The digital world is fast undergoing major transformations, boosting its viewership and this has become a major cause of concern for TV channel operators.
The 2017 Accenture Digital Consumer survey reveals that television viewership in India has plummeted by 78 per cent in the past one year.
CEO of India’s leading digital agency iProspect India Rubeena Singh explained to the Entrepreneur India the reasons behind her sudden change of track to digital marketing after working for 12 years with renowned media channels. Sriram Manoharan, founder and MD of Contus, too, shared his views in this regard.
‘Digital is Changing People’s Habits’
“The digital wing was very small when I entered it. But today, if we talk about the most consumer-focused space, it is undoubtedly digital,” said Singh.
On what made her shift focus from traditional media marketing to digital, Singh said, “When you’re in an agency, you are at the center of an ecosystem. You see things from a different point of view and understand what will dominate the market in future. I could spot the transition towards digitization. ”
“Today the government is playing an active role in promoting apps like Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based BHIM and other e-payment initiatives. Through these initiatives, the government is pushing for a change in people’s habits,” she said.
“The way Indians are adopting digital medium especially since Narendra Modi-led BJP came to power, there is a huge tectonic shift in micro-trends changing the digital space. Considering the rise in mobile and internet penetration in India, I believe it’s going to be phenomenal in the next five years,” opined Singh.
‘Percentage of Digital Consumption is Getting Doubled’
Digital viewership has now penetrated deep into the country. Earlier, it was a phenomenon of the Metro cities. The aggressive war of telecom players in serving low-data plans has led to the increase in digital viewership in a mass scale.
As per the 2017 Accenture Digital Consumer report, “The number of people preferring to watch TV has declined to just 10 per cent from 47per cent a year earlier.”
Singh told the Entrepreneur India, “Even the telecom players have changed the dynamics in the past few months. Today, the penetration of mobile and internet in India is humongous as we see a noticeable growth in viwership of digital video content than TV. Soon people will see automated digital content rolling on their TV screens as well.”
“I see most people today access their mobile internet to watch digital content or videos on their cell phone screens. A ‘Coffee with Karan’ episode or ‘IPL series’ is no longer watched in the comfort of homes, but while on the move, mobile screens replacing the TV LCD ones,” she opined.
In fact, media reports state that Hotstar has reportedly clocked a viewership of 36.4 million compared to 34.9 million on television in the first two weeks of the Indian Premiere League (IPL).
“Companies will soon shift focus to digital branding, investing in brand awareness here, instead of roping in traditional media,” she pointed out.
“Today digital has a larger reach than TV. Companies are generating huge amount of Return of Investments (ROIs) while investing in digital branding,” asserted Singh.
What Is Attracting Entrepreneurs To Digital Space?
“I believe, minimal cost of creating and launching products that is attracting more entrepreneurs to take the digital route. Moreover, it goes without saying that innumerable Saas-based software tools help in the smooth running of digital business,” said Sriram Manoharan.
How Will Digital Industry Change Parameters In Marketing?
“You, me or any average person spends more time online than watching TV or any other media. This habitual change has been altering business marketing ways in the recent past and the same will determine brand promotional activities in future,” he said and added, “The marketing spend in the digital medium will increase substantially to overshadow the spend on outdoor marketing.”
“We don’t see many billboards today. But, we see more numbers of display adverts on websites and eCommerce sites than ever before. The industry verticals and businesses that adopt the digital medium will increase substantially in the coming years as customers would want everything to be served online, including marketing materials,” he said.
Credit – Entrepreneur
