Top 10 Digital Trends: How India will hack growth in 2016
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The 'What's Next Trend Report 2016' by Omnicom Media Group outlines the top 10 digital trends in India, emphasizing the shift towards mobile, e-commerce, and consumer-centric strategies. Brands must adapt to changing consumer expectations by leveraging content marketing, integrated storytelling, and engaging with consumers during critical moments. The report highlights the need for personalization and vernacular content as key drivers for effective marketing in an increasingly digital landscape.
Top 10 Digital Trends: How India will hack growth in 2016
- 1. What’s Next in 2016 Top 10 Digital Trends in India
- 2. Welcome to the What’s Next Trend Report 2016 Change is the only constant in life. Those who look only to the past or present might miss the future. We therefore hope that you enjoy reading this report and that it inspires you for the year ahead. At Omnicom Media Group, we’re passionate about the intersections between consumer culture, business practices and the never ending march of technology and media. We believe these intersections are what drives the future. This report is created by Omnicom Media Group in collaboration with MICA, Ahmedabad. Letter From The Editor
- 3. The future of media is about making impressions - not just buying them Click to Tweet This!
- 4. What’s in this Report CONTENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TOP 10 INDIA TRENDS FOR 2016 WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS PREDICTIONS FROM PLATFORM PROVIDERS
- 5. 2015 saw consumers getting served up and spoilt by start-ups with same-day delivery, 24/7 customer service and 365 days of mouth-watering discounts. These start-ups nailed customer experience and redefined marketing as we know it! This now leads to even higher expectations for 2016. While change is in the DNA of start-ups, it is hard for well-established businesses. To counter well-funded start-ups, established companies are being forced to let go of mass marketing channels and adopt digital for higher returns on marketing investments. Furthermore, as we continue to see consumers taking control of brands, companies now need to actively listen and engage with customers in moments that matter to them. Brands investing in content marketing are moving forward now, adopting an integrated media strategy with consistent, persuasive storytelling across channels. 90-Second Executive Summary Spends are therefore growing towards mobile, content, social and online video. Also with ecommerce now increasingly enabling the last mile transaction for brands, brands will now be able to develop more effective media and communication strategies for greater marketing funnel throughput. These trends will lead to increased investments in programmatic media and data platforms for sustainable business benefits. In addition, as mobile internet penetrates further into rural markets, brands have opportunities to reach and engage consumers with OTT (over-the-top) and vernacular content. It is time to put the customer at the center (not media) and his/her journey hast to be well understood. It is no more the responsibility of the CMO alone to drive customer centricity in a company. Marketing teams now need to break down enterprise silos and integrate functions for better customer experience and product innovation.
- 6. Top 10 India Trends for 2016
- 7. The New Currency Omnicom Media Group’s philosophy has 5 simple levers for value creation in media CHANNELCONSUMER COST CONTENT CONTEXT
- 8. India gets Mobile-ized Commerce Everywhere Story Rises Above the Medium Moment Marketing breaks Silos Rise of OTT Content Social Moves into Walled Ecosystems Form vs Function in Wearables Internet Scales Up from Urban to Rural Vernacular Content Rises Internet of Me 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 2016 trends
- 9. India gets Mobile-ized 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 Mobile is the wind beneath the wings that brands need to scale up reach and engagement India is undoubtedly a mobile-first country. With e-commerce companies moving to app only experiences, we are now pushing for a mobile- only country. Mobile continues to penetrate both rural and media dark markets, where TV and other mass marketing channels have little or no reach. Consumers are shifting to mobile for a variety of activities including video consumption and mobile shopping. Mobile is fast becoming the starting point for consumer- brand interactions. The government's emphasis on building digital infrastructure and literacy in 2016 and beyond will increase mobile penetration across urban and rural markets even further. Smarter options for search and more integrated media types are creating many micro-moments (want-to-know, want-to-go, want-to-do, want- to-buy). The emphasis on increasing visual, contextual and vernacular communication also makes mobile the chosen platform for many advertisers. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS Each mobile-enabled moment is a critical opportunity for brands to shape the decisions and preferences of your consumers. The unique ecosystem of India, with its young population, is operating in such a way right now that mobile first will be the way to go. For some brands, it even makes sense to be mobile only. Robust infrastructure on mobiles and adaptability is expected from brands in such a scenario. Otherwise, they will lose out if they don't capitalize on these trends.
