The story so far...

OK...I know long hiatuses aren't the sign of diligent bloggers - but I got a little carried away with other things in life. Will try and keep up my actions with my intentions from now on!

Coming back to the story so far. Let me give a little perspective on why this blog is here by telling you story!

Set in the 2000s (haven't actually heard anyone use that term!), it is the story of a guy(me of course) who ventured out in pursuit of one of the beacons of the 21st century - the Mobile Phone!

2003:
It is common knowledge that guys can't live without their toys - the toy of course changes with each new phase of life. From the dino figure when you are 3 to the new jaguar when you are 30.

It was my first day in college and I was just getting to know the people around me. At this point, I too felt the need for a new toy - to flaunt and assert my place in the new pack I was gonna join (childish I know, but that's how we're wired!). My toy of choice was - a mobile phone!

To give you some perspective, from where I came from, owning a mobile phone was still a luxury then. I had to use every trick in the book to convince my parents to get me one. I had to handpick reasons for owning a mobile phone - and all of them had to link back to better grades - it was some feat but I did get their okay on it, eventually.

So I walked into the store, gave the cute salesgirl (aren't they always?) the budget and she dug out a box and gave it to me. I dunno whether it was the lack of choice, judgement, awareness or the ability to argue with cute saleswomen - but I bought whatever she gave me. There, I was now the proud owner of a bulky blue Nokia phone with a green display and podgy keys.

Within ten months, I lost that phone.

2004:
This time, there was hardly any convincing involved. Just needed to haggle about the budget with my dad.

I was almost in second year now - I couldn't go back to a 'normal' looking phone. I had to make a statement, and my inane vanity wasn't helping. And the Indian market was flooded with phones of all kinds and prices were lower than ever. It was time to move on to a 'cool' phone.

I visited the websites of all major phone manufacturers, listed out models within my budget and began to work religiously on the shortlisting process. All that didn't matter during the purchase, since I ended up buying something a friend suggested - a Samsung C110. This phone endured me longer than any other.

I lost this phone too.
Found it the next day. But managed to permanently damage it in a matter of weeks after finding it.

2006:
This time - the dad-convincing process was easier coz I had done well in my exams. The first step was to get suggestions from all the friends who knew their gadgets! But I didn't want to stop there. No time for websites anymore. It was time to find out what other people thought - not people around me, not the official reviewers, not the salespeople - but the actual users - from all over the world. I hit the online forums, complaints and user review sites. People were detailing out every bit of their mobile experience. Had it not been for one blog, I would've bought a Nokia model that was taken a off the market in other countries for its problematic screen.

This time, armed with not just my opinion but the collective intelligence of hundreds - I was more confident about my purchase. I didn't even bother to visit the official website!!

And I haven't regretted it one bit!

Moral of the story:
The moral lies not in the phones but the way I went about buying them at each stage. And these reflect the general trend of how consumers are evaluating and buying products:

Phase I - no debates, just buy whatever is available.

Phase II - Information is wealth ( the websites). Advice of peers becomes very important.

Phase III - Immediate social network isn't enough - reach out to the whole world. You don't want anyone's 'advice' anymore - you want their 'experience'. You want to hear from someone like yourself.

We stand at juncture where what a product has to say about itself is irrelevant. We want what others have to say - and the Internet is enabling us to not just listen but also tell others about our own stories. And this is true for almost everything: I spent hours on forums and blogs that discussed laptops before buying one, I always check the IMDB or RottenTomatoes rating of a movie before watching it (hardly ever referring to the newspaper review), I checked out my employers' online social network rather their official website.

The everyday consumer is more empowered by the Internet that ever. And so is the everyday marketer. The thing is - the consumer knows this, but the marketer's just waking up.