Top 10 India TrendsDIGITAL & MOBILITY | 2014-15

Welcome to the What’s Next Trend Report 2014-15
We hope that you enjoy reading this report and that it inspires you for the year ahead.
At What’s Next we’re passionate about the intersections between consumer culture, business practices, the never ending march of technology and media. We believe these intersections are what drives the future .
This report explores the trends that are being created in 2014 when developments in each of those areas collide.
Letter From The Editor

Contents
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
TOP 10 INDIA TRENDS
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR ADVERTISERS
CONTACT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Projections & Trends
THE SMARTPHONE CONTINUES ITS DISRUPTIVE INFLUENCE, BUT AS THE INTERNET OF THINGS BECOMES EVER MORE PRESENT THE REACH OF ITS IMPACT GROWS
Mobile continues to be a game changer but its influence is evolving. As the region grows in affluence more people are connecting and they are doing it via mobile: this has a significant impact on their expectations of brands. As high-end feature phone penetration hits and goes beyond critical mass across India –even in markets like UP, Bihar, Jharkand–‘mobile natives’ are demanding short form content, and image first communications.
Executive Summary
For a long time, any discussion of the impact of digital on bricks and mortar seemed to suggest the end of the traditional shopping experience. However, the smartphone is really the pioneer of The Internet of Things (IoT) and as businesses begin to harness these two areas more effectively its beginning to change the bricks and mortar game completely with heightened experiences for consumers reinventing the retail space.
Furthermore, the impact of increased smartphone penetration and wearable technologies is empowering consumers in their daily lives. In 2014 we’ll see the IoTbecome more visible as companies begin to commercialise technologies that intuit what you need without needing to be told.

Top 10 India Trends for 2014-15

Mobile First
The Image Powered Social Web
Unstoppable Rise of Short Form Content
Context is everything
Brands are the New Publishers
Storytelling across multiple screens
Data is Gold, dig it!
Trust extends from e-commerce to m-commerce
Native Advertising
The Mobile Empowered Consumer: Intuitive Technology
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Mobile First
Source: ComScore, IDC Research, IndiaDigitalReview, SocialBeat, SocialSamosa, ForbesIndia, NextBigWhat, EcoConsultancy, IMediaConnection, ciol
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MOBILITY MUST COME FIRST, NOT AS A SECOND SCREEN OR AS A BAND-AID.
GET READY FOR MOBILE NATIVES!
The Internet user base in India crossed 243 million (a year-on- year growth of 28 per cent) in June 2014. Out of 885 million mobile users in India, 185 million are mobile internet users.
Indian smartphone shipments will reach 80.6 million units by the end of this year compared to 44 million last year. Smartphone growth will increase about 40 percent every year for the next five years.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS
Brands will need to create assets keeping mobile in mind first, then desktop. Responsive designand mobile optimized sites that can be viewed across devices will become the norm.
Mobile ads will be more mainstreamas these ads, with the right content and context will be designed to merge seamlessly with the apps and not interrupt the user experience.
Instant Messaging (IM) and chat-based social networkssuch as Whatsapp, WeChat, SnapChat, LINE and others will be utilized for brand communications, as a way to carry branded content to audiences in a targeted manner.

The Image Powered Social Web
Although predominantly text- based apps such as Line and WeChat have had enormous success of late, it’s fair to say that over the last 5 years there’s been significant change in the way that people use the internet and social media. From almost exclusively text based status updates on Facebook and 140 character updates on Twitter we’ve moved, thanks to smartphones, to a more visually dominated form of communication online. Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat have paved the way too for the image powered web.
These days it feels like meals aren’t eaten without it being documented visually somewhere online. Data to the right shows the sheer rate of growth of image centric apps, with 27% of images uploaded now being done so through SnapChat.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS
With an increasing focus on image powered communications brands need to think hard about how they create and distribute content. With imagery fuelling how we connect, its changing the form and functionality of websites and evolving how we discover. Most significantly for brands, it’s evolving what we think of as content and advertising with native advertising starting to take off. Instead of display banners, this is about promoted posts on Facebook, videos on The Vine and photos on Instagram.
Source: Internet Trends DII Conference, KPCB, May 2013
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THESE DAYS IT FEELS LIKE HARDLY A MEAL IS EATEN WITHOUT IT BEING DOCUMENTED VISUALLY SOMEWHERE ON LINE.
106 million
Total No. of Social Media Users
92 million
Active Social Media Users

