• The Future of Internet Content Consumption in India Will be Driven on the Back of Video-first, Variety, and Vernacular Content, Says Zinnov
• Moderated and personalized content is driving the growth of Indian content platform players ; The Indian content platform players, who are growing at a rate of 2X-5X, are outperforming global players growing at 1.1X – 2X
Bangalore, India, October 1, 2019 : Zinnov, a leading global management consulting firm, released a report titled, ‘The Future of Internet Content Consumption in India – Frictionless Consumer Experience for Mobile-only India and Bharat’, today. The study analyzes the changing content consumption patterns of Indian consumers, the rise of Indian content platform players, and the intersection of content and commerce as well as other evolving business models. With the 4G user base in India set to touch a massive ~900 Million in the next 3 years across tier-1, -2, and -3 cities and 5G set to make its entry in mid-2020, this opens up a plethora of opportunities for content players.
A comprehensive consumer survey conducted by Zinnov across a user base of 500+ smartphone users in India, revealed the changing consumer preferences when it comes to accessing online content. The survey revealed that 81% of tier-2 and 80% of tier-3 respondents chose mobile as the preferred platform for consuming online content. Further, a staggering 80% of respondents acknowledged that they check their phones as soon as they wake up, providing a unique window of opportunity for content platforms to push relevant and targeted content in terms of news, videos, fitness content, etc. The survey also revealed that 36% of respondents preferred recommended content over searching for content on their own, highlighting that content moderation and personalization will be a key online content preference going forward.
Video-based content is becoming the most preferred content type, with more than 68% of respondents choosing it over text-based content and the same is evidenced by the massive scale that platforms such as YouTube and TikTok have achieved in the last 2 years. Combined with the demand for video-first content, vernacularity has also surfaced as a key ask by the Indian consumer, with >70% of consumers preferring content in regional language over Hindi and English. The popularity of global apps such as Helo and local apps such as Glance, which is the fastest growing Indian content platform, stands testament to this shifting trend.
While both global and local content players in India are experimenting with different user strategies to enable a Frictionless Content Experience, it is the Indian platforms which are leading the way. Indian platforms are registering DAU (Daily Average Users) growth rates in the magnitude of 2X-5X, against 1.1X-2X average growth by their global counterparts. Indian content platforms are leveraging global VC investments to diversify their offerings with original, video-first, vernacular content, gaming, and an intersection of content and commerce, among others.
Speaking about the study, Praveen Bhadada, Partner & Global Head – Digital Transformation, Zinnov, said, “The increasingly affordable high speed Internet available today is bolstering the number of 4G subscribers in India, making it a strategic priority for both global and local platforms. In each new wave of content platforms in India, the time taken for the best in class platforms to reach a significant milestone of 30Mn daily active users (DAU) has been reducing by half.
Today, for content platforms to scale in India, it will be crucial to understand the winning imperatives of innovation and localization. Strategic planning will be key for content platforms to evolve in tandem with mobile users’ changing preferences. Identifying the sweet spot between content quality and user scale, empowering personalization through AI, creating an intersection of content and commerce, all while ensuring ‘Frictionless Content Experience’ is what will determine the leader board in these content wars”, he added.