- 10. Commerce Everywhere 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 E-commerce is clearly being able to answer the marketing ROI question that advertisers have been longing for With 2015 being the year of e-commerce startups, confidence levels in online purchasing have gone up. With more household decision makers going online, even local kirana store are finding it necessary to be online. Hyperlocal startups such as Niftywindow, Zopper, Grofers and Justdial are also offering online shopping which results in higher in-store traffic and repurchase. Financial inclusion via M-Wallets and Payment Banks is also driving mobile transactions. This will soon become an alternative to traditional banking services. While India is a fairly rigid cash economy, the push towards loyalty programs has helped to move the trend towards mobile payments. This is especially being facilitated between organizations and services like Ping Pay by Axis Bank. For internet dark audiences, quasi-e-commerce models by Storeking, Ipay and Edabba are being used to reach consumers. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS Mobile payment start-ups like PayTM and Mobikwik have become popular in a short period of time. They are partnering with brands to lure customers with discounts and cashback offers and even create branded wallet stores. This is an evolution from talktime offers. Even messenger apps are now providing mobile payment options. “Commerce everywhere” will mean better micro-segmentation and personalization as brands can better gauge the desires of each consumer by analyzing their online behavior. This however needs to flow across channels as ROPO (Research Online, Purchase Offline) and web-rooming will increasingly be important.
- 11. The biggest trend will be to move to ‘app only’ e-commerce Transactions on mobile (apps & web) will overtake shopping via desktop Cross device targeting & measurement will the biggest opportunity for brands on mobile RTB / Programmatic buying, targeting & measurement will grow massively Custom targeting (based on signed-in consumers) will have a large play in the future Google Predicts!
- 12. Story Rises Above the Medium 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 As we head towards a hyper-connected future, integrated storytelling will become a necessity It's time to reimagine advertising. PR, Advertising and Storytelling, as we knew it, is dead. Consumers are demanding more immersive experiences across channels and devices. Today there is no one channel, no one medium to reach the consumers. But as the media landscape continues to evolve, we pay too much attention on the medium instead of connecting with consumers. But consumers are humans, and humans don’t connect with media. They interact and connect with emotions and people respectively. So before providing a logic reason for a person to buy into the brand, start telling stories that emotionally connect with humans (not consumers). Also, in an age of selling without selling, brands need to weave in the story with consumer’s lifestyle and help address pain points for greater connect. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS For starters, it’s time that brands must have an always-on 2-screen experience strategy. A story that goes beyond the TVC or print ad into the digital medium must become a norm. Also digital ‘culture creators’ will be the new ‘brand ambassadors’. Made-for-web content creators like TVF, AIB, Y Films are partnering with brands to create digital content. Technology and content go hand in hand. With Snapchat, Periscope, wearables and experiential retail solutions, brands have ample opportunities to reach their consumers across offline and online media for integrated storytelling.
- 13. Moment Marketing Breaks Silos 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 The old days of predictable marketing have been replaced by many short bursts of digital activity In the age of social media, consumers have taken control of brands. Mobile devices have amplified this by making access to social media more real-time in nature. Brands today are expected to deliver against rising consumer expectations in ‘moments of intent’ —the times when people turn to their devices to act on a need to learn, discover, find or buy something. Therefore, the modern marketer has to be ever present in these critical moments of impact throughout the buyer’s journey. Brands need to understand the behavioral journey of their consumers and capitalize on these moments. Identifying ‘moments that matter’ to consumers is no longer optional. Brands must be present in such moments when people act on their needs to learn something, do something, or buy something. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS Brands need to provide value in key consumer moments with a new, more agile and collaborative marketing approach. Build infrastructure and processes to integrate media, creative, social listening and analytics to study and engage with consumers in real-time. To do this, marketing teams will need to drive collaboration by integrating cross functional teams that currently exist as silos, such as IT, consumer research, CRM, sales, e-commerce for sustainable business value.
