Role of Digital

in the new Normal

Decoding the devotees of Bacchus!

The growth of the Digital Ecosystem in India
Over the last few years, India has made rapid
strides as a digital economy and is now
considered a digital powerhouse. India's robust
Technology Start-up ecosystem is at the forefront
of value creation and technological innovation,
through its services. However, India has been a
late entrant to the internet revolution. Till the year
2000, India had just about 2 million internet
users. Thus, the growth in the user base over the
last 2 decades have been proli c.
Based on Kantar's ICUBE study, the internet
proliferation over the last 2 decades can be
grouped into 5 key eras, each coinciding with user
milestones and each lasting for about 3-4 years.
Each of these eras show a distinct progression in
the usage behavior, the infrastructure and access
devices and, thus, the pro le of users that they
have attracted. Today, the internet user population
has become truly democratized with it reaching
more than 41% of the country's population.

Digital evolution in India

Both Government led and technology led events have step changes every 3-4 years

Figure 1

500 Million
300 Million (2017-2019)
100 Million (2012-2016) ----------------
---------------- Ÿ Launch of Jio
50 Million (2009-2011)
---------------- Ÿ Launch of 4G Demonetization
First 20 Million (2006-2008)
and A ordable Ÿ OTT / Streaming
(2000-2005) ---------------- Ÿ Era of mobile
Smart phone Ÿ Smart devices
---------------- Ÿ The PC internet: Launch
Ÿ Emergence of of 3G Ÿ Growth of
Internet era
DSL services Ÿ Communication eCommerce
Ÿ Advent of
Ÿ Search & Social Media is the key driver
Email
574
313
2 21 50 111

2000 2006 2009 2012 2016 2019

Source: Kantar ICUBE Estimates

It is interesting to note that each of the era
touched a di erent aspect of human life – the
rst 20 million was all about communication and
it made postal services less important. The 2nd
milestone touched upon social being of the
consumers through the likes of Orkut and later
Facebook.
By the time India reached 100 Million users, the
power of the phone came to be fore and
Impact of COVID on the Digital Ecosystem
India's digital journey has accelerated further with
the COVID pandemic. The new social distancing
and work from home norms have created fertile
ground for new services or use cases in Healthcare
and Education, besides adding more muscle to
trends towards OTT entertainment, e-commerce
and screen-time in general.
Digital has risen to o er e cient and safer ways
for social and economic transactions which is
helpful at such times of distress. This is not the rst
time that digital has come to the fore in times of
crises. In recent times, Demonetization in 2016 led
to the growth of Digital Payments in India and
Alibaba emerged from the unfortunate SARS
outbreak of 2002 in China.
Digital has emerged as the single point solution for
all requirements of the consumers in the current
scenario. It will continue to drive digital adoption
amongst the consumers. The following are the four
COVID-19 impact on Indian Digital Consumption
Services that allow customers to stay at home and maintain social distancing will see a signi cant
upside
Figure 2
E-Commerce &
Hyperlocal Service OTT
Video Online Healthcare
Conferencing & Wellness
provided the control at the hands of the user. The
4th era was heralded by the arrival of
eCommerce which saw shopping move from high
streets to the convenience of homes. The last of
the era – the current one - is all about bringing
convenience to life – whether it is through
entertainment & streaming content or through
smart devices and assistants.
key-need cohorts that will drive digital adoption in
the current times:
Ÿ Need to access Essentials like groceries and
health – made convenient through online
grocery, online health and ePharmacies
Ÿ Need for basic Necessities like those around
Education, work from home solutions & Video
conferencing enabled through online education
solutions, conferencing solutions, collaboration
software & apps, etc
Ÿ Need for Entertainment through apps around
OTT and gaming.
Ÿ Need for Information & services through
eGovernance and other utility apps
Digital is not only addressing the current needs of
the consumers but are also providing an
alternative to the consumers to consider for the
future, thereby, resulting in behavioural changes.
Online
Education E-Governance
Working
from Home Gaming
The current crises may well act as a boon for the
industry and may propel the internet usage to
higher levels. Kantar estimates that India will have
more than 900 Million Internet users by 2025.
That's an addition of about 350 Million users over
the next 5 years. The growth will be driven by
segments that have till recently been under
represented – the rural, School going kids and
women.

India will have about 900+ million internet users by 2025

Lower penetrated segments will drive the next weave of internet adoption.

