Connected audio users are more likely to act upon ads: Jagadeesh G, Amazon India

The e4m Screenage Conference 2023 witnessed an interesting session by Jagadeesh G, Head, Alexa Monetization, Amazon India, who spoke about how voice technology could prove to be a game-changer for brands across categories.

Addressing the question of ‘Why Voice Technology?’ Jagadeesh said, “If we travel back in time, there have been different technologies that have come and gone, to enable humans to interact. Every time there was a technology change, a part of the generation got left behind because they couldn’t adapt to the new technology and how they could interact with it.”

The reason, according to Jagadeesh, is that over the years people have tried making humans learn how to interact with machines and not the other way around. “Through voice, we are trying to make machines learn how to interact with humans, in the most natural way possible. It is the most intuitive form of human communication,” he added.

Statistically speaking, he shared that Voice is the second-highest consumed media channel in India. “We already have over 150 million monthly active users, using voice technology and India is one of the fastest markets to adapt to it,” he said.

Apart from being relevant and in the present, Jagadeesh says it is also about the kind of information one can drive with audio. “Research shows that information processing is 20-22% faster when it comes to delivering it through audio.” Another aspect with regard to conveying a message, is the language barrier, Jagadeesh pointed out.

With India being a country where every 100 km culture, food habit etc. changes, these barriers are bound to crop up. “Over 70% of Indians prefer to interact with technology in a non-English language. This is where voice can come in and plug the gaps,” he said.

The voice landscape is no longer limited to just mobile phones, Jagadeesh highlighted. “There are multiple end-points through which you can interact with audio. Of the total internet audience, already 86% of them are digital audio listeners. The interesting part is - these consumers are not just listening or interacting to audio but are also taking actions on it.”

At least 20% of them are using audio to complete an action – it could be a voice search, paying one’s electricity bill or navigating to a place you want. “One of the biggest use cases that we have seen on Amazon, is that we have seen 100% growth YoY when it comes to voice shopping.”

He also shared that voice tech is not just a metro phenomenon and 50% of Alexa users come from tier II cities and beyond metros.

Along with consumers, marketers are also acknowledging the potential of audio as a media touchpoint, Jagadeesh noted. When marketers were asked about technologies that can drive marketing strategies, 3 in the top 10 chose voice, he shared.

With the evolution that the voice landscape has seen, Jagadeesh pointed out that people are treating Alexa as a household companion rather than just a tech device at home.

During the session, Jagadeesh also touched upon the aspect of what the voice audience was like. The typical answer would be - young, affluent and educated. However, Jagadeesh highlighted that this was just the consumer who was buying the device. “There are people within that family who are the end consumers, so the audience is much, much bigger.”  He also shared that connected audio users appreciate relevant ad experiences and pay attention, and are most likely to act upon ads and interact with call-to-action advertisements.

Lastly, suggesting how brands could effectively leverage voice, Jagadeesh said that it was important to understand the target audience well, build immersive and engaging experiences and identify what kind of engagement one plans to drive with the audience.