Unstoppable rise of micro-video & short form content
Source: comScore, IndiaDigitalReview, ciol, Simplify360, IndianSEOCompany
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WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS
Brands should take advantage of this creativityand provide consumers with content that they can adapt, improve and share amongst their networks on their smartphones.
Content should generate interaction with consumers and offer them social currency- something they want/need to share with their social network rather than an intrusive or commonplace sales message.
Driven by Smartphones and Tablets, Video consumption on the Internet is booming. With the overwhelming amount of content and information we now have access to, consumershave an ongoing need for bite size and engaging content. Repurposed mainstream content is losing favour and dedicated internet content is growing in popularity. Consumers are no longer just consuming media but also creating and sharing it themselves.
Vine requires users to tell their stories withinsecondsto get their point across to viewers.
WITH THE OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF CONTENT AND INFORMATION WE NOW HAVE ACCESS TO, CONSUMERS HAVE AN ONGOING NEED TO HAVE BITE- SIZED AND ENGAGING CONTENT.

Context is everything
Source: e-inelligence, NextBigWhat, IndiaDigitalReview, ComScore, SocialSamosa, Simplify360
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2014 will clearly see an integration of offline and online spaces.Offline contextual factors will act as additional data sources to design and optimize campaigns.
Google nowfunctions primarily on ‘Context ’
Location-based Marketingutilizes GPS technology todeliver area-specific business data directly to the users’ smartphone or tab.
By harnessing GPS capabilities and layering that with other demographic and consumer information, marketers are able to deliver real-time messages.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS
Marketers will use context to connectwith consumers based on who they are, where they are and what they may actually want at that specific time and place.
Local content in local languages on the mobilewill be a truly amazing combination.
THE COUNTRY’S VARIOUS REGIONS HAVE DIFFERENT ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SITUATIONS. HENCE, IT’S VITAL TO HAVE LOCAL KNOWLEDGE WITH A DEEP COMPREHENSION OF LOCAL CLIENT REQUIREMENTS.

Brands are the New Publishers
Sources: SelfServiceWorld, NextBigWhat, NetNewsCheck, Steemfeed, TheMarketingNutz, IndiaDigitalReview, ComScore
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WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS
In order to hold the attention of their customers, brands are curating, publishing and distributing content that engages and attracts customers and prospects and enables their lifestyles. It is lifestyle-centric rather than product-centric.
It all boils down to creating engaging content that attracts, engages and builds a relationship with an audience which may make a purchase in time.
Content marketing is about creating interesting information your customers are passionate about so they actually pay attention to you.
Brand engagementin all its forms will come under the scanner of ROI. CMOs and organizations will seek more measured value out of platforms and channels.
This will force the ‘KPIs of Engagement’to be much more than ‘click-throughs, likes and number of fans’ across the spectrum of deliverables.
BRANDS MUST STEP UP AND BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE WHY ANYONE SHOULD TAKE THE TIME TO INVEST IN THEIR COMMUNITY AND THE PEOPLE WITHIN IT. AND THAT CAN ONLY HAPPEN WITH CONTENT MARKETING.

Storytelling across multiple screens
Sources: e-zest, LightHouseInsights, MarketingProfs, ComScore
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From smartphones and tablets to laptops and televisions, 90% of all media interactions today are screen- based. Consumers now move between screens to get stuff done: simultaneously and sequentially. Smartphones and tablets have become the enablers of two dominant forms of viewing multi-tasking.
Simultaneous ways of consuming media are growing, such as ‘media meshing’ (multiple devices simultaneously used to enhance a media experience by communicating or interacting with what they are viewing) and ‘media stacking’ (using multiple devices simultaneously to conduct unrelated tasks while watching TV). With each mobile device having a different role, it is important for us to understand how consumers use those screens: smartphones keep us connected, tablets keep us entertained and computers keep us productive. With multi-screen behavior moving more mainstream, it is essential that brands own the second screen.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS
Brands need to engage with their consumers with meaningful and shareable content to provoke conversation, interaction and an emotional connection.
Media should increasingly be thought of as a meeting point and brands need to think less about using media based on customer journeys & purchase funnels and more about choosing media based on how they can build bespoke personal relationships and friendship funnels.
WITH 90% OF ALL MEDIA INTERACTIONS BEING SCREEN- BASED, CONSUMERS ARE NOW MOVING ACROSS SCREENS SIMULTANEOUSLY TO GET THINGS DONE.

