Uncovering the 'noble' savage

'The noble savage' is a theory of human nature attributed to the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau.

It dwells on the idea that all humans are born pristine and with benevolent intention.

Marketing today seems to be trapped in the premise of this 'noble intention', even if the humans in question have long grown up and are now avid watchers of reality shows and the like. Interestingly if such were truly the case, if every human being were seeking equality and fairness above all else, the first concept that might perish before a summary trial might be that of the brand.

And yet most marketers describe their consumer (across strategy documents and briefs) in such glowing, angelic terms, that given India's demographic advantage, St. Peters surely has a task on his hands, as far as space allocation in heaven goes.

Perhaps it is time to stop denying human nature.

After all, it's a certain devious bent of mind that has made us the dominant species in any case. In that spirit here are a few psychographic segmentations of the consumer that might truly ring a few bells, in this pleasantly jingle infused season.

Let's begin with examining a few prime examples from the corporate class.

Petrified Prakash: Prakash is a chronic shirker of responsibility. He believes that any work undertaken will only provide conclusive proof to his boss about the inebriated state he (the boss) was in, when Prakash was interviewed. Prakash excels at passing the buck and all such sport, to the extent that he is beginning to doubt his starring role in his wives current pregnant condition. Makes it to office earlier than everyone and then, post astutely signing the muster, keeps a profile so low that he sometimes has problems recognizing his own reflection. He has fostered a myth within the office that Prakash is not a physical being, only 'the spirit of bureaucracy' that needs to be indulged with a pay cheque every month.

For this he needs products which fuel his invisibility, but given the current positions taken by most brands in the market, Prakash is in dire straits.

Has-been Hansika: Hansika was once climbing up the corporate ladder faster than a creative director claiming credit for the work of his junior. But then Urvashi came along. In the eyes of her excessively candid, purely unbiased and unabashedly helpful colleagues, Urvashi was like the new improved cell phone version of Hansika-better at everything and more pleasing on the eye. A peep into Hansika's mind today would reveal an obsession with various types of archaic guillotines and a desire to get Urvashi's neck to sample all of them.

Hansika's product expectations are rather stiff. They involve not only getting the spotlight back on her, but also mandatorily showing Urvashi in absolutely shady auto-rickshaw kind of dim light. Marketing teams are still working on that one...

Shallow Samir: Through a freakish combination of random cosmic events, incorrect blood tests and persistent traffic signals, Samir rose to the very high echelons of the company. But along the way, the parts where he was supposed to learn about business and life got fast forwarded. Hence to overcome these obstacles, he had to turn up the volume of his 'cliché quotient'. This coupled with the acquisition of the most expensive products mankind could make, ensured that conversations beginning with business would quickly digress to tips about shopping paradises. Samir still likes to stalk the women folk at office. But given the gravitas of his visiting card today, he has begun to delegate such operational activities to his subordinates while maintaining a tight control via status reports.

Samir requires products where price tags are pivotal, and given his volume of business he is working with companies to integrate the cost of the item onto the body of the product as a design element...

And these three are but a few cases in point.

Eventually marketers need to warm up to the realities of human thinking. They need to appreciate how Darwinian evolution plays out in this highly competitive world. Real people would be willing to go that extra mile to gain leverage over their peers, trading on 'virginal white ideals' to achieve their ends.

Perhaps it's time to admit that the savage is noble no more.