Whats Next in 2016

Top 10 Digital Trends in India

Letter From The Editor

Welcome to the
Whats 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, were 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.

The future of media is

about making
impressions not just buying them
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Whats in this Report

CONTENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

TOP 10 INDIA TRENDS FOR 2016

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS
PREDICTIONS FROM PLATFORM PROVIDERS

90-Second Executive Summary

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Top 10 India Trends for 2016

The New Currency

Omnicom Media Groups philosophy has 5 simple levers for value creation in media

CONSUMER

CHANNEL

COST

CONTENT

CONTEXT

2016 trends
India gets Mobile-ized

001

Commerce Everywhere

002

Story Rises Above the Medium

003

Moment Marketing breaks Silos

004

Rise of OTT Content

005

Social Moves into Walled Ecosystems

006

Internet Scales Up from Urban to Rural

007

Vernacular Content Rises

008

Internet of Me

009

Form vs Function in Wearables

010

India gets Mobile-ized

India is undoubtedly a mobile-first country. With
e-commerce companies moving to app only
experiences, we are now pushing for a mobileonly 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 consumerbrand 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, wantto-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.

001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010

Mobile is the
wind beneath
the wings that
brands need
to scale up
reach and
engagement

Commerce Everywhere
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.

001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010

E-commerce is
clearly being
able to answer
the marketing ROI
question that
advertisers have
been longing for

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!

Story Rises Above the Medium

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 dont 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 consumers
lifestyle and help address pain points for greater
connect.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS

001

For starters, its 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.

002

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.

003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010

As we head towards
a hyper-connected
future, integrated
storytelling will
become a necessity

Moment Marketing Breaks Silos

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 buyers 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.

001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010

The old days of

predictable
marketing have been
replaced by many
short bursts of digital
activity

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!

Rise of OTT (over-the-top) Content

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.
Its 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.

001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010

OTT will become

the fastest growing
content category
to reach mass
Indian audiences

Social Moves Into Walled Ecosystems

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.

001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010

Consumers now
want privacy
and they are
able to get it

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!

Internet Scales Up from Urban to Rural

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.

001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010

The Rural market

cannot be ignored
anymore. It is the
Mecca of growth
in India!

Vernacular Content Rises

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.

001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010

Vernacular
strategy becomes
a first mover
advantage for
brands

Internet of Me
The future of media lies heavily within the
Internet of Things. However, lets 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.

001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010

Its not about you,

its about ME says
todays consumer to
brands
Big data is turning
into smart data it
shifts media buying
from audiences to
individuals

Form vs. Function in Wearables

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 Xiaomis 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.

001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010

Opportunities for
wearable
technology is great
for both form and
function

Recap of 2016 trends

India gets Mobile-ized

001

Commerce Everywhere

002

Story Rises Above the Medium

003

Moment Marketing breaks Silos

004

Rise of OTT Content

005

Social Moves into Walled Ecosystems

006

Internet Scales Up from Urban to Rural

007

Vernacular Content Rises

008

Internet of Me

009

Form vs Function in Wearables

010

TREND-SPOTTING BY

EDITOR

Avinash Jhangiani

Managing Director
Digital & Mobility
Omnicom Media Group

avinash.jhangiani@omnicommediagroup.com

References
BCG & IAMAI, India@Digital.Bharat
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

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