PD Sundar, AVP & Business Head, KSL Digital, Kasturi & Sons
If we look at the digital ecosystem, it involves talent in technology, quality content tailored for this medium, monetisation opportunities where you can work with brands, and good quality network. Experts are needed in analytics as well. A lot more work needs to be done. The main barrier to entry as far as desktop internet was concerned in India was that it was very expensive. Today, data charges have come down significantly. So, what inhibits usage is only the quality of the product and not the access. It is up to us to build the ecosystem.
If we look at the digital ecosystem, it involves talent in technology, quality content tailored for this medium, monetisation opportunities where you can work with brands, and good quality network. Experts are needed in analytics as well. A lot more work needs to be done. The main barrier to entry as far as desktop internet was concerned in India was that it was very expensive. Today, data charges have come down significantly. So, what inhibits usage is only the quality of the product and not the access. It is up to us to build the ecosystem.PD Sundar is a B. Tech (Hons) from IIT Kharagpur and holds a Post-Graduate degree in Management from IIMA. He has around 13 years of work experience primarily in the consumer internet domain and has held positions such as VP and Head of Internet Banking and eCommerce, Citibank; and Senior Director and Business Head - Classifieds, Sulekha.com before joining The Hindu group in 2012.
In conversation with exchange4media’s Deepa Balasubramanian, Sundar speaks at length about building a digital ecosystem, the new digital and mobile initiatives from The Hindu group and more… Q. How well has The Hindu leveraged the digital and mobile platform? We, as a media company, are looking at product capabilities, technological capabilities and editorial strengths to deliver what users are looking for. It’s a comprehensive strategy that we are working on. We have been present in the web space for close to two decades now and we also have a significant user base and well engaged audience on that front. Of course, in tune with the recent trends, we are now focussing on how we can enable it in the social and mobile space. We recognise the importance of digital and so we are investing heavily in this area.
As far as India is concerned, the mobile space is not only growing, but also offers a lot of potential for a media house like us. We have been running a mobile site for the last two to three years, and 15 per cent of our traffic comes from the mobile site, which is very significant.
We have also launched an Android app. There have been over 350,000 downloads and we have been having 4.6 to 4.7 rating consistently, one of the highest rated English daily apps in India. This app today contributes to 15 per cent of our traffic in a span of four months. Surprisingly, the number of times a particular user visits or interacts on our app is higher compared to that on our mobile site and website. Mobile, which is used on the go, has helped us gain interaction of users.
We will soon launch an iPhone app. From a business perspective too it is good as there are advertisers who are willing to spend on building their brands on these channels. The growth in traffic presents the potential to monetise. Enhancing the content and tailoring it to the users’ needs is what we are doing right now. Similarly, tablets and getting users to pay for content will be promising areas as well.
Q. What, according to you, are the challenges faced while getting on to the digital platform? The key challenge is that we need people with diverse skill sets, which is not readily available since it’s a new emerging media space. We need to get in new people and train them, besides adapting existing people to this new way of working. The second challenge is that we are not a technology company, therefore, we need to develop capabilities not only of technologies, but advanced analytical capabilities as well. A lot of it has to be custom built. The curse and the benefit of the digital medium is that everything can be measured. Since we have so much of data, you tend to get lost in it. So, we need to have strong analytics and also people who can understand and derive with actionable recommendations. We need to focus on developing the right kind of content. It is also important from the perspective of monetising the traffic to intelligent advertising.
Q. With brands getting on to the digital platform, what are the trends that will impact consumers’ purchase decision in the days to come? Most of the consumers do research on many of the products, even if they don’t purchase stuff online. You need to be present where the consumers are – that is mobile and the internet. If you offer your brand in an engaging manner, but it doesn’t get translated to immediate purchase, you can be sure that it will happen soon.
Q. What are some of the new initiatives that we can see from the group pertaining to the digital platform? We want to diversify and leverage The Hindu brand and the user base into areas and business ventures that are not exclusively dependent on content from our publication. All I can say is that we have ramped up our capabilities and we are close to launching new products in the near future. We are very gung-ho about the Tamil newspaper’s presence on the mobile platform. Our Tamil digital properties will come up soon with full local flavour.
Q. Digital experts believe that 2013 will be the year when mobile as a medium will be leveraged in India. What are your observations on this? It is true and I think we have kind of leapfrogged the desktop internet access. I was quite sceptical about that as for a long time the explosion of internet usage has been projected in India, but it has been a slow and steady growth rather than an explosion. But on mobile, I can actually sense the explosion happening, hopefully it will come true.
