Are Marketers Ready for The Digital Indian Consumer?

The Indian consumer is no stranger to the digital economy. Lapping up every opportunity offered, be it in the form of smartphones, data, or 4G, they now constitute the largest bock of consumers to have crossed the technology barrier. It has made India the world’s second largest internet user base, pipping the US, at 462 million and still counting.

Internet traffic via smartphones has increased by 290 percent in the past three years, delivering over 268 million new consumers to the internet up to January 2017. The writing on the wall is thus clear – the rural-urban divide in India is fast diminishing and marketers need to wake up and smell the coffee.

Let’s take a look at what digital India means:

1. Almost 17% of the time spent on Android apps worldwide came from India last year. This shows growing user preference and propensity in the country for customer experience on the mobile.
2. 75% of all internet users in India fall within the age bracket of 16 to 35 years with more new subscribers joining from its rural markets. This shows growing importance of regional linguistics and local preference among its user base.
3. Don’t be surprised - BHIM is now the number 1 app on IOS. This means – Indian consumers are not just watching their favourite videos and chatting, but doing a lot more in terms of digital transactions.
4. In 2015, 14 percent of the population had access to social media networks. This grew to almost 19 percent in 2017. This shows a tremendous potential for appification and gamification of customer experience.

Digital By Default Is No Longer A Hype

The ‘Digital India’ initiative has more than just nudged India to be on the digital highway. Today, common Indians are living the digital economy, and according to IndiaSpend analysis of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, an unprecedented 219 million Indians have opened new bank accounts and over 14 million have downloaded banking apps after the recent demonetization.

Within a few months, digital payment use in the country has witnessed an 80-fold jump among India’s 260 million smartphone owners, it says. Clearly, ’Digital by Default’ has become a reality with the site of neighbourhood grocers in India accepting e-wallets becoming a common fare. It gives a clear indication of the average citizen’s ability to switch over to digital, even for very basic experiences in everyday life. 

Riding The Digital Wave: A Peek Into The Future?

A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group shows the internet will likely contribute close to $200 billion to India’s GDP by 2020. The future indicates a sea of difference in lifestyle that awaits the average Indian consumer. Imagine a future full of IoT devices that will soon be synonymous with their daily lives. Quite possibly, a fingerprint or a simple flash of the keychain fitted with a beacon will be able to initiate payment into a POS system. Sensors, devices, and data, will work in tandem, and become a part and parcel of customer experience in India.

That’s what technology can do by putting data to work for making machines more sensitive to human needs. We are looking at a future with - No standing in long queues, no submitting endless documents, no calling customer service to initiate a request, no more traveling to the doctor for prescriptions, and many more. It is a future that is expected to be radically different, and it will be largely initiated through digitalization and automation.

Undoubtedly, marketing strategies must correspond accordingly to match the required business velocity of change. While Digital technology is expected to multiply manifold times, marketers are yet to figure out what touchpoints they can possibly leverage to redefine their connect with customers. Our internal research at Tech Mahindra shows that a key challenge for India’s marketers is to understand how they can tailor, personalize, and launch real-time strategies.

Understanding the Indian Mindset:

A recent IMRB Kantar Worldpanel study shows - Shoppers in India are not loyal to speci?c brands. Rather they tend to give their allegiance to multiple brands in each category or bucket of indulgence/experience.

In fact, heavy shoppers of a category tend to buy more brands in that same category, and this holds true for both, urban and rural shoppers across socioeconomic groups. It is a situation that will likely intensify further as India’s consumption capacity expands. Only one in seven brands will win, and they will win because of penetration and connectedness with customers.

Sustained brand growth will therefore require multi-year investment in building Memorability, Visibility, and Range. But, how to achieve this three-dimensional goal?

Make Marketing More IMMERSIVE, INTUITIVE, And INTERACTIVE

Henry Ford once famously said, he knew half of every dollar he spent on advertising and marketing was wasted. He just didn't know which half!

It is a state of mind that constantly plagues marketers as they run from pillar to post to find new avenues for expanding their customer outreach. The real opportunity for marketers today lies in creating connected experiences for consumers. There is much room for improvement with regards to use of technology for improving even the most basic service offering.

The digital economy now poses the most important need for marketers to survive in this day and age - DESIGN THINKING.

Product designers have used the concept for ages. But today, marketers need to step the foot on the pedal by going into the users’ minds, by helping them discover products and services in an intuitive and immersive manner. One of the most talked example that furthers this point is of the IPHONE design which was tested and found to be easily used by even 5 year olds.

It is NO LONGER about the PRODUCT/SERVICES but the EXPERIENCE itself that’s going to win the Indian consumer. This calls for massive transformation in the digital world as well as in the physical.

At Tech Mahindra, we have been able to fuse the power of legendary Italian Design firm - Pininfarina, and disruptive Digital Change Agents - The BIO Agency, to deliver convergent experiences for our B2C customers in Telecom, Retail, Healthcare, Transportation, BFSI industries world-wide. For these industries, it is critical to adapt quickly and make the business run, change, and grow, all at the same time to be able to catch up with their young millennial customer.

If it is anything is to go by, we must also take a look at India’s workforce which is expected to reach 900 million by 2020. The American workforce of less than 160 million, by contrast, and is the third largest. Therefore, one has to just imagine the possibilities of serving this young population to see how digitalization brings us the answers.

Today, the digital economy is asking CMOs to also be Chief Millennial Officers. We have to think, feel, do and dream like millennials to be relevant to them and there is much to learn for the entire marketing fraternity here in India.