- 14. Content Marketing is on the rise - the question is how do brands act as publishers - are they set up correctly (with the right organizational structure to support it), how does the brand measure expected ROI from content marketing and how do they execute at scale. Finally how will they distribute the content. One trend will be to merge content marketing and data. Outbrain Predicts!
- 15. Rise of OTT (over-the-top) Content 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 OTT will become the fastest growing content category to reach mass Indian audiences With the growing appetite for video content, it is not surprising that OTT service providers like Hotstar and SonyLiv are seeing rapid growth. The active OTT video subscriber base is expected to rise from the current 15 million to 105 million in 2020. So what's fueling this trend? Simply put, an on-demand, mobile-first economy is driving this consumption. An average internet connected user in India spends 14% of her/his time and 17% of her/his monthly spending on entertainment. It’s a "winner takes it all" category where early movers will have a significant advantage. There's also a push for regional content. Indian users prefer both long and short form videos. Leading players are targeting video content and multi screen offerings. Many traditional TV Channels (Zee, Star) have entered into the mobile TV market even though YouTube still maintains its superiority. Ease of access and bundled services will create a positive ecosystem for OTT. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS This marked shift towards OTT content means that even marketers will shift their advertising spends on digital. However, OTT tends to be based on subscription models and this presents both opportunities and challenges. Consumers rather uncover a brand as part of their viewing than watch a piece of branded content. An indirect result of OTT would be the growing numbers of binge-watching where consumers are able to access whole seasons of content without advertising interruption. Brands will need to weave in their story with the content being consumed.
- 16. Social Moves Into Walled Ecosystems 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 Consumers now want privacy – and they are able to get it With the convergence of social and mobile, the use of mobile chat apps is growing. The surge in users equates to less people interacting freely or directly on traditional (or ‘public’) social media. People are moving into walled (or ‘private’) mobile chat environments such as like Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat and Line, where majority of the conversations are un-trackable. This is further exacerbated with apps such as Snapchat where content is deleted on servers after a period of time. These messaging apps have managed to create entire ecosystems within walled environments – these include social gaming, mobile commerce as well as payment options. More users are beginning to enjoy these closed environments as it places emphasis on their privacy. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS Brand conversations are less likely to be driven by a piece of advertising. Instead, brands need to show consumers authenticity and value to inspire peer-to-peer conversations held within these chat apps and encourage community marketing. This could result in increased chances of closing a sale.
- 17. 1. People: more people will continue to share more things on social platforms making it even more engaging. 2. Marketers: a) the opportunity to leverage digital for brand and business building will gain momentum b) while performance will continue to dominate the space, wider acceptance for brand communication will speed up. 3. Platform: more mobile, more video and more programmatic with consumer centric innovations. Bottom line: consumer centric insights, smarter technology solutions and rigour will define Marketers’ success. Facebook Predicts!
- 18. Internet Scales Up from Urban to Rural 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 The Rural market cannot be ignored anymore. It is the Mecca of growth in India! The Internet economy is increasingly becoming a representation of the Indian economy. It is no more a question of whether or not, but how fast will the Internet impact lifestyles of half a billion people by 2018. According to BCG, internet usage is expanding and diversifying from a primarily urban phenomenon - accessed by young, high income users to rural and lower-income consumers across all age-groups. There remains a huge opportunity exists for marketing, brand influence, engagement, and ultimately commerce for urban markets. However, there is also semi-urban or rural consumers coming online, spanning across all age-groups. With the growth of ultra low cost hand-held devices, a mobile-first strategy will enable education, information, entertainment and banking amongst other services for rural India. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS The rise of e-commerce, social media and smart education has already encouraged the rural consumer to go online. These actions have served to further augment the change. Disruption in traditional models of banking, insurance, and governance will promote increasing relevance and therefore greater penetration. A shift to a low carbon economy, ways to connect farmers and ease of payments and business will mean that rural economy needs to be included and brands should prepare for this change.
