1. Digital Media – a Boom for the classes and Bust for the masses?
Digital Mediaall setto growwithinvestmentflooding in but so is the decisive gap between the classes
and the masses. In 2015, KPMG published a report citing that the Indian Media and Entertainment
Industry continues to grow at a good pace and is estimated at US$ 14.4 billion. Revenue streams like
digital downloads and online or cloud based music portals such as Savan and Wynk tagged as mega
contributors. The digital music industry witnessed a good deal of buyouts, sell-outs and new entries
elbowing for a slice of the very profitable digital pie! The revenue from distribution of music through
digital channels already accounts for over 50 per cent of the overall size of the music industry in India.
Global assessors agree as rating agencies hailed India the Asia-Pacific region’s bright spot for digital
consumption while the International Monetary Fund revised India’s growth forecast, expecting its
growth rate to surpass China’s in 2016.
Comparedtothe US market where the revenue generated through just Internet advertising stood at a
whopping49.5 billionUS$, Indiaisyetto fullycapitalizeonthe potential of digital marketing. However,
if the stupendous44.5 percent growthin digital advertising withinthe mediaindustry in 2014 over 2013
isany indicationof thingstocome thenIndia is well on its way to digital empowerment and that too at
an accelerated growth rate.
One of the major highlights in 2014-15 was the announcement of ‘Digital India: A programme to
transform India into a digitallyempowered society and knowledge economy’ by the government. The
governmenthasliberalized itsFDIandotherregulatorypolicies (whenitcomestowww) makingiteasier
for internationalInvestorslikethe Alibabagroupfrom China to pump in more than 500 million US$ into
Indian e-commerce ventures such as Paytm.com
India topped as the world’s fastest growing smartphone market. By the end of 2014, India had around
116 million internet enabled smartphones and the number is expected to go up to 435 million by the
year 2019. This growth presents a good opportunity for digital content aggregators, advertisers, app
developers and online streaming companies to engage users through relevant mobile-led strategies.
The absolute number of internet connections was at a record high in 2014. India’s potential for social
networkingseems to be on a rise and 41 per cent of India’s total mobile users were found to be active
participantsonsocial media.It’slittle wonderthatdigital platforms such as Facebook have tied up with
FMCG conglomeratesaswell asinternational luxury retailers to bring to India ‘tailor made’ advertising
contentthat would hook Indian audiences as international subject matter often fails to engage Indian
audiences. All of this of course at a substantial investment from global giants looking to absorb the
swelling spending power of the young Indian.
However,it’sawell-documentedfactthatDigital marketingisyettomake head way into Tier II and Tier
IIIIndiancitiesleave alone rural India. A goodexample of thiswouldbe the factthatwhere circulationof
the Printed English Newspaper is steadily going down, cannibalized by the digital editions, a rise in
circulation revenues of regional language editions is being witnessed. Due to rising cover prices and

2. subscriptions aidedbylowmediapenetration, population growth and rising income and literacy levels
this growth largely came from tier II and tier III cities.
Witha dearthof newfrequencies in the profitable A and A+ cities the Radio sector seems to be on the
losingendasthe classesturnto internationalfrequenciesonline,howeveritcontinues to do well in the
smaller towns where the concept of listening to a radio station ‘online’ is yet to take off!
Withsuch disparitiescomingtolife,itisclear that the time has come for advertisers to embrace digital
strategies that complement and not compete with the existing physical product and support brand
building and penetration efforts.
It isonlywitha 360 degree penetration made possible through integrated marketing strategies that an
advertisercanreallylooktoengagingthe all-importantconsumerwhoisalreadybeingbombarded with
a hundred communication messages every minute of his waking hours. The exhibition sector set the
right example in 2014 where several players expanded upon their brand equity and direct sale value;
both organically (especially in Tier II and Tier III cities) as well as through digital acquisitions.