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The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption gets its first interview in Indian daily Hindustan Times.
Last Tuesday, when Riddhi called me to say that she had read my blog and wanted to do an interview, my first (very audible) reaction was –
Ah! Finally the first interview! It has been fifteen days since I started the experiment and I was beginning to wonder why nobody has called for an interview!
To her credit, she didn’t sound shocked at all.
The interview was published yesterday on the front page of the Delhi edition –
– and the city section in the Mumbai edition –
One interesting thing I learned yesterday is that different editions of a newspaper may publish different versions of a story.
The Mumbai Edition published the full story — see text below — complete with my rules and URL.
The Delhi Edition published a much shorter version of the story — also available online — but it was on the front page and I’m not complaining at all.
Now, I’m waiting for the television crews to land up on my doorstep. 
The Simple Life
Marketing professional Gaurav Mishra has embarked on an intriguing experiment: a no-frills, no-indulgences, low-consumption life
Riddhi Shah, Mumbai
riddhi.shah@hindustantimes.com
Sunday, April 13, 2008Imagine never being able to eat out; not even a vada pav at the station. Never being able to go shopping for clothes or for gadgets. Or being able to go to the movies. Imagine not using a car or a taxi, walking as much as you can and taking the train. And having to do all the housework yourself.
Sounds like your worst nightmare? For 28-year-old Gaurav Mishra, it’s just an average day in his life. Not because he’s living a life of poverty; in fact, he’s an assistant general manager at one of India’s leading automobile companies.
But for an entire year, Mishra has set off on an experiment to go “off consumption” - which, by his definition, means that he won’t buy anything unless it’s a necessity .
“I got tired of trying to equate happiness with consumption. I’d bought so many clothes, books, DVDs and immersed myself in luxury I had success, I had money, but . didn’t know the purpose of my life,” says the Patna native.
His yearlong experiment, he says, is an attempt at finding a way to lead a simpler life. “Besides, I’ve realised that people getting tired of consumerism is going to be a big trend. And as a marketer, it’s a trend that I want to study I’m hoping this year will give me insights into what marketers need to prepare for in the future,” says Mishra, who holds an MBA from IIM-Bangalore. And like any good marketer, he also knows the latent potential of his unique experiment - Mishra is waiting for that big book deal to come through even as he writes about his daily experiences on his blog (www.gauravonomics.com). Necessity or not?
Whenever he tells people about his experiment, says Mishra, the first question is always: how does one define a necessity? But he deliberately refrains from a concrete definition. “Part of the point of the project is to figure out what exactly constitutes a necessity. That’s one of the insights I’m looking for,” he argues.
In the three weeks since he’s given up consumption, he’s already learned enough about marketing and the future of consumerism to fill a few chapters of his book: For in- stance, he says that even if he’s given up McDonald’s burgers, he’s still buying relatively expensive muesli because he considers the latter a necessity. So, he concludes, “Health food will continue to grow as a segment even if fast food doesn’t.” Or, he relates, “Because I can’t go to restaurants anymore, I’m beginning to experience the absolute lack of public places in the city It would . be a great marketing tactic for Barista and Café Coffee Day to position them selves as free spaces rather than exclusive cafes.”
He’s also tapping into the increasing populari ty of the ‘swapping economy’, after being forced to look for alternative accommodation instead of a five-star hotel the next time he travels on business. “I signed up for something called couch surfing, in which people offer their couches to strangers for free. Such free or barter arrangements promise to be a huge thing in the future,” says Mishra.
But it’s only early days. There are another 344 days to see through, and he foresees, “The biggest problem promises to be my social life. I’m worried about how I’ll continue to relate to my friends if I can’t go to a restaurant, a movie or a bar. Right now, they’re still willing to come over or meet me for a walk, or cook for me when I visit them, but at some point it’ll become too much of an effort. What will I do then?”
And of course, there’s the problem of maintaining a love life – how does a 28-year-old take a girl out on a low-consumption date? “So far, I’ve been creative and gone to Juhu beach once and cooked dinner twice, but at some point I might run out of options,” Mishra confesses.
There are other possible roadblocks. While cleaning and cooking doesn’t seem like much of a chore right now, there’s always the possibility of coming back to a dirty house, and getting desperate enough to ask his maid to come back.”
For right now though, Mishra is focusing on make the project as much of a public spectacle as possible. “It’s a way of keeping myself in check. The more people know about it, the bigger fool I’ll make of myself if I fail to see this through,” he says.
It’s not going to be easy, of course. “I’ve completely taken out all comfort food from my life. Even something as simple as eating ice cream is a problem. So,” jokes Mishra, “I’m just going to have to be happy all the time.”
Mishra’s Laws of Low Consumption
- Only basic groceries, toiletries and household items are allowed.
- Eating out and going out for paid entertainment are not allowed.
- Buying clothes, accessories and gadgets is not allowed, but repairing and borrowing them is.
- Buying books, music, or movies is not allowed, online or offline.
- Mass media are not allowed.
- Household help is not allowed.
- Buying gifts is not allowed, but giving and receiving gifts is.
- Consuming what he already has is allowed. He will only replenish if necessary.
- Work is sacrosanct; he will not let his experiment interfere with his ability to work.
Comments (3)
When I read the interview in the paper I did not connect it to your presense online. Good to connect to you online and I am sure this idea of yours will definitely provide you very useful and unique insights. Cheers Vinay
@Vinay: Thanks for your kind words.
I would avow this being more westernized .If you stay any western countries you have to subsist this kind of life.
Well it’s a excellent article .I liked it .