Bangalore Mega-city and its Micro-cities: An Interview

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

South India changing......

The South is a special place…..

By Harish Bijoor

The South is a special place. For more reasons than one. Setting aside the emotional one, let me explore the rational argument.

And please! For a start, let me clarify this is no jingoistic comparison of region to region. Instead, it is a clear positioning of the potential of the 4 South Indian states of India at large. If there is any comparison attempted in number terms, it is merely to give a perspective to  an otherwise dull number.

The South is an exciting place. It is home for a start to 251 million Indians. The sex ratio remains healthy. The total population number of the 4 South Indian states makes it a region that contributes   21   percent to the population of India.  If our fertile young people out here work harder, we are going to maintain this number contribution on an even keel.

In terms of employment, the South is a robust environment. The South equally exports its people to literally every part of the world, just as the South attracts the best of talent from every nook and cranny of the world. To that extent the South has emerged a mixed market. What was once a language-centric domination of the local people, has given way to multiple sets of communities co-existing happily. You will find a Kenyan rubbing shoulders with a Bengali, just as you will find a Punjabi rubbing shoulders with a Kannadiga in Bangalore. The lines of language are blurring, and the old jingoism of language is giving way to a more common adoption of Hindi as a national language. In more ways than one, Hindi is emerging the alternate language of every one of the Metros in the 4 South Indian states.  This in turn, is ironing  out the creases in consumption patterns of both media and brands and products and services alike.

If I am to look at it anecdotally, here is an example. It was a Sunday evening and auto-rickshaws on the streets of Bangalore were scarce. Every one of the registered 87,000 auto-rickshaws  in the city seemed full. Waiting at the kerb-side, I heard a heated argument taking place between Hindi speaking auto-driver and Kannada speaking passenger. The auto-driver had gathered a big crowd around him. The passenger was shouting at him in Kannada, belting out choice expletives for not running the meter and demanding an excess fare. The auto driver was just harping on one point: “Sir, don’t scold me in Kannada. This is India. Scold me. But scold me in Hindi!” The gathered crowd on up-market Commercial Street was totally with the plea of the auto-driver!

In terms of education, the South is an educated place. In many ways, the very lack of opportunity to work of yore, has by default made the entire region a place that encouraged education. The quality of education doled out by institutions in the South has made it emerge a veritable centre of excellence in higher education. Engineering, medical, management, technical and now even law and catering colleges of repute have positioned far flung towns in South India as magnet towns that attract students from all over the country and overseas as well.

Anecdotally, if you were heli-dropped at Vellore in Tamilnadu, without knowing where you were, you would never know you are in the heart or liver or gizzard of Tamilnadu. The same goes for Manipal in Karnataka, where the population of Manipal is as variegated as the population of India itself. Also, 92 per cent of this town is below the age of 25!

South India, extending that point of a young audience, is an attractive location for the young. The early end-to-end services boom happened in Bangalore and Hyderabad. These cities have emerged hubs for IT companies, Biotech firms and more. A whole eco-system of employment opportunities has emerged in the South. Slapping Bangalore on a resume has become an important adjunct to a techie today. Never mind which part of the world you live in. Bangalore is a value-add.

The South in return has risen to the occasion and put up an excellent infrastructure in place. And many are in a project-stage. Hyderabad and Bangalore  airports(in that order please) are rated among the best in the region. Bangalore has just kicked off its celebrated Metro rail system. Chennai and Hyderabad are already on work in this space. The IT campuses that dot the areas of Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Coimbatore , Kochi and Trivandrum are exciting locations that resemble something transplanted from the concrete and steel and glass jungles of Manhattan. Mysore boasts of an Infosys Learning Centre that stupefies a visitor in its sheer scale and grandeur of effort.

Add to it as an icing on the cake the super-specialty hospitals of the South, and the South-side story is complete. Well nigh nearly! Well nigh nearly, because the South is still a work-in-progress region, and there is plenty to come.

In sheer terms of per capita income, which is a function of education, employment opportunities and indeed the competition that abounds to get jobs, the South is a special place as well. TN led the per capita income stakes for FY 2010 in the South with INR 62,499.  The per capita income of Kerala stood at INR 59,179. Andhra Pradesh stood at a robust INR 51,025.  and Karnataka followed at INR 50,676. This data needs to be seen in sync with the highs and lows in India, with Goa at the top with 1,32, 719 and Bihar bringing the rear with INR 16,119.

The South is a fully-loaded consumptive location as well. Armed with per capita income that is robust, a media-exposure that is total and stable jobs that bring comfort, the South is a nice place to be if you are a marketer of a two-wheeler or a tank top for that matter. The market is wide open. Wide open to welcome ideas that are traditional and ideas that are modern as well.

The South is an exciting place to be. In sheer population terms this is a region of 251 million stomachs that put in 753 million plus meals in a single day. This is a region that drinks a lot of coffee and tea and beverages of every kind, cold and hot. That’s 251 million bladders to feed every day! Even the market for hair-oil is big. We have 251 million heads. Half of them women. And women with an average length of hair that is all of 9.2 inches. Compare that with the average length of hair on a Chinese woman: 3.1 inches! The market for hair oil and the market for shampoo and 'shikhakai' alike are that much bigger out here. Touche!

The South is a special place. Yes it is! Yes it is!

The author is a brand-domain specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, a private label consulting firm with a presence in the markets of the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and the Indian sub-continent.

Email: harishbijoor@hotmail.com

Email: ceo@harishbijoorconsults.com

Twitter.com/harishbijoor

Brand Mangalore and education

Brand Mangalore: Shaken and Stirred

By Harish Bijoor

Once upon a time, not so long ago, Mangalore was a quiet little coastal town in Karnataka. Well known for its culture, its dance, its music, its coastal cuisine (that has many a person, including the writer, salivating) and more.

Outside Mangalore, you heard of the city as the destination you had to go to when you wanted an engineering or medical seat for your son, daughter, sister, brother or cousin. Or if you were headed to some very revered temple spots.

Over the last 5 years however, Mangalore has been making news. And this news is not all about how it is emerging to be a tourist destination of much impact. Not because the area boasts of a rich eco-heritage, but for reasons completely different and completely chaotic.

We had the now-famous Pub attack led by Pramod Muthalik, followed by the reactive Pink-chaddi campaign. The latest piece of turd to hit the ceiling is the Padil home stay attack on youngsters celebrating a birthday party, with friends, cake and beer. And in-between we have had sundry church attacks, desecration of altars, pulling out of couples that looked “not married” out of buses and beating them up as well. And possibly what’s been swept under the carpet of fear is much more than what’s been reported to date in media.

Every event listed above had Mangalore make news in a big way. In a negative way that has had Brand Mangalore painted as a small little town with hordes and hordes of ‘goondas’ roaming the streets, all looking to impose a Taliban-style living.  All looking to inflict a regressive and retrograde style of living altogether. The city has also managed to earn for itself an image of being totally young-unfriendly!

Now, I do believe this is where the brand disaster really starts. A “young-unfriendly” Mangalore is really a big worry to carry as an image-tag for Brand Mangalore.  Let’s remember two things. 54% of the population of the country (including Mangalore as well) is below the age of 25.   Add to it the fact that Mangalore and its surrounding areas that cover Manipal, Surathkal and more are younger still. 

Let’s also remember some facts. Greater Mangalore (the area that includes Mangalore and its surroundings) today boasts of colleges of higher education that attract students from all over India and indeed all across the developing world at large. The listing is mind-boggling. Here goes. 17 Engineering, 6 medical, 5 Dental, 14 Physiotherapy, 19 Nursing, 13 Industrial Training, 6 Hotel Management, 9 Polytechnics, 6 Hotel Management, and the list goes on.

The point to note is that Mangalore is much more than what Mangalore was. Mangalore today boasts of a Diaspora audience of young people from all over. All younger than 25.

Mangalore is therefore one of India’s biggest educational hubs. Mangalore hosts not only all these colleges of higher education, but also hosts students from all over. Add to it the fact that the hearts of many a parent and relative lives and beats in Mangalore, where their wards now study and live. Mangalore has therefore a heart that beats for it all over India and elsewhere. Mangalore is insular no more.

Events such as the ones that have rattled the name of Brand Mangalore in recent days rattle not only the local citizenry and the people of Karnataka, but they rattle many a brand sentiment all over. Brand Mangalore has earned for itself in recent years the image of being intolerant, insular and young-unfriendly. This cannot remain. This can only prove negative to Mangalore as an education hub of significance.

Let’s remember what happened to Australia and its image in recent years with the issues that had killings and allegations of racial slurs all across. Parents and students alike, when they think Australia, they think thrice, if not twice. We don’t want Mangalore going that way as well. Or do we?

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Harish Bijoor is a brand-strategy specialist & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.

Twitter.com @harishbijoor

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Bangalore Rage!

The Rage of Bangalore



By Harish Bijoor


Bangalore is an attitude.

A city is really an attitude. A reflection of the collective attitude of its people. In many ways Bangalore is not about this now sprawling BBMP area of 740 sq km. It is not about the eclectic mix of its people. It is not about the ethnographic mix. It is not about its varied food habits. Not about its varied dressing habits. Not about its many languages. Not about the 10,000 plus expatriates who have adopted the city as their own. Remember, the city boasts a third of the expatriate population in India. The highest single cluster of expatriates anywhere in India.

A city is really the aggregate of the attitude of its people. What is the mindset of the Bangalorean at large? What is her world-view? What is her civic-view? Is she inclusive in her mindset or exclusive? What is her social attitude? How is her economic attitude fashioned? And what of his Religious attitude? How is his political attitude?

It is therefore all about attitude. A city is defined by the attitude of its people. Attitude as reflected in behavior. Attitude as portrayed by the actions of its peoples. Attitude as displayed on the sleeves of the people who make up this city.

Who makes this city then? An eclectic mix of the haves and have-nots. Bangalore boasts of a large population of industrial workers. Textile workers even. Auto-rickshaw drivers (1, 21,000 at last count), drivers of every kind who make for the travel comfort of this city. Servants and cooks and home comfort-enablers of every kind. Sweepers in the formal sector, and indeed a whole host of rag-pickers and beggars and street-singers and street-acrobats in the informal sectors.

The city ticks on with its complement of tech-workers. A big chunk of the 16 lakh population of tech-workers in the country have made Bangalore their home. Add to this people from every part of the country who work within the confines of the many enterprises in end-to-end-services, the BPO industry, retail, marketing, manufacturing, aviation and more. Name a business vertical of significance, and we have it here in Bangalore.





If you speak a region, we have them all here. Literally every one of our many States is represented in this microcosm that is Bangalore. The languages are multifarious today. From the biggest non-local chunk contribution of Telugu (12% plus), every language that is spoken in India is here. As is the food of these many regions. Add to it the many foreign languages and cuisines. Sushi is now found in as many as 19 different restaurants in Bangalore. And Korean cuisine in as many as 11.

We are a mixed city then. A healthy mix from everywhere. A mix that has found Bangalore a pleasant place to be, sans the jingoism that mars many a city elsewhere. The Kannadiga is the most hospitable and inclusive person there is. Embracing everyone into the myriad folds of the city. Bangalore is a ‘bisi-bele-baath’ all of its own. A very tasty one at that.

As I write, the city remains what it was, inclusive. What worries me though are incidents that seem to come up every now and then on our roads. Road-rage for a start. These incidents are small in number but deep in the anguish they cause among those exposed to it.

If the city is an attitude, road-rage is a stress-induced manifestation of the attitude of a city as well. There was a time when road-rage manifested itself rather politely in this city. I have personally seen instances where people have gotten out of their cars with folded hands and apologized to those who they have upset. Gone are those days. This is getting to be an angrier city. Why?

Road-rage seems to be inversely proportional to the education of its peoples. We are a reasonably well-educated city. The most educated seem to get the most angry on our roads. And road-rage seems to be a vent-point. A point where the issue of the “outsider” and the “insider” seems to manifest itself suddenly. When someone gets angry, very angry, the first shout that seems to emerge is in the mother-tongue of choice. And this is where it all starts. This is where language comes in, one opposing the other. And this is where the status of the “insider” and “outsider” comes in. And this is precisely where the government machinery and its possible biases come in as well. To the chagrin of the affected.

The attitude of the city needs a balm on the roads, particularly as our traffic-snarls increase. The snarl is really in us. We need to very consciously control this animal. Shall we make a conscious effort? And let’s educate one other person on this. Just for a start.

We need a public program that educates us about road rage. Any takers?
Harish Bijoor is a brand-expert & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.
Email: ceo@harishbijoorconsults.com