Consumers are more in control of how much content they want to consume & where: Mona Jain

“Decades ago when we used to present a strategy to our advertisers, or the brand managers on the other side, we used to discuss that content is the king and the audience will go where they find good quality content. The same notion is still relevant today. Content still is the king and probably it is much more relevant now as consumers have more choices across various formats. But the only difference is now they can hop skip and jump from one screen to another, unlike earlier times when television was the only medium available to watch content on,” recalled Mona Jain, Chief Revenue Officer, ABP Network while speaking at the launch of Dentsu- exchange4media Digital Advertising Report 2021. 

Speaking on the topic ‘How Media Planning Can Become Screen Agnostic,’ Jain said that now the audiences have more options as they can watch their favourite content at their preferred time and on the platform of their choice. 

“We have come a long way and I'm sure media planning techniques, and quantitative assessments would also have changed accordingly and transitted in a similar way,” mentioned Jain. 

The growth in ad spends CAGR for the last four years (2016-2020) shows maximum growth witnessed by the Digital and OTT platforms, which clearly shows where the advertisers are spending money, followed by television and cinema. “Maximum growth we see in screen-based formats which are digital/OTT, television and cinema, and that’s where the advertisers are exactly spending the money.” 

She further added that consumers who are consuming videos are more in control. There are four key trends that have distinctly emerged. First, today the computer offers ‘Self Packaging’ content, and consuming it anytime and anywhere has become the trend. She mentioned, “Consumer is more in control of how much content they want to consume and where they want to consume.” Secondly, they are time-shifting, downloading and borrowing content, and watching it at their preferred time. Thirdly, they are place-shifting and multitasking. 

A global Facebook study reiterates that 30-40% of TV viewers browse Facebook, a social platform, while also watching the main screen, which is, the television. 

She mentioned, “The media planner has to be cognizant of these trends and consumer behaviors and accordingly plan strategies to the brand campaigns.”

She also mentioned that the media consumption and interaction are more screen-based. “On average, we spend about 4.4 hours watching screens or consuming content, 90% of all media interactions are screen-based and only 10% of it is consumed on others like radio or print. 

“Hence, campaign planning should be synergistic across platforms- so that messages are seamlessly dispersed and functioning perfectly on any screen and be recognized as part of connecting campaigns. Mobile is at the epicenter of the digital ecosystem- it's the new first screen," she added. 

She further added that COVID acted as the catalyst in increasing the consumption of online content. Fuelled by a substantial increase in internet users (504 million) and growth projected by almost 70% by 2023. “COVID fast-forwarded the content access through other devices other than television - as it removed the fear of unknown- technology, comfort and familiarity of viewing of content on other screens- mobile, ipad, smart TV, etc.”

As per the BARC-Nielsen report, news consumption on smartphones in pre-COVID times was 38%, which increased to 54% and settled down at 48%. “Consumers started consuming more news content on smartphones.”

She mentioned that ABP Network completely kept pace and adapted to change. We are, therefore, has become a complete holistic proposition for media planners. “We recently relaunched our channels look and feel with the change in environment. For better connect with the audience and changing and improving content to meet changing audience requirements, we have built a formidable proposition with content adaptable to multiple screens.”

“The total viewing minutes per month, from linear TV, website and ABP app, gives a huge incremental delivery for the campaign active on all three mediums,” she concluded.