in the form of scenic landscape ideal for tourism, the land can be a Power-House for hydro project and I believe it can be for even wind powered energy. I strongly gut that it does have some under grown belly reserves as well. I was recently told by my folks that explorers came to our Santing (our village about 150 KM from Imphal) for exploration of some form of natural gas. Some years back I befriended a colonel from an army regiment posted at my home town in one of my holiday trip and he was so excited telling me about the rich lime stone deposit he saw in one of the stony Clift and suggested me to buy off ASAP (I'm still to figure out which mountain). I'm sure there will be many such places, I mean I'm one sucker when it comes to luck or any form of lottery and if it can happen to me why not to the neighboring places. Only time will tell and for which there need to be more sponsored expedition by experts.

Blessed with talents!!!

It maybe the promised land (Sports & Music) for the nation. A ton of appreciation to Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom for turning the spotlights to NE in sports (by the way Mangte and Gangte are from the same thread, as per elders with some empirical hypothesis). The fact is NE was, is and will always be blessed with rich talents in the field of sports and music. Evidence of the same is the last Olympic squad and also the I-League (Football) where you will find hordes of players from NE.

The only hitch is the lack of "nurture them young".

For how long will they thrive on tax payers!!!

Except for maybe Assam (even I doubt on this), I won't be too far if I say, these states are thriving on fund infused from the central tax deposit. The land needs a self sustaining business models, it's high time they need to learn fishing and not get fish like manna from heaven.

However, the land needs someone who can teach them how to fish which should be in the form of infrastructure support and seed capital infusion.

Unlike the Nike Sales Man dilemma, the problem here is the sales man has to venture and access the potential. He would not need any inspirations or analysis to establish the potential because it is evident in every possible sign across the land. After all it's the land which gave heart to Mr. Singh, who was battered, bruised and beaten in the 1999 election when he contested from the Punjabi dominated South Delhi.

The writings are on the wall. Wave 6.0 is shouting out loud for a wind of change!!!