Figure 3

Rural India Women School going kids

71% of the new users Penetration Penetration
comes from rural India 2019: 35% 2019: 37%
(from 46% in 2019) 2025: 52% 2025: 60%

Source: Kantar ICUBE Estimates

However, this will also need a step shift in the way
Internet services are o ered. The country will see
the coming of age of vernacular and Voice as they
will drive the masses into using Internet. At the
same time, Digital payments will enable
consumers to seamlessly transact amongst peers
and with merchants. Smart devices will drive
utilitarian services to a completely di erent level,
whether through OTT or smart speaker or even
tness trackers.
Digital adoption amongst SMBs
SMBs have also shown signi cant adoption of digital, driven by marketing and payments

The Internet is not only driving the consumers but
also driving the Small & medium businesses of
India. Kantar's annual tracker amongst SMBs
indicate that they had been slow to digitalize their
business. However, over the last two years or so,
SMBs have moved up the value chain rapidly. The
access to cheaper data at the hands of the
business owners meant that businesses are no
longer challenged by the need to have a wired
connection. Also, access to WhatsApp and social
media makes the businesses more enabled than
ever before.

Figure 4

Engaged 2% 10% 16%

Enabled 15% 17% 33%

Connected 15% 21% 6%

O ine 68% 51% 45%

2015 2017 2019
Source: ITOP SMB Estimates

Kantar's COVID Impact study amongst the SMBs
have indicated that businesses do realize the
impact that technology & Digital can have in their
business and, inspite of their business being very
negatively impacted due to COVID-19, more than
a third of the businesses are actively exploring
digital solutions to sustain their business through
the current times and for any other future
eventualities. This will further the digital adoption
amongst this segment thereby, increasing the
proportion of businesses that are currently
bene ting from the digital revolution.

COVID-19 impact on SMBs

SMBs are looking to further strengthen their Tech/Digital portfolio to ensure unhindered business in
future

Figure 5
Impact of Overall take on Tech/digital
COVID-19 on businesses opportunities opportunities

79% 92%
Negatively Face
55%
Businesses able
35%
Digital payments,
impacted customer to visualize communicate with
businesses oriented opportunities in digital solutions,
challenges the COVID-19 online customer
crises relationship
Source: Kantar COVID Barometer MSE Estimates
Measuring the new Normal
As the sphere of in uence of digital expands
across age groups, socio-economic classes and
further bridges the gender and urban-rural divide,
the challenge for the industry is to measure the
key digital behavior dimensions and to cross-
reference them across the silos in which
information is stored, thereby, removing some of
the blind-spots of this hyper-digital landscape.
The blind-spots today span multiple areas,
starting from:
Ÿ Getting a measure of the usership of new
digital services such as the digital payments
eco-system across both consumers and
merchants, emerging services or use cases in
Healthcare and Education, device eco-systems
in homes in the post Covid world of Work From
Home and Social Distancing
Ÿ Secondly, there is the space of OTT
entertainment and the need to understand user
choices within and across the di erent OTT
Decoding digital blind spots
Figure 6
Tracking Digital Behavior
OTT Entertainment
~ What content
~ Who watches/listens
~ When
~ Which platform
Measuring new digital
~ Payment ecosystem
~ Emerging services
~ Smart home devices
~ Wearables
Annual baseline measurement
Kantar has always been at the forefront of solving
the most di cult problems and we are proud to
share with you details of our o er addressing these
gaps.
Going forward, Kantar will measure usership of
internet enabled services such as Online Gaming,
Telemedicine and Online Education in greater
detail in addition to services such as Digital
Entertainment Apps that a consumer is
subscribing to
Ÿ Thirdly, the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the
trend towards e-commerce especially for
Grocery and in a sense has established omni-
channel buying behavior rmly. The need to
understand what people are buying across
channels, who is buying what, when and on
which platform is critical for FMCG marketers to
adapt to and win in a di cult market situation
Ÿ Finally, from a communication stand-point as
consumers spend more time online and use
social media to be in touch with their friends,
people with common interests, relatives and
colleagues, there is a need to be able to predict
likely category and brand choices of social
media users basis statistically veri ed markers
that can be used to integrate the social media
pro les with other established survey currencies
for media planning.
Omni-channel commerce
~ What do they buy-drilled
down to sku and price
~ Who buy
~ When
~ Which platform/where
Decoding product/brand
linkage with social
media pro les
~ Probabilistic mapping of
likely product/brand usership
~ Who to target in social media
Finance and eCommerce. Further, end-use, value
of spends, payment options used and enablers
such as availability of vernacular support and
voice search will be mapped. Greater granularity
will be provided regarding platforms in terms of
shared franchise, pro les and geographical
strengths. Additionally, incidence of internet
enabled devices at home will be made available,
along with their end-use.
Measuring new digital
Services, Platforms and Devices

Figure 7

Services in use Platform usage Device Eco-system

Ÿ Usership of services such as Ÿ Brand level user franchise Ÿ Screens at home and form
Digital Finance, eCommerce, - across the urban and factors
Gaming, Telemedicine, rural continuum Ÿ Penetration of Smart
Education Ÿ Platform Interaction - Home Devices/Systems
Ÿ Dedicated platforms shared franchise and Wearables
Ÿ Platform adaptation assessment Ÿ Wi-Fi enabled durables
(WhatsApp for Telemedicine or Ÿ Pro le of platform users Ÿ Gaming consoles
Zoom for Education etc.)
Ÿ End-use and value of spends
Ÿ Digital Payments adoption:
Consumer & Merchant
Ÿ Other Enablers: Vemacular,
Vioce

