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Slashies on the Prowl

Call them multi-taskers or do-it-alls, the slashies pack every living second with activities and tread on multiple passions simultaneously. Indian marketers and advertisers would do well to take note of this new crop of millennials

Sanchita Mehra, 26, spends five-days a week as a paralegal at a renowned corporate law firm. After dealing with contracts and legal matters all week, she tutors a bunch of starry-eyed kids on Saturdays in free-style Bollywood dance. Other evenings, she spends time with her neighboUr learning to cook authentic Italian fare. And, above all of this, Sanchita is half-way through writing her first novel, fulfilling her dream since she discovered J.K. Rowling as a teenager.

This lawyer-slash-dancer-slash-cook-slash-author is part of a burgeoning new population called ?The Slash Generation.? These multi-taskers tend to pack every living second with activities and tread on multiple passions simultaneously. They are in-the-moment, on-the-edge, over-the-top, under-the-radar, behind the eight ball, ahead of the curve, riding the wave, dodging the bullet, pushing the envelope: George Carlin?s breathless modern man has procreated and how.

The UK?s leading trend-spotter, The Future Laboratory, has unearthed a rationale behind the mushrooming of this new crop of millennials: ?Coming of (work) age in the post-digital era, the slash generation?or ?slashies??are the result of the democratization of the creative industries where anyone, with the right application and drive, can make it.?

India has only recently become witness to the rise of this particular species of youngsters. The people in this group draw inspiration from icons like Gul Panag (who describes herself on Twitter as an actor/ activist/ aviator/ animal lover/ adrenalin junkie/ adventurer/ avid traveler/ automobile and fitness enthusiast/ biker/ entrepreneur/ student/ writer), Farhan Akthar, Karan Johar, and others who similarly don multiple hats. Another example is Amish Tripathi, author of the Meluha Trilogy, who was a historian, did his MBA from IIM-C, worked at banks, and finally wrote the three blockbuster novels.

A cursory investigation into the rise of the slashies point to multiple directions: Firstly, India?s economic liberalization opened doors to many unique businesses and job opportunities. This has given rise to job profiles like Web Evangelizer, Digital Strategist, Chief Belief Officer, and more. Further, recruiters are waking up to the fact that intrinsic passion bodes well over the education strand in an applicant?s DNA and their long-term success.

Even parents of slashies have become far more accepting of these new career trends than their predecessors. They are fairly comfortable with the idea of their young ones dabbling with multiple professions since they themselves are financially stable. Consequently, slashies have become the first generation in India to not have the burden of carrying their family exclusively on their shoulders in the future.

Granted that this is nevertheless a largely urban phenomena; however, smaller towns and cities typically adopt metro trends fairly quickly. Besides, with the emergence of digital democracy in India, geographic location is become increasingly irrelevant in the kind of influence and impact this generation has begun to have.

The slashies are raised in an environment of greater access, mobility, freedom, choices, and opportunities. They desire to take matters into their own hands and obsess over changing the world or living meaningful lives. A great example can be seen in the creative resume writing seen today. What began as an attempt to buff up LinkedIn profiles has now turned into a growing phenomenon of quirky job titles: ?Banke + diving instructor + photographer.? Hobbies and passions are beginning to take up as much importance in their lives as their day job.

Louis Porter, strategist and sociologist, observes, ?This generation reminds me of Dave Trott?s ideas around predatory thinking. About getting upstream and changing the game. About creating the roles we want rather than just waiting for them.? According to Trott, there are only two kinds of people that exist: the predator and the prey. It is this relationship that defines their survival and success. If you aren?t the predator, then you are the prey. Predatory thinking is about being optimistically aggressive, out-thinking the competition, transforming a challenge you can?t solve to one that you can.

Indian marketers and advertisers would do well to take note of this phenomenon to make sure that their brands appeal to the primal instincts of these ?do-it-alls?.

Most brands today are not using this predatory mentality to connect with the audience. The new Hyundai i20 and Emami Fair and Handsome ads portray the protagonists as helpless strugglers trying to find their feet in a highly competitive world. This kind of communication finds its audience in either the older generation or in the folks in tier 2 and 3 cities. Our urban slashies are seldom able to relate to these virtues. For them, the world largely revolves around them. However, brands may have to re-jig their strategies once the slashies start emerging from the smaller towns, too.

A paradigm shift is already underway since the bulk of the Indian economy moving towards money that is flowing out of younger pockets. The current SEC classification appears largely archaic and our understanding of the attitudes of youngsters is decomposing fast. A fresh approach is necessary to crack the new codes. The slashies, empowered by their swanky smart phones and superfast internet, are not only incredibly demanding but also have the wherewithal to get what they want, right now. Moreover, they have spending power, a loud voice, and their opinions are heard both online and offline. As marketers, we need to understand this generation better and ride the wave with them.

Gautam Talwar & Prithviraj Banerjee

Gautam Talwar is chief strategy officer, Rediffusion Y&R while Prithviraj Banerjee is head – strategic planning, Rediffusion Y&R

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First published on: 17-12-2013 at 02:19 IST
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