iWorld
PubNation summit 2021: Tracking the next big surge
Mumbai: The last 18 months saw the publishing industry adapting to several new trends, leading the way to new business models and use of the latest technology. Data became the new currency, and aggressive efforts were made to mine this data to gauge the audience behaviour that also went through a constant change during this unprecedented time.
So, when digital publishers, advertisers, brands and technology providers came together at this year’s PubNation summit 2021 organised by Indiantelvision.com these evolutionary changes became the centre of the discussion.
Publishers & tech platforms shared their learnings from the year gone by and weighed in on the major growth drivers for digital publishing which lead to higher stickiness for the users and more revenue for the platforms. Dentsu Creative Group India CEO Amit Wadhwa spoke about the rise of digital which has in fact proved to be a ‘saving grace’ for the industry in the past couple of years.
HT Digital Streams chief content officer Prasad Sanyal spoke about reinventing business models, the changing workflows and tapping into the opportunity of education and video. While HT has completely shifted its focus to pivot to a digital-first approach, Sanyal said the next six to eight months will be crucial in determining the outcomes of those decisions.
The panellists also discussed how most publishers today have data analytical teams, and a lot of the decisions are becoming data-driven, and focussed on ‘audience-in’ approach. Network18 Media and Investment Ltd CEO-Digital and president – corporate strategy, Dentsu Publicis Media Services CEO Tanmay Mohanty and Firework India CEO Sunil Nair were among the other key panelists.
Mohanty highlighted how it has become imperative for publishers to share their data, so brands can plan their reach better. He also spoke about the price and efficiency one can then deliver to the client, by moving away from the walled gardens and creating a sustainable media ecosystem.
Firework’s Nair talked about the opportunity that LIVE commerce provides to ecommerce that is beginning to show promise in India. “Vertical video, swipeable video, shoppable video are far more engaging and we are seeing enough traction out there in terms of sales that’s happening,” he said.
Another session on ‘Personalisation and Monetisation through technology’ witnessed insightful discussion among representatives from InMobi, MAAS, Simplilearn, PayNearby, KreditBee and ShipRocket on the new revenue opportunities. While personalisation is crucial to creating user-centric experiences, the challenge lies in monetising it effectively through technology by creating targeted experiences to the viewers. Indian Television Dot Com founder CEO & editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari set the ball rolling by asking his panellists to share one tech innovation that they found exciting in the recent past.
KreditBee CMO Ishan Bose said the data-driven approach where they identify variables from the user’s different data sources and based on that allocate scores to the users has been a game-changer. “This has helped in amplifying the reach basis the personalisation of credit and improve the quality of lending,” he added. MAAS chief data and platforms officer Vipul Kedia discussed the omnipresence of data and how the ability to generalise data across various channels will be the driving force for advertisers going forward.
Inmobi director Microsoft advertising business Rohit Dosi said, “The data is out there. But it is ultimately up to the brand or the user on how much deep down personalisation they want. Publishers are open to working with brands to help them figure out their data strategy, but it’s finally the decision of the brands and users on the level of data privacy they want.”
PayNearby head-products Nilesh Halde talked about the marginalised set who are not highly prevalent on the digital platform- whose presence is limited to “ABC – Astrology, Bollywood and Cricket”. To target these sets of people who are rarely on social media platforms will be a challenge for brands. “Publishers need platforms to reach out to these people. Definitely an opportunity lies there. We also need to look at Bharat, rather than only India,” he said.
“There needs to be a balance between privacy and personalisation,” the panelists agreed, highlighting that the key is to make the user believe his privacy is not being invaded. While Content will keep evolving, short-format video content will continue to hold forth in the coming years too, the panelists agreed.
Another session on ‘Audience behaviour and publishers’ saw representatives from Kantar, OutBrain, Taboola, Toppr and ABP discussing the key trends that have dominated the industry over the past year based on the changing consumer behaviour. The panellists also discussed the new technologies that are bringing ad-tech platforms and digital publishers together to reach more audiences.