Kantar has achieved a signi cant breakthrough
using a technology that is being patented in the
US and India to track OTT content choices. Kantar
has set up a panel of OTT Entertainment App users
across Audio and Video Streaming. The service has
been launched for Audio Streaming and the Video
Streaming Service too will be launched by June.
This will provide industry and the users with a rich
understanding of content choices and variability by
occasions, platform preferences and pro les on a
sliding window of time. The data can be deployed
for building predictive intelligence on trends that
are gaining popularity and therefore can be used
for cues for creative development as well.
Content choices, while inside OTT Apps /Podcasts
Audio Content Tracking service is live, Video Content Tracking under beta Testing

Figure 8

Predictive
Content Platforms Pro les Intelligence
Ÿ What are people Ÿ Reach of OTT platforms Ÿ Demographic pro le Ÿ Trend-spotting – Genre,
listening to or watching Ÿ Platform share Ÿ Age Issues, Performers
through OTT Apps and Ÿ Usage minutes per day Ÿ Gender Ÿ By segments
Podcasts Ÿ Creative cues
Ÿ Variability by Genre, Ÿ NCCS
Ÿ Changes in content
Day-parts /Weekday vs Ÿ Preferred Language
preferences Week-end
Ÿ Day-part Ÿ Geographic di erences
Ÿ Weekend\week-end
Ÿ Tracking choices

While there are several services tracking for FMCG, to give you a rst of its kind window to
eCommerce through multiple digital datasets, the omni-channel shopper and her choices across
Kantar is uniquely positioned to integrate channels.
ecommerce Bill Data with Kantar World Panel data

Omni-channel Commerce Ecosystem

A single view of the shopper across channel touch-points

Figure 9

eCommerce (Bill Harvesting) FMCG Shopping – Kantar Integrated view of FMCG

Ÿ Value and TXN share of Worldpanel shopping
platforms Ÿ What do they buy Ÿ First of a kind omni-
Ÿ Category Incidence, buying Ÿ When do they buy channel view
behavior and share of spends Ÿ Who buys, what Ÿ Critical in Post-Covid
Ÿ Brand switching environment as
Ÿ Variability by consumer
consumers switch across
groups channels to get the
desired merchandise

Finally, Kantar bring to you its deep pro ling to enable industry and its users to connect o ine
capabilities layered with Social Media Personas and online media worlds and likely category
derived basis social media posts, likes and dislikes choices of such personas.
Decoding Product /Brand linkages with Social Media pro les

Deep pro ling capabilities layered with online behaviour

through social analytics:
Ÿ Reach the online intenders in the o ine world and vice versa
Ÿ Connect the o ine with the online media world
Ÿ Understand the digital personas of your consumer
Ÿ Know the social media speak among various consumer groups
Ÿ Creative cues that will work basis their online interest areas

To sum up, we are committed to making our
currency o ers for digital measurement more
contextual in these tumultuous times of change.
Our portfolio includes:
Ÿ ICUBE™ which is ttingly being revamped with
deeper dives on the emerging and established
internet services.
Ÿ OTT Entertainment Panel which Kantar has
launched earlier this month, the rst of its kind
Panel to track Audio and Video Streaming on
OTT Entertainment Platforms
Ÿ We will provide you a seamless omni-channel
view of the shopper and her choices by
integrating Kantar World Panel and
eCommerce Bill Data on eMarketPulse
Ÿ Finally, the service to enable integration of
Social Media Personas with Product Usership or
Traditional Media, has been launched earlier
this year as TGI Social.

2020: Looking ahead...

We are committed to making our currency o ers for digital measurement more contextual, in these
tumultuous times of change.

ICUBE™ is ttingly being
revamped with deeper
dives on the emerging and
established internet
services. This spans
Communication, Social
Media, Health, Education,
Entertainment, Commerce,
Digital Finance, Payments
and Gaming.
Kantar has We will provide you Finally, Social Media
launched earlier a seamless omni- Personas and
this month, the rst channel view of the Product\Traditional
of its kind Panel to shopper and her Media Pro les
track Audio and choices by integration service
Video Streaming on integrating Kantar has been launched
OTT Entertainment World Panel and earlier this year as
Platforms. eCommerce Bill TGI Social.
Data on
eMarketPulse.

India is seeing a dawn of a new normal, one that
will be shaped by Digital. Digital will touch all
aspects of our life, whether it is work or
entertainment, education or social, nancial or
marketing. Essentially, it will be a single element
that connects life and livelihood and
everything around it. In this new normal, the
initiatives from Kantar will aid the industry
and the users add value to their business
decisions in the present and post-COVID
world.