Just in time for the CII NID Design With India Conference to be held in New Delhi, India from December 4th 2006, Style-Vision conducted a roundtable discussion during London Design Week 2006 just passed and sent in a summary of their insights. More information and photographs available here.

Karma is a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. For the business world it will mean taking into account the entire cycle of cause and effect. Perhaps India can lead the way.

In London this year during the London Design Festival, senior management and trend researchers gathered once again for the Insight India Round Table. This event, organized by the Nice-based agency Style-Vision and Pune-based studio Onio Design, allowed a select group of trend researchers as well as design and brand managers from a wide variety of disciplines to share their views on future Indian consumers.

Yes, India is changing. Plenty has been written on Shining India in recent years. However, beyond the dream of the middle class, the country has kept many of its former characteristics.

Rural India with 72% of the population represents the real untapped market of India, reminds Professor S. Venkat of the Institute of Information Technology of Pune. A fundamentally different consumer lives there. People are using kerosene and wood as a daily source of energy but they are also buying more frequently from virtual bazaars since distribution is critical. Global brands will have to adapt their marketing techniques if they want to play and win on the Haat, the weekly market in rural areas.

The extreme diversity of Indian society remains and is mirrored by aesthetics, explains Manoj Kothari, Director of Onio Design. For instance, the intense use of ornaments and symbols are traced back to pre-Mogul history, while the sense of colour is closely linked with climate and geography (white colour in the soft South and vibrant colours in the ardent North).

However, since the economy's takeoff in the 90s, an increased geographical and social mobility is disrupting all aspects of the Indian ways of life. Leapfrogging from different technologies gives consumers direct access to cutting-edge services, according to David Griffiths, design consultant for the UK and India. An example is the lack of broadband networks causing consumers to directly use internet mobiles instead.

New ways of life and a new consciousness of the self are appearing among the new generation. The LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) are searching for a new sensuality, a mélange combining memories from the past with modern tastes, expresses Nazlin Imram, regional sensory manager for Symrise flavor and nutrition. A cheesy taste? Trendy kurta? The executive man's watch? Abhijit Bansod, chief designer of Titan watches, and Yogesh Purohit, fashion/textile designer, both rejuvenate heritage and invent the values of the new India.

The incremental and massive access of Indian consumers to a certain well-being will require the invention of innovative sustainable business models for the future India, affirms Elizabeth Olson, general manager for Beauty Design of Procter & Gamble. James Ludwig, Director of Design at Steelcase agrees that the same mistakes cannot be reproduced with natural resources, water and energy.

It is no doubt that opportunity exists in India. But the difficulty is the How? The challenging questions raised by the Indian paradox inspire global brands to tear up their conventions.

How does one create, maintain, destroy, and efficiently manage the entire lifecycle of products from its creation to its end? Such a holistic anticipation is often new for the global business world.

The participants of the Insight India Round Table started to design applications for India: a fashion brand for the youngsters, a hygiene product for rural and urban women, or an affordable computer for remote rural communities. A path to good business and good karma!

What about you? How would you design for karma?