Trust extends from e-commerce to m-commerce
Sources: IndiaDigitalReview, ComScore, YourStory, SocialSamosa
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Projections indicate that in the next 5 years, more than 300 millionIndians would attempt to do their first digital transaction using a smartphone.
Mobile technologies are helping to enhance and extend the shopping experience. Lines between online and offline shopping experiences are becoming blurred.
Mobile consumer walletoffers users the convenience of recharge, utility bills payments and online shopping at the tip of their fingers and on the move. It’s an App world.
Along side mobile apps, smartphones have and will further become, indispensable pocket shopping assistants.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS
At a time when retailers are struggling to entice value-conscious shoppers, brands need to ensure that their channels work together seamlesslyto create the best, unique online and offline retail experience. These channels should help arouse curiosity and deliver unique experiences.
www is the new shopping destination!
Young India is eager to adopt new technologies to support a rapidly changing lifestyle.

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Native Advertising
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS
Native advertising gives brands an opinionated voice and driving conversations with both its existing audience and potential audience, while simultaneously building a connect with its product or service.
Branded content, effective contextual ads, sponsored texts, and advertorials are key types of native advertising.
Branded content and native advertising will take center stage.
Native advertising has slowly gained momentum with both publishers and advertisers to fill in the gaps between brand content and publisher advertising space.
Consumers are 52% more likely to view/engage with native ads than with regular banner ads; 32% more likely to share native ads in comparison to 19% likelihood of sharing banner ads; with 71% attributing higher recall value with an advertiser brand after viewing a native ad as compared to 19% for banner ads.

The Mobile Empowered Consumer: Intuitive Technology
Consumers feel the need to be connected anywhere and everywhere and expect information to accompany them. Smartphones are almost becoming an extension of the consumers themselves -rarely leaving their side. They, along with wearable technology will become so ingrained in people’s lives that we’ll eventually scarcely even notice them. Over the next 12 months we’ll begin to see the smartphone used as a ‘control’ device that manages a multiplicity of connected screens.
The Internet of Things will also mean that everything will soon become connected -not just people, but objects and places. The digital ecosystem will develop intuitively across platforms and devices, making everything work together much more seamlessly. As consumers become more comfortable with handing over their data, the more personalised technology will become.
Future technology and connectivity will become more intuitive, passive, automated and require less input from us.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS
Moving forward, brands will have plenty of opportunities to blend into this intuitive digital ecosystem.
The challenge for advertisers will be how to sync with the consumer’s frame of mind without interrupting their task. Thinking should be shifted from how and where brands can advertise on mobile platforms, to how brands can blend more seamlessly into consumers’ mobile lifestyles. With consumers having the power to filter out irrelevant messages, it is essential that brands work harder in a more human way in order to draw attention to themselves.
Sources: nVision (2013), Trendwatching.com and Warc
The Galaxy Gear launched in 2013, selling 800,000+ units in its first two months: significantly more than expected in spite of the current limitations of the product. Hundreds of other watch based devices were introduced at CES 2014.
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WITH CONSUMERS FEELING THE NEED TO BE CONNECTED ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE, BRANDS WILL HAVE PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES TO BLEND INTO THIS INTUITIVE DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM.

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Data is Gold, Dig It!
Since the advent of web 2.0 and social media platforms in 2004, there has been an explosion of consumer data on the internet.
Now that we have customer’s transactional (structured) and real- time interaction (unstructured) data available, brand communications, shaped by data and insight, will now sit at the table alongside the art of brand storytelling –across platforms.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS
Advertisers can use location patterns with existing customer data to deliver prospects custom messages at the right time by serving unique, relevant, time- targeted offers based on shopping patterns, consumer segmentations and travel patterns.
The influx of mobile devices and the introduction of wearable technologies have opened the door to a whole new world of data collection.
DATA MINING AND ANALYTICS WILL DRIVE BRAND COMMUNICATIONS AND CONTENT MARKETING.

What this means forADVERTISERS
THE CONSUMER AND ADVERTISING LANDSCAPES IN INDIA EVOLVE QUICKLYAND OMG IS CONSTANTLY THINKING ABOUT HOW TO KEEP UP WITH THAT RATE OF CHANGE IN ORDER TO HELP BUILD BRANDS AND DELIVER GROWTH.
Advertising is becoming more complex, less streamlined, and harder to execute and reach audiences at scale.Today, digital media not only presents multiple challenges, but also multiple opportunities to extend content and experiences beyond traditional media norms. Branded content and native advertising will find momentum this year.
Omni-channel advertising has been gaining momentum. Brands need to use platformsless as siloes, and more as a seamless approach to engaging with their consumers in a meaningful way and across multiple screens at the same time.
The rise of the smartphone, tablet and Smart TV penetration is presenting more and more opportunities for advertisers. The increase of smartphone ownership has also encouraged the emergence of new behaviours.
What this means for advertisers

Trend-spotting by
Omnicom Media Group, India
Avinash Jhangiani, Managing Director -Digital & Mobility
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