- 19. Vernacular Content Rises 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 Vernacular strategy becomes a first mover advantage for brands With more than 65% of the population communicating in local languages, the need for local language content and services is rising. The growing penetration of mobile internet in emerging markets will result in greater demand for vernacular content on the internet. Today, 75% of online users in India prefer video content in their local languages and 40% of online traffic is for Hindi content. There is a clear demand for voice, video, social media, messenger apps and search in local languages. Google, Facebook and Twitter have launched vernacular content initiatives to get more users online. Vernacular content will become hygiene for content strategies. To drive e-commerce, our web and mobile assets will need to be vernacularized. Also government initiatives and advertising in general will be communicated in local languages. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS To remain authentic, relevant and talk-able, brands will need to create vernacular content and start engaging with consumers in their native local languages on social media, websites and other owned media platforms. Brands should no longer ignore growing native language platforms. Using local language creatives, especially on vernacular sites, results in significantly higher ROI.
- 20. Internet of Me 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 It’s not about you, it’s about ME – says today’s consumer to brands Big data is turning into smart data – it shifts media buying from audiences to individuals The future of media lies heavily within the “Internet of Things”. However, let’s not forget to keep the consumer at the centre. In a world where digitally empowered consumers are taking control of who, what, where, when and how brands are allowed to communicate with them through various media channels, brands need to hyper-personalize experiences for consumers. This is the “Internet of Me”. Understanding the behavioural journey of the consumer will become essential if a brand wants to leverage micro-moments. This results in media buying shifting from audiences to individuals in the coming future. In fact, platforms like Facebook and Google are offering the ability to combine CRM data with second and third party data. Brands will be able to leverage the power of all that data to target each individual more effectively and efficiently. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS Brands can target individuals across their consumer journey programmatically with optimization and hyper-local targeting showing them different messaging depending on attributes such as location, weather, device, local language or time of day. Brands need to start investing in this rather sooner than later. The ROI of such data-driven targeting – if executed well – is most likely higher than “traditional” campaigns.
- 21. Form vs. Function in Wearables 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 Opportunities for wearable technology is great – for both form and function To reach a tipping point, wearables need to demonstrate utility – or in other words, how can the device make the lives of individuals easier and better. Smart devices and clothing, embedded with intuitive technology, will provide seamless integration between data and consumer experience. Wearables are established in the sports and fitness space. However, we now see more ‘every-day focused’ devices entering the market. Some examples of popular fitness bands are Fitbit and Xiaomi’s Mi Band. Goqii adds a personal touch by one-on-one coaching from certified health and fitness professionals to every subscriber. However, there are still great opportunities for devices that emphasize form – i.e. aesthetic elements that make a device motivating to wear – over pure function. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS As with intuitive technology, consumers are seeking for a device that can help make their lives easier and perform menial tasks instead of being yet another aspect that demands their attention. Brands should place the consumer first and create a product that addresses real consumer needs - this may be something simple, but it will definitely be more embraced by consumers. With use of Galvanic Skin Response sensor technology in wearables, commonly used in polygraph testing or psychological research, opportunities for leveraging emotional data for real-time marketing will further increase ROI.
- 22. India gets Mobile-ized Commerce Everywhere Story Rises Above the Medium Moment Marketing breaks Silos Rise of OTT Content Social Moves into Walled Ecosystems Form vs Function in Wearables Internet Scales Up from Urban to Rural Vernacular Content Rises Internet of Me 001 003 004 005 006 008 007 009 010 002 Recap of 2016 trends
- 23. TREND-SPOTTING BY Avinash Jhangiani Managing Director Digital & Mobility Omnicom Media Group [email protected] EDITOR +
- 24. BCG & IAMAI, [email protected] FICCI-KPMG, India Media and Entertainment 2015 Accenture, Indian in FY2016 McKinsey reports Deloitte, Digital Media: Rise of On-demand Content KPCB, Internet Trends 2015 WARC.com Comscore References