MAM
Nandini Dias deciphers youth psychology for marketers
MUMBAI: Youth believes in being fluid, different, and in a way is ‘Never Still’. India has the largest number of youth. 80 per cent of India’s youth are now literate, many of them are affluent and almost all of them are chronically experimental. Indian youth was earlier fighting for literacy but now he is fighting for competition. Also, earlier he was fighting for survival but now he is fighting for identity, for a better life. These were the thoughts of Lodestar UM COO Nandini Dias who spoke at the Youth Marketing Forum here.
Dias pointed out five key aspects of youth that every marketer/brand should understand. They are:
1. The youth needs a cause to champion- Youths need to find their own identity. Brands which give them a sense of purpose find followers. From consumerism to movement, the aim is to drive mass consumer. Good examples are Garnier (go-green campaign with TOI), Whirlpool, Anna Hazare and Jago Re. Because branding is not a fad, its here to stay.
It’s important for brands to find something in which youth can participate. Sheer participation in any social cause makes the youth feel good.
2. Constant change has become a symptom of being young- Change is constant. Youth of today wants different things and therefore loyalty is at an all time low. This reflects in faster switches, whether its job or product usage, youth can’t stay with one for a long time. So, brands depicting fluidity are seen as youthful. Google has over 50 per cent young users. It keeps changing its logo (Google doodle). In 2012, in 40 days, Google has changed its logo 27 times. Youth expects to see change. Brands doing that are attracting youth. They are not making deep changes; surface brushes are done to depict ‘change’.
3. Being focused will get you to your destination but being multi- faceted can take you to places- Youth today believes in doing multiple things. Since childhood they want to learn different things, get involved in different activities; they are multi-faceted. They are more optimistic and the fearless optimism comes from the factors that they believe in – failure can’t kill you, there are many chances to bounce back, nothing is make or break and there is a correction possible.
Brands are more than products. They are expected to be multi-faceted and provide more than product for consumption. Coke Studio is a great example. They know that youth of today are driven by passion. They are more interested if the brand engages and interacts with them rather than simply being advertised.
4. ‘And Also’ is better than ‘instead of’- Youth today believes in ‘The more I do today, the more times and space I have tomorrow’. The good life is about feeling happy, but a richer life is about feeling a whole range of emotions as well. Doing more doesn’t mean living less. Information overload is a myth today. Youth is consuming multimedia in a big way. He is surfing net, texting, playing video games, talking on phone, reading. Depending on the need, brands can easily move across touch points. Brands now have more occasions, places, contents through which they can talk to a consumer than just mass media.
5. Brand now engages as friend rather than products- There is a need of external friend while modern lifestyles make room for more of media. The real world of young is shrinking. Social networks, the digital interface, are making a large number of passive relationships possible. Youth today is open to imperfection. Permitting negative feedback in social media makes a brand more honest and more human.
Brands
Beep App launches Gen-Z career platform, clocks 30,000 plus placements
Pune startup turns scrolling into career action with learn-explore-earn model
PUNE: Beep App has rolled out its newly positioned career-focused app aimed at Gen-Z users, as it looks to bridge what it calls a growing gap between exposure and employability among young Indians.
Formerly known as EventBeep, the platform is built around a simple but timely idea: turning everyday scrolling into meaningful career action. The app targets students and early professionals, offering a unified space to explore career options, learn relevant skills and access internships and job opportunities.
At a time when short-form content dominates screen time, Beep is attempting to flip the script by embedding structured, career-oriented insights within a familiar scroll-based interface. The idea is not to disrupt user behaviour, but to redirect it.
The platform spans a wide range of fields, including artificial intelligence, product management, design and data analytics. It provides users with insights into role expectations, required skills and step-by-step career pathways, supported by inputs from industry practitioners.
At the heart of the offering is a “learn, explore, earn” model that integrates discovery, skill-building and hiring into one ecosystem. The company says this closed-loop approach is already gaining traction, with over 30,000 placements facilitated so far.
“Gen-Z does not lack ambition; what they often lack is structured direction,” said Beep App founder and CEO Saurabh Mangrulkar. “The Beep App is designed to organise that exposure into actionable pathways so users can move from intent to execution with greater confidence.”
The launch comes amid a broader shift in India’s job market towards skills-first hiring, where practical experience and demonstrable capabilities are increasingly valued alongside academic qualifications.
Founded in 2021, Beep App has grown steadily within the student ecosystem, connecting over 6.5 million users with opportunities across more than 1,500 colleges and 7,800 hiring companies.
Looking ahead, the company plans to deepen its content across emerging sectors, expand its hiring network and build more personalised career pathways tailored to user behaviour.
As Gen-Z continues to navigate a complex and fast-evolving job market, platforms that can turn curiosity into clarity may well shape the next wave of career discovery.
