Interview with Harish Bijoor
Brand-strategy specialist &
CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.
1.
The city has many micro-markets such as
Indiranagar, Jayanagar etc. What has led to these acquiring a distinct brand
image of their own?
In the beginning there is
the city. And then there are the micro-cities. We live in urban agglomerations that are getting to be
bigger and bigger in some ways, and smaller and smaller in other ways. Both
these movements work together. Mega-cities happen by the fact that more and
more people from all over gravitate to live in these mega-clusters, drawn to
the magnet city. And micro-cities happen within them as a reaction to the fact
that the mega-city has gotten just too big for liking.
Micro-cities are movements
that are spontaneous. These are movements that occur when smaller localities
get more and more self-sufficient. People who live in these localities want to
travel out less and stay self-sufficient for all their wants, needs, desires
and even aspirations. These smaller localities then offer the best of F and B
options, the best of shopping locations and the best of entertainment options.
When a locality becomes totally self-sufficient with the bank branch, the
eating out ‘adda’ and the shopping destination, the micro city emerges. In many
ways, a Koramangala, an Indiranagar, a Kamanahalli and a Jayanagar are classic
examples of the micro-city.
Micro-city is therefore a city within a city. A
self-sufficient cluster, content on its own. Each of these clusters gradually
acquire their own unique identity and brand image. Over a period of time, new
settlers in the mega-city pick and choose their own micro-city to live in,
depending on the dominant functionality and dominant imagery that each conveys.
2.
Some micro-markets such as the Outer Ring Road are
prime office space markets. Do you see these turning into the city's prime
business districts commanding a premium in the future? What is driving them?
Even as micro-cities
emerge, specialty districts will emerge as well. These districts will be the
Shopping District of Bangalore, and the Business District of Bangalore and
more. For all you know the BIAL area will emerge as the Aviation District of
Bangalore.
The Prime office space
locations that have emerged on the ORR and the IRR for that matter, as well as
the ones that will emerge on the road to the Kempegowda International Airport,
will command a distinct imagery of their own. The more builders and their
marketers invest in this generic brand building opportunity of developing
district-imagery oriented districts, the more will it benefit their price
appreciations.
Imagine the opportunity to
develop the BIAL area as an “Aerocity” and the ORR as the “OfficeHub” of
Bangalore. And maybe an area in Whitefield as the ‘EntertainmentDistrict” of Bangalore.
3.
What are the attributes that give a micro-market
its brand image?
Focus is important. A keen
yen to focus on a set of three unique attributes helps the branding process
that much more. Look at
Koramangala. It offers the widest range of food and beverage options you can
imagine, in mid-price range. In addition to what it offers, if one can focus on
street-food and offer an entire street that goes “closed to traffic” on a
Sunday, and open to the street-foodies of Bangalore, the brand identity will
develop, slowly but surely.
Koramangala then gains a
magnet status on Sundays. When you think food, you head to Koramangala. If it
is a Sunday, you go Koramangala. These micro-cities then start competing with
one another, offering distinct USPs that help position every micro-city as it
emerges.
A mega-city will then
become a sum of its whole.
4.
Is the city heading towards an agglomeration of
micro-markets, each with its own distinct image?
Yes it is. I have
explained this in detail. Bangalore will aggregate at one end. More and more
people will throng to Bangalore as it offers more and more jobs. Bangalore will
attract people from all types of cities, towns and villages. As the mega-city
emerges as an ‘opportunity-center’, people will throng to it. Bangalore the
mega-city will then become bigger and bigger. This mega-city will be a mixed
city. It will have people form every country, and people from every state in India.
It will have urban folk rubbing shoulders with rural folk who have just entered
it.
In the midst of all this
aggregation, will occur dis-aggregation. The micro-city trend will ensure this.
Economic groups will form as a function of rentals in these micro-cities will
dictate who can afford to stay where as well.
5.
How does this phenomenon of almost each locality
being a micro-market impact the image of the city as a corporate/investment
destination?
As an investment
destination, the mega-city will not suffer. The city will continue to attract
interest. In fact micro-cities will bring about a better governance structure
as well. Ward-level governance will need to deepen and the city will be managed
better with boroughs of micro-city interests pushing more and more of local
self-governance.
Our villages have
local-self-governance mechanisms with Panchayati Raj in place. Our cities need
to replicate that through the Corporation Ward level management system. There
needs to be a greater degree of autonomy in the management of these boroughs.
The locals who live in these micro-cities need to decide how their budgets will
be deployed and on what. Citizen-participation, as an adjunct, will need to
deepen in these micro-city management systems.
6.
What sort of impact does the brand image of a
micro-market have on its real estate prices?
An excellent and positive
impact. Real-estate prices will go in tandem with the image of the micro-city.
The more you invest in a micro-city image, the more you rake it in, in terms of
real-estate prices. I would recommend every real-estate player in the city to
invest in the ‘think’ towards the micro-city movement.
7.
Is there need to plan some brand management
for the city now with a view to attract global investments?
There is surely a need.
Unfortunately, when it comes to brand thinking for a city, everyone puts it on
the back burner. In the bargain, the city writes for itself a self-fulfilling
prophesy of mediocrity. And that’s precisely what’s happening in and to
Bangalore.
Twitter @harishbijoor
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