Q. How do you think the Indian digital ecosystem will shape up in the coming years? If we look at the digital ecosystem, it involves talent in technology, quality content tailored for this medium, monetisation opportunities where you can work with brands, and good quality network. Experts are needed in analytics as well. A lot more work needs to be done. The main barrier to entry as far as desktop internet was concerned in India was that it was very expensive. Today, data charges have come down significantly. So, what inhibits usage is only the quality of the product and not the access. It is up to us to build the ecosystem.
Q. What are the areas that the group will be focusing on in the coming months? We want to be fully present in all mediums and tailor the content to the medium, especially on mobiles and tablets. Also, increase the digital-enabled user base, and not just through content.
In conversation with exchange4media’s Deepa Balasubramanian, Sundar speaks at length about building a digital ecosystem, the new digital and mobile initiatives from The Hindu group and more… Q. How well has The Hindu leveraged the digital and mobile platform? We, as a media company, are looking at product capabilities, technological capabilities and editorial strengths to deliver what users are looking for. It’s a comprehensive strategy that we are working on. We have been present in the web space for close to two decades now and we also have a significant user base and well engaged audience on that front. Of course, in tune with the recent trends, we are now focussing on how we can enable it in the social and mobile space. We recognise the importance of digital and so we are investing heavily in this area.
As far as India is concerned, the mobile space is not only growing, but also offers a lot of potential for a media house like us. We have been running a mobile site for the last two to three years, and 15 per cent of our traffic comes from the mobile site, which is very significant.
We have also launched an Android app. There have been over 350,000 downloads and we have been having 4.6 to 4.7 rating consistently, one of the highest rated English daily apps in India. This app today contributes to 15 per cent of our traffic in a span of four months. Surprisingly, the number of times a particular user visits or interacts on our app is higher compared to that on our mobile site and website. Mobile, which is used on the go, has helped us gain interaction of users.
We will soon launch an iPhone app. From a business perspective too it is good as there are advertisers who are willing to spend on building their brands on these channels. The growth in traffic presents the potential to monetise. Enhancing the content and tailoring it to the users’ needs is what we are doing right now. Similarly, tablets and getting users to pay for content will be promising areas as well.
Q. What, according to you, are the challenges faced while getting on to the digital platform? The key challenge is that we need people with diverse skill sets, which is not readily available since it’s a new emerging media space. We need to get in new people and train them, besides adapting existing people to this new way of working. The second challenge is that we are not a technology company, therefore, we need to develop capabilities not only of technologies, but advanced analytical capabilities as well. A lot of it has to be custom built. The curse and the benefit of the digital medium is that everything can be measured. Since we have so much of data, you tend to get lost in it. So, we need to have strong analytics and also people who can understand and derive with actionable recommendations. We need to focus on developing the right kind of content. It is also important from the perspective of monetising the traffic to intelligent advertising.
Q. With brands getting on to the digital platform, what are the trends that will impact consumers’ purchase decision in the days to come? Most of the consumers do research on many of the products, even if they don’t purchase stuff online. You need to be present where the consumers are – that is mobile and the internet. If you offer your brand in an engaging manner, but it doesn’t get translated to immediate purchase, you can be sure that it will happen soon.
Q. What are some of the new initiatives that we can see from the group pertaining to the digital platform? We want to diversify and leverage The Hindu brand and the user base into areas and business ventures that are not exclusively dependent on content from our publication. All I can say is that we have ramped up our capabilities and we are close to launching new products in the near future. We are very gung-ho about the Tamil newspaper’s presence on the mobile platform. Our Tamil digital properties will come up soon with full local flavour.
Q. Digital experts believe that 2013 will be the year when mobile as a medium will be leveraged in India. What are your observations on this? It is true and I think we have kind of leapfrogged the desktop internet access. I was quite sceptical about that as for a long time the explosion of internet usage has been projected in India, but it has been a slow and steady growth rather than an explosion. But on mobile, I can actually sense the explosion happening, hopefully it will come true.
Q. How do you think the Indian digital ecosystem will shape up in the coming years? If we look at the digital ecosystem, it involves talent in technology, quality content tailored for this medium, monetisation opportunities where you can work with brands, and good quality network. Experts are needed in analytics as well. A lot more work needs to be done. The main barrier to entry as far as desktop internet was concerned in India was that it was very expensive. Today, data charges have come down significantly. So, what inhibits usage is only the quality of the product and not the access. It is up to us to build the ecosystem.
Q. What are the areas that the group will be focusing on in the coming months? We want to be fully present in all mediums and tailor the content to the medium, especially on mobiles and tablets. Also, increase the digital-enabled user base, and not just through content.
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