'Masstige' is the new buzzword on marketers lips. What's 'masstige' - it's mass plus prestige or premium brands without the premium pricing. Brands across categories like Ponds, Maruti SX4, Motoflip and even Kingfisher are busy doling out masstige offerings. So, while Motorola offers snazzy phones at a cheaper price, Nivea is launching a range of grooming products for the consumer who digs aspirational products but at an affordable price.

A cellphone company with a stable of high-end models, decides to dip into the middle class market with a new model. Priced at Rs 4,000, Motorola claims to have sold five lakh Motoflip phones in the last six months. On the other hand, HLL's cold cream and talc brand - Ponds - has moved up on premium imagery. In March, it launched its Age Miracle range for the consumer who is ready to splurge to look good. Both companies are looking for space on the masstige bandwagon - the sweet spot between mass and class.

Here brands stand out as a prestige product without the expensive tag. Driving this trend is the spend happy middle class. A recent McKinsey report defines them as seekers earning between Rs 2 and Rs 5 lakhs and strivers are people earning in the Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 1 crore income bracket. Put togther, they make for around 55 million households today and are expected to drive the consumption in India for the next 20 years. So, when a personal care company, Nivea lines up for launches in the Indian market, it's toeing the masstige or mass premium line.

Managing Director, Nivea India, Kal Boris Bendix told CNBC-TV18, "Today, the consumer who buys mass products might also go for premium products. We have a very hybrid consumer these days. We are talking about people who are travelling a lot and who buy products from abroad."

Brand Consultant, Anand Halve says, "Prestige products are becoming commonplace products or price points, which were earlier considered premium prices are now base prices."

Meanwhile, other sectors like automobiles have seen a similar trend. India's family car Maruti, recently launched SX4, another offering in the masstige segment, where the earlier model - Baleno - failed to deliver. Even though it continues to sell products at the lower end of the market, to get rid of its price warrior image, in the last two years, consumer durables major, LG has stuck to premium imagery in its advertising.

Besides advertising, malls are also helping companies to indulge in experiential marketing. However, marketers who take up the mass-premium plank, (which is right in the middle of the consumer pyramid) need to constantly innovate. Because if that doesn't happen, whats a 'masstige' brand today could easily turn mass market tomorrow.

Molshree Vaid