"There is need for regional video content with local sensibilities"

From marketing and advertising to just communicating with target audiences, video has emerged as an effective media tool. Also, advancement in technology has resulted in a very high rate of consumption in content. The arrival of smartphones has further changed the video marketing game.

exchange4media chats with Arunn Asthaana, MD and CEO, VVIDIA about how video content has changed the rules of marketing, upcoming trends and demand for local content.

Why have the Indian market suddenly seen a surge in demand of video content?
It is not exactly a surge; video was always the most effective tool of communication. A picture speaks a thousand words, while a video tells a million words. One may not be able to read or hear but you can communicate with him through a video. This demand is now explicit, recorded and recognised – all because of mobile phone revolution. Now accessing these videos is far easier than ever. Again mobile is a very personal device where the individuals have full control about its usages. Any average household in India may have one TV or computer but there would be more than one mobile phone.

So, there is better accessibility to online or mobile videos now as mobile internet is growing at an unprecedented growth. There are more people tasting internet for the first time on mobile rather than a computer. We observed this trend early on and made our complete model around it. We also kept in view the penetration of internet mobile in non-metro India. Today, 29 per cent of Indian mobile users have smartphones; entertainment and knowledge is the primary motivation behind these mobile purchases.

Do you think Indian marketers and brands are using online video, as a marketing, tool to its optimum strength?
I believe the marketing guys are still not very sure. I keep interacting with multiple marketers and agency people and have often found that they think it’s little too early. Many of them cite recent penetration of 3G and very small numbers. Recently, TRAI released some data about this; it shows only two per cent of Indian mobile users have signed up for 3G. But this perception is not correct; in fact a recent survey by MEF (Mobile Entertainment Forum) found that Indian users who have even feature phone on 2G networks are highly active online. So, there is still skepticism wherein marketers are only going digital for the sake of it. Also, most of them are not working on their strategies keeping digital or mobile videos in focus. They are applying conventional means and strategies to online, especially for videos and mobile even though, it is widely believed globally that mobile marketing will account for at least 15 per cent of global online ad spend by 2016.

What are the recent trends witnessed in the consumption of online video content?
The most prominent emerging trend is streaming videos or live TV sort of features are not attracting people anymore on mobile due to various constraints such as bandwidth, length of videos, handset limitations which turns into bad user experience. Downloads or say VoD (Video on Demands) are getting more popular.

Also, there is a huge need of content in Indian languages with local sensitivities and sensibilities. While doing research in 2011-12 for content strategy for VVIDIA, we found that a huge number of people are going for videos on mobile in Tier II or III cities, proportionately much more than metro inhabitants, highlighting consumption growth, market expansion and surge in demand.

Usage and priorities to own a mobile are changing. Now entertainment is the primary motivation behind mobile purchases and videos are becoming the focal point of this entertainment. Around 30 per cent Indians buy mobile handsets for entertainment, while convenience is the primary reason for just 15 per cent.

Videos are taking centre-stage and handset makers also have realised this; thus, you find the screen size increasing with every new launch. Most of the makers are moving towards touchscreen. The two giants – Nokia and BlackBerry are still clinging to QWERTY and struggling with sales drop.

Has increase in the usage of smartphones created any new pattern in the consumption of online videos?
The availability of economical smartphones have certainly encouraged the consumption of online videos because people are getting cheap bandwidth packages to get connected, huge storage to keep the content and big screens to watch it. It is highly impacting the consumption pattern of videos. More and more people are accessing content and since they have huge storage, they want to save it for multiple and uninterrupted viewing at their convenience. So now video streaming is something that is losing its sheen, it is moving more towards download.

Moreover, since more people are looking for content, the need for local content is increasing – local languages, sensibilities, and sensitivities. Its still Bollywood, glamour is the only sort of content available; this is a hindrance to expand the market as people need more. Also, large number of mobile users in India is accessing content on their mobile even if it is not a smartphone, and they now aspire to own one.

With banners and videos used for marketing and social media used for engagement, do you think advertising on digital is suffering in terms of creativity?
The adoption of social media as a business tool among enterprises is in an early stage. Enterprises, of course, have realised the huge potential of social media as tool to connect and communicate with the TG. However, most of them do not have creatives which are specially created for digital/social platform. Most of them, as of now, are using similar creatives for online, which is created for print or television. They need to understand that digital platform is totally different from the two other media. Creative needed to be localised and the campaign should be planned accordingly.

How can brands and marketers look at leveraging mobile videos as an effective marketing tool?
The reach of mobile screens is far bigger and deeper than television or any print platform. It has a huge potential as a platform for advertisement. A campaign on a mobile platform could be easily limited to a set of target audiences/geography. Besides it is cost effective as well. A Gartner report also said that mobile advertising can be quite economical and effective. However, marketers have to ensure the content is exciting and offers a rich experience; otherwise, it would be difficult to hold the attention span of a user on a mobile device.