Mobile - the new kid on the block is taking over the media megaliths!!

Of Course! TV and Print have a long life ahead. but, Mobile as a media is rapidly making a place for itself.

 

One could have an unending debate on the above statement, as opinion today is very divided on the issue. Print in India has been around for over a century and is still growing. The advent of TV about 30 years ago started a debate on similar lines but even today both coexist and both are still growing. When Internet began its journey, again the market was abuzz with its omnipotent nature and how it would end the dominance of TV and Print. Its been about 20 years since but the balance of power has still not changed. Mobiles too, set foot in India about a decade ago and while their numbers have surpassed every other media, their role as a media has been marginal.

 

Yes, the above is true if one looks at the matter at a macro level ie at the All India level. However, if one were to look at specifc markets and segments the story is very different.  

 

Affluent Youth in Metros are a very attractive segment for media and marketers. This is a very small segment which constitutes not more than 5% of the population but is a very significant segment since consumers in this segment are very high on consumption of paid products and services, have voracious media consumption and are early adopters, influencers and change agents in society. This is an aspirational segment and a vast majority in India looks up to emulate their lifestyle. Their current media behaviour is a very good view of what the vast majority would be like in the near future.

 

Without delving too much into the numbers, lets just paint a picture of their relationship with various  media. A Smartphone or a Tablet is the primary media device in their life. They are connected 24x7 to the internet through this universal media device (UMD).

 

Yes, they read newspapers but, not the print editions. They access their favourite news brands either through their websites or news-apps installed on their smartphones. Of course! this is only when they have not already been updated through their social networks. They have special apps dedicated to each of their key interests that mash information from multiple sources and provide it in an easy snacking format that this segment is preferential to. Holding a newspaper every morning to start their day is really not a behaviour that they are habituated to and getting to read a paper edition is just incidental and not at all necessary.

 

Televsion still forms a significant part of their daily life. but, they are not unaccostomed to reaching out on their phone for their favourite content via youtube and various other mobile tv applications that are getting created everyday. Regulation of TV content and the limiting quality of display on a mobile (small size) are a barrier to them taking on to TV in a big way. However, it is just a matter of time before most of their TV viewing too shall be through their smartphones which are fast evolving into high quality multi-media devices.

 

Movies, music, socializing, information gathering, window shopping, actual shopping.. all are done via their smartphones. They value the content of the media houses across Radio, Cinema, TV & Print but interact with all the content only through their mobile phone or tablet.

 

Media companies have also seen all this but are at different stages of acceptance of this imminent reality. Their responses vary from a state of absolute denial to some who are very rapidly evolving their content and formats to suit mobile consumption.

 

Of course! the traditiional TV and Print are still the  mainstay for them from todays revenue perspective but, the situation will be very different in the near future. Mobile phones will constitue a dominant portion of their content consumption. Media brands that do not evolve will be relegated to the stone age.

 

Amongst all cell phone owners in India, smartphone ownership is less than 5% today. Imagine the situation when this ownership moves to double digit figures...

 

Mobile, is the most recent media. It is the new kid on the block. But, it is the medium which is growing at the fastest rate. And, with its growth it is phasing out other physical formats of media driving a convergence of all other media into its small screen.

 

If this scenario is too optimmistic for mobiles, let us look at a diametrically opposite segment such as the rural consumers.

 

Rural India still has a large population which is described as 'media dark' as they have extrmely low access to mass media. However, mobiles are reaching them at a faster rate everyday. In the absence of other media and various other infrastructure, this mobile is taking on a very central role in their lives. It is fast becoming their only mode of communication, information gathering and transacting. It is not long before cell phones in rural India too become their primary media devices.

 

No matter which way you take a peek at the future, the mobile is taking centrestage. Acceptance of the change is the first step for survival in the future. Media Houses, need to prepare for this future. Advertising and Communication have to upgrade their tools, techniques and philosophy to address a mobile-empowered consumer.

 

For the non-believers, I want to share this video which I saw in 2006. To many, at that time, it seemed a fantasy that would never become reality. See the video now and ponder on how much of that has already come true in the past 7 years.

 

 

The evolution and the impact of mobile on our lives and on the media business is going to be even more rapid and even more intense.

 

Yes, the mobile is taking over the media monoliths.