In the mid of July, ZEE5 launched the fourth edition of its knowledge series ‘ZEE5 Intelligence Monitor’, unravelling the latest trends of the Indian smartphone industry. The series was launched last year with the aim to track transformative consumer behaviour across key industry verticals using detailed surveys with a highly engaged user base.
The idea behind the launch of these reports was to guide business and marketing leaders in making informed business decisions by bringing forth industry-specific insights, said Rajiv Bakshi, Chief Operations Officer – Revenue, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL). In conversation with exchange4media, Bakshi, spoke about the trends and how OTT and smartphones shared a symbiotic relationship.
Excerpts:
One of the insights is that smartphones and OTT platforms share a symbiotic relationship. According to you, what fuels this growth?
In the early days, smartphones enabled OTT platforms to provide entertainment on consumers’ personal devices, on the go. Today, the roles have reversed, and OTT platforms are one of the key drivers of demand for smartphones.
Consumption of content and services are at an all-time high, now more than ever. And the trajectory has moved way beyond Tier 1 cities alone and now significantly lies in the hands of aspirational consumers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities along with rural locations. Owing to OTT on smartphones, we’re witnessing a closing gap in purchase triggers and key drivers among non-metro and metro smartphone users.
OTT platforms have played a significant role in enabling this over the last few years, particularly platforms like ZEE5, which offer thousands of hours of Hindi and regional content. From an advertising point as well, it is the ability of OTT platforms to bring together a wide range of audiences and data that helps brands sharpen their focus and derive a better return on advertising investments.
What kind of trends have you witnessed in both metro and non-metro audiences when it comes to smartphone usage?
The smartphone report has revealed amazing new trends related to the use of smartphones prevalent amongst both metro and non-metro consumers. The penetration of smartphones is one trend that highlights how the daily utility of smartphones has increased with time and thus, has permeated people’s lives to be an integral part. This is because, today, consumers use their smartphones for a plethora of reasons, right from using them for work and studies, to ordering utilities, to making payments, to being entertained. Secondly, it has been found that about 60% of the metro users are likely to replace their smartphones within six months, a trend which non-metro users are fast catching up to.
We’ve also observed a trend of consumers upgrading and purchasing smartphones according to the latest brand and technology. Additionally, as per the report, it has been revealed that around 70% of non-metro consumers often purchase their smartphones online suggesting brand trust and an overall mindset change to the Internet economy.
Another interesting trend highlighted in the report talks about how the purchasing capacity and the factors for buying a smartphone have become akin for both metro and non-metro smartphone users. This has been possible because of an increase in incomes, better exposure and increased awareness amongst users living in Tier 2, Tier 3 and rural locations, which has fuelled their aspirations toward a better life. OTT platforms like ZEE5 play a major …….