EMBED: https://indiantelevision.com/events/pubnation-summit-2021/
iWorld
WhatsApp emerges as key commerce channel in India: Meta report
Whitepaper shows 77 per cent of purchases influenced by social media and shoppers spend 2.5 times more across channels
MUMBAI: If shopping once meant a stroll down the high street, today it begins with a scroll on a smartphone. India’s retail journey is being rewritten in real time, as consumers glide between Instagram Reels, WhatsApp chats and physical stores with barely a pause for thought. A new whitepaper by Meta in collaboration with the Retailers Association of India argues that this shift is not cosmetic but structural, powered by artificial intelligence, short form video, creators and conversational commerce.
The numbers underline the scale of the change.
Social media now influences 77 per cent of retail purchase decisions in India, with Meta’s platforms accounting for 96 per cent of social driven discovery. Discovery itself is increasingly passive and visual rather than deliberate and search led. As much as 97 per cent of consumers watch short form video daily, and 60 per cent of time spent on Facebook and Instagram is devoted to video content.
In other words, the shop window has moved to the feed.
The report highlights the growing dominance of the omnichannel shopper, a consumer who researches and buys fluidly across online and offline environments. More than 50 per cent of retail consumers research products online before purchasing in store. Equally, over 50 per cent browse in store before completing their purchase online.
This blended behaviour is lucrative. Shoppers who buy across channels spend 2.5 times more than single channel shoppers. When customers engage across multiple touchpoints, spending rises by as much as 73 per cent. For retailers, unified commerce is no longer a strategy slide. It is a revenue imperative.
Meta India director of E commerce and retail Meghna Apparao, urged brands to focus on three pillars: Reels and creators for authentic storytelling, omnichannel performance marketing to connect platforms, and WhatsApp as a personalised commerce channel. Hitesh Bhatt of RAI noted that the challenge is no longer adopting digital tools but integrating them to deliver measurable outcomes.
Artificial intelligence sits at the heart of this integration. Indian retailers using Meta’s omnichannel optimisation have recorded more than fourfold improvements in omnichannel return on ad spend. Businesses that integrated in store sales data through Meta’s Conversions API have reported Roas uplift ranging from 2 times to 5 times or more, alongside incremental sales growth of up to 9 times depending on category and market.
Integrated data strategies have also delivered revenue growth of up to 15 per cent, suggesting that when digital signals are tied to offline outcomes, marketing efficiency sharpens considerably.
Retailers are already putting this into practice. Reliance Digital has leaned into a Reels first strategy, working with regional creators to drive engagement and measurable business impact. Croma says Meta’s AI powered tools have enabled it to integrate offline data and activate performance marketing across touchpoints, strengthening both footfall and revenue across online and physical stores.
Trust is increasingly creator led. The report finds that 71 per cent of consumers make a purchase within a couple of days of seeing creator content on Meta’s technologies. Campaigns that leverage reels and creators have delivered 71 per cent higher brand intent lift and 19 per cent lower acquisition costs.
Micro and nano creators, in particular, are accelerating purchase decisions by embedding products into relatable, local narratives. Influence is no longer confined to celebrity endorsements. It is distributed, conversational and continuous.
If Instagram and Facebook drive discovery, WhatsApp is emerging as the conversion engine. According to the report, 72 per cent of product discovery now happens on WhatsApp. Retailers using business messaging and click to WhatsApp campaigns are seeing a 61 per cent average improvement in return on ad spend, a 62 per cent increase in leads and 22 per cent higher order values.
The implication is clear. Commerce is shifting from clicks to conversations. Discovery, purchase and post purchase support increasingly unfold within a single chat thread.
The whitepaper argues that omnichannel maturity will define competitiveness in Indian retail. Consumers no longer toggle between online and offline modes. They operate across both simultaneously, often within the same buying journey.
For brands, the task is no longer about being present on digital platforms. It is about stitching together discovery, data, conversation and store experience into a unified loop that can be measured in footfall, revenue and repeat purchase.
As India’s shoppers continue to scroll before they stroll, the retailers who align AI, creators and messaging into one seamless experience may find that the path to growth is less about adding new channels and more about connecting the ones they already have.
