With apologies to none at all
By Vikas Mehta
I shall be soon completing 10 years, living in the small, yet cosmopolitan and progressive, yet steeped in tradition and eclectic, and yet distinct city of Dehradun. And while the transition and experience has been both interesting and challenging, I am amazed at how I keep on discovering new facets of not just culture and tradition but also consumer behaviour. In this column, I will try and touch on a few of these points.
Dehradun was always known as the city of retired people. Slow, sedentary lifestyle. Nature at every step and the ability to lose oneself in its myriad seasons. Institutions like ONGC, FRI, Geological Survey of India are steeped in history and even folklore. And many of its employees, hailing from all parts of India, settled down in the city, post retirement. Indeed, such was the case with my father too.
But Dehradun is better known for its retired population of defence people. From Lt Generals to Brigadiers to Majors and to Captains. It’s not just the army people but even the other wings. As an aside, do you know that Dehradun also has a naval office? The Indian Naval Hydrographic Department.
But I am digressing. It’s not just the retired defence people who stay in Doon. There is also a decent population of currently serving defence personnel whose families live in Doon. With frequent transfers, posting to non-family stations, most families prefer settling down at one place, mostly because of children’s education. And Doon with its plethora of schools, proximity to border areas, bustling cantonment life, and medical hospital for defence people is an ideal place.
During my morning walks I would come across retired defence people. Mostly they would stand out because of the typical stick, not walking stick, but the small stick of a commanding officer that one would see in many Hindi films, and their gait and posture. I would interact a bit and over a period of time got to know a few of them and their families including some serving ones. I am not professing to be an expert on defence people as consumers but I encountered some interesting behaviour and insights which I would like to share.
Living in cantonment areas in small towns and sometimes in far flung places is a unique experience. One is living in a secluded township which has its own rules. The life is steeped in discipline and protocols. And this includes the lives of families too. Seniority matters in family relationships too. There are formal and informal occasions with dressing according to the occasion. Life is regimented and strictly routine. And almost all purchase happens from the canteen stores.
I am sure most of us have heard of how defence personnel and their families get groceries etc at discounted rates at canteen stores. Today, it’s not just groceries but almost anything that a household wishes to buy, is available at canteen stores. Not just durables like ACs or refrigerators but also two-wheelers and four-wheelers. At subsidised rates. A defence person can buy a car at a subsidised rate every 8 years and a two-wheeler every four years.
For a brand it therefore becomes imperative that they register to sell through canteen store department and in some categories like fans a brand could have almost 10% of its total annual sale coming through canteen stores department (CSD). Even premium brands like BMW and Audi sell through CSD. And it was news when Kia was made available through CSD earlier this year. I also gathered that defence people get a 50% discount on GST to be paid on vehicles. Though some capping on the above is in place now.
If you now look at it from the viewpoint of serving and retired defence personnel, CSD is an important part of their life. Except for a few perishables like milk or bread, almost everything they buy is through CSD. And the distance from a CSD is an important consideration when they are settling down or renting property in a place. Indeed, when the defence person comes home on leave from his posting a visit to CSD for a major purchase or a big ticket item purchase is always on the agenda. Their visit to a local grocery store or an electronic store is very limited. Even elements like servicing or repair are handled through CSD. And CSD has kept pace with time. If something is not available at the nearest CSD, one can order it through the online site of CSD, for delivery.
Therefore, if an FMCG brand or a durable or an electronic brand is not present at a CSD, it is not in the consideration mindset of most defence people. They have not seen it. They have not discussed it. They have not felt the need to know about it. This hurts new brands and new categories more. They may be exposed to something new through some media but the familiarity and interest comes through CSD, offline or online. The bottomline is that a brand, to make a difference in the life of a defence person must be a part of CSD.
And this is more important when these families are placed in remote areas. Their exposure is limited to CSD only. This has a ramification for brands. Because, later on in life when these people move on to bigger cities the perception and awareness that has been built in their minds about brands persist. CSD therefore has created impressions and perceptions which can last for life.
Sometimes, this also leads to family conflicts. The younger generation which is more technology oriented is more aware and knowledgeable about brands, their benefits, their cool quotient etc. So, they try to look beyond the CSD brands or their impressions for personal use. The parents are at odds with such thoughts. They cannot reconcile to the same. Also, the discounts that CSD offers goes a long way in their decision making.
Moving beyond CSD, defence personnel face a dilemma and social unease when they get back into society. The career path of a defence person is shorter than the civilians. Most at the level of Major or Colonel retire between 50-54 years. For most of their life they have lived a regimented, disciplined and structured life. They are taught working in a team. They live unselfishly. Sacrifice of personal needs and comfort is part of their upbringing. And yet, when they get back into general society they see indiscipline. They encounter selfishness. They are not trained to do anything else. They try alternate career and find it difficult to fit.
To make matters worse, families face different problems in amalgamation. With an unregimented society they find issues of adjustment. Their time discipline and selflessness goes unappreciated. And children find themselves woefully inadequate in terms of new type of hobbies or sports. One of them asked my daughter what was Sushi when she said she had it for dinner. Examples of this kind create a divide amongst children and gives an inferiority complex to the defence force children.
These adjustment issues sometimes force defence people to live in their own enclaves. That in turn makes the “civilians” a bit more wary of the defence types. It’s a lose lose situation for both as the defence people dig their heels in and refuse to accept the reality of the bigger world and the civilian see them as snobbish and entitled (CSD adds to it).
Surprisingly, it’s the children who finally integrate better. They go to schools and education institutes where they rub shoulders with all types and they learn to adjust. But this also means that they compromise on their “defence values” like discipline or regimented life. Within the family the clash of generation ensues. The children are quickly enticed by the lure of new products, new services and consumption. They look at their parent’s choice of career vs their new found friends parents and the grass seems greener on the other side. And that’s one of the reasons that unlike in the past, many defence children no longer want to pursue defence as a career option.
It’s such simple observations that have ensured that I still keep learning new things. Here is to the next ten years of learning in this quaint little town called Doon.