Flashback 2010: Digital trends decoded (Part 1)

afaqs! demystifies and understands a few digital tools, trends or technologies such as Android, mobile web and tablet that generated a lot of buzz last year, globally. The reverberations were felt in India too.

1. Android

Android is Google's open-source mobile Operating System (OS), which is available for free. The latest version (2.3) is called Gingerbread, while the next version (3.0) will be named Honeycomb. So what's the buzz?

The popularity

Android gained attention in 2010 as various new and existing mobile handset marketers opted to launch smartphones on the Android OS platform at different and affordable prices.

Samsung, for instance, unveