MAM
Lifestyle and Habits of the Rich and Hard Working
Meet Calmat Sidhu. He resides in South Delhi with his wife and two children. He is an educated man, holding a senior position in a multinational company. He works ever tirelessly to take his company to new and greater heights. Mrs Sidhu is also educated but prefers to be a housewife.
From a marketer’s point there is nothing spectacular about the Sidhu family. In both the current national surveys, namely National Readership Survey (NRS) and Indian Readership Survey (IRS) Mr Sidhu would have qualified as SEC A. The current studies do not have the scope to analyse Sidhu further in terms of his potential as a consumer of goods and services. He would be a potential customer of both – say luxury cruises as well as washing machines.
“There is a need to understand the super rich end of the market, since as a group, their consumption is disproportionate to their size,” says Partha Ghosh, associate V-P Initiative Media. Realising the need the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) undertook this study calling it The IRS Platinum.
The Communication Channel Planning (CCP) division of Initiative Media had the first hand privilege to analyse the data. These are the unique highlights of the study.
SUPER RICH DEFINED
IRS Platinum defines super rich as any household that has a colour television, refrigerator, washing machine and a car. The study was restricted to Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, and Pune. These were the cities where there was a high proportion of households that satisfied the above criteria. These towns account for 39 per cent of all the super rich households that reside in Urban India today.
It is interesting to note that Metros such as Calcutta and Hyderabad are missing from the list. These cities would have definitely qualified by the normal demographic parameters. They missed out since the penetration of one or more of the listed durables were low in these other wise large metros.
A sample of 5,226 was surveyed by ORG-MARG on behalf of MRUC to understand the lifestyles of the affluent, with media and consumer habits of such individuals and their households. Only 3.4 per cent of the households in those six metros qualified to be called the Platinum households. Sidhu happens to be one of them.
His friends call him Sid. He resides in his own two bed roomed flat in South Delhi. He is V-P marketing in a consumer durables MNC. He is a postgraduate and holds a professional degree in marketing. He and his wife have two children. Their average monthly household income (MHI) is Rs 23,000. And interestingly enough every month 60 per cent of this amount is spent to maintain the life and style of the Sidhu household. Six years back they had bought their washing machine. Welcome to IRS Platinum.
DELHI IS THE SUPER RICH CAPITAL AS WELL
As per the study, every second Platinum household is in Delhi. Mumbai comes next but the probability drops down to one out of five. It is true that today Delhi is by far the city of the super rich of India. These households on an average have an income of Rs 24,450. Mumbai earns the highest (Rs 31,970) and Bangalore earns the least (Rs 20,180). The chief wage earner of the family is highly educated. Eighty-eight per cent of them are at least graduates! In terms of occupation, he is predominantly a businessman in Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad. In the other cities he is either an officer or an executive at a senior level.
In these households the housewife is also highly educated (68 per cent are at least graduates). However in spite of their high education only 17 per cent are either working full time or part time. The average household size is 4.5, which reflects on the nuclear structure of the families.
In this elite group, 85 per cent of them have their own house. They are now gradually going in to buy their second TV set. Almost all of them have a cable and satellite connection. These households should be now ready to try out DTH, some form of PAY-TV and of course Internet through cable. Incidentally every house has at least one telephone connection.
IF YOU HAVE IT THEN FLAUNT IT
The interesting part is the information that IRS Platinum provides on the monthly family expenditures. The patterns are indeed very revealing. On an average 61 per cent of MHI is spent to maintain the life and style of these elite households. It rises to 69 per cent in Ahmedabad and drops to 56 per cent in Chennai! The expenditure is tracked across 20 heads ranging from the monthly electricity bill to the amount spent on last eating out. On an average each head accounts for about 5 per cent of the total expenditure. The highest amount goes for Monthly provisions accounting for almost 17 per cent of the total spend.
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Eating out emerges as a trend, which is prevalent in this elite group. Two out of five households eat out at least once a month. This is highest in Bangalore (43 per cent) and lowest in Pune (33 per cent).
CHENNAI IS THE SURPRISE PACKAGE
At city level certain interesting patterns emerge. Chennai has the highest average monthly telephone bill. They spend the maximum on Personal care products as well as on Cosmetics! Likewise they spend the maximum while eating out, on alcohol and beverages, on buying gifts and also on charity and donations! A very interesting city indeed! Bangalore pays the highest monthly rents, maintenance and on travelling and conveyance.
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In terms of occupation, it is the reflection of the Indian economy with 44 per cent focussing on the manufacturing sector. Within this, engineering goods alone accounts for 8 per cent of them. This is the largest skew across all the three sectors put together. Financial services including banks (5.5 per cent) and the current favorite, IT and software (4.2 per cent) stand out amongst the rest.
In terms of the mother tongue Hindi is by far the language (78 per cent). Other than Hindi, Gujarati stands out very clearly (35 per cent) in Mumbai. As expected Gujaratis play a significant role in this elite segment.
In terms of their media habits, as expected almost all of them can be easily reached through either the print or the television. Radio has lost out (25 per cent), but of these tuning in, almost 90 per cent of them are tuning into FM! However unlike the West, predominantly they tune in at home. Listening to FM on the road is picking up but will score once all the privatised stations go on air later this year. But the surprise package is Internet. It has already overtaken Radio (30 per cent)! They are already spending more time on the Internet than in reading!
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INTERNET THE NEW AGE MEDIA
Internet is being used predominantly for Email, followed by chatting, making friends, surfing, and gathering information other than news. Commercial activities done on the net in the last one month are checking account statement, buying-selling shares/bonds and mutual funds. Relative to other cities, Internet has picked up very well in terms of reach in Chennai and Mumbai.
Internet is being used predominantly for Email, followed by chatting, making friends, surfing, and gathering information other than news. Commercial activities done on the net in the last one month are checking account statement, buying-selling shares/bonds and mutual funds. Relative to other cities, Internet has picked up very well in terms of reach in Chennai and Mumbai.
MAM
Brands push beyond compliance as trust takes centre stage
ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026 spotlights shift from legal checks to credibility.
MUMBAI: In a world where a disclaimer can be legally sound yet socially suspect, brands are learning that compliance may tick boxes but trust wins markets. At the inaugural ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026, a panel on “Beyond Compliance: The New Currency of Trust” unpacked a growing industry reality: the gap between what the law permits and what consumers accept is widening and fast.
Moderated by Meenakshi Ramkumar of National Law School of India University, the discussion brought together leaders across law, marketing and academia to examine how brands must evolve in a digital ecosystem increasingly shaped by scrutiny, scepticism and speed.
Ramkumar set the tone by highlighting a critical shift, advertising today operates in the same digital space that fuels misinformation, scams and fake news, making credibility harder to establish. “The challenge is not just about what brands do, but the broader context of low institutional trust,” she noted, adding that when violations go unchecked, trust erodes not just in brands but in the regulatory system itself.
This vacuum, she said, has given rise to consumer activism from boycotts to social media backlash as a parallel accountability mechanism.
For Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer at Marico, the distinction was clear, legal compliance is non negotiable, but insufficient. “Compliance is the minimum threshold. The real challenge is staying aligned with changing consumer expectations,” he said.
He pointed to how advertising narratives have evolved from traditional depictions of gender roles to more shared responsibilities reflecting a broader societal shift. “Earlier, it was fine to show one person doing the household work. Today, that may not land well. Consumers expect brands to reflect reality,” Bhasin observed.
He also highlighted internal debates where campaigns that may be legally permissible are still rejected for being culturally insensitive, noting that responsible advertising often requires asking uncomfortable questions before the public does.
If compliance is the baseline, reputation is the battlefield.
Bhasin noted that reputational risk has become a far greater concern than legal exposure, particularly in an era where campaigns can be dissected within hours online. “Earlier, a controversial ad might invite a newspaper editorial. Today, within hours, you’re at the centre of a storm,” he said.
Brands, he added, now evaluate campaigns through a dual lens legal viability and reputational vulnerability with the latter often proving more decisive.
From a healthcare perspective, Satish Sahoo of Cipla Health underscored the complexity of operating within fragmented yet stringent regulatory frameworks, spanning drugs, food, cosmetics and Ayush. “Anything under a drug licence is the most tightly regulated,” he said, adding that this necessitates proactive, not reactive, compliance.
He shared an example from the oral rehydration salts (ORS) category, where Cipla resisted the temptation to position products aggressively despite competitive pressure. “Our product is WHO compliant, and our communication reflects that. We chose not to blur the lines, even if others did,” he noted.
The long term payoff, he suggested, lies in credibility built over consistency, not quick wins.
Yet, as Harsha N of National Law School of India University pointed out, even perfect compliance does not guarantee trust. Drawing from historical and modern examples from exaggerated product claims in the 1800s to contemporary environmental and health advertising, he argued that legal frameworks often lag behind consumer expectations. “A brand can be fully compliant and still be perceived as misleading,” he said, citing instances where fine print disclosures fail to reach or convince the average consumer. He added that larger companies carry a disproportionate responsibility to set ethical benchmarks, even in areas where the law remains silent.
The conversation also turned to digital advertising, where the challenge extends beyond content to how ads are experienced. From algorithmic targeting to personalised messaging, brands now operate in an environment where regulation struggles to keep pace with technology.
Sahoo noted that social media has amplified awareness, with influencers and consumers increasingly scrutinising product claims and calling out inconsistencies. “Awareness has gone up dramatically. People are questioning what goes into products and what brands are saying,” he said.
The role of self regulatory bodies such as Advertising Standards Council of India also came under the spotlight.
Harsha acknowledged that while SROs play a crucial role, they are not immune to criticism, particularly around perceived conflicts of interest and enforcement gaps. “SROs have a higher threshold of responsibility not just to interpret the law, but to anticipate societal expectations,” he said.
He added that failures in self regulation often push the burden back onto government intervention, underscoring the need for stronger, more proactive oversight.
One of the more nuanced debates centred on whether building trust comes at a cost. While Sahoo acknowledged that quality and compliance can increase costs, he argued that companies must absorb them as part of their long term strategy.
Bhasin, however, framed the challenge differently not as cost, but as competitiveness in a market where not all players play by the same rules. “The real tension is when others cut corners and you choose not to,” he said.
The panel concluded with a call to embed trust into business metrics.
Sahoo suggested that organisations must go beyond revenue targets to include consumer equity and trust based KPIs, ensuring that ethical considerations are not sidelined in the pursuit of growth. “Trust sounds abstract, but it can translate into measurable consumer equity,” he said.
As the discussion wrapped up, one message stood out: the rules of advertising are being rewritten not just by regulators, but by consumers themselves. In an ecosystem where attention is fleeting and scepticism is high, brands that merely comply may survive, but those that build trust are the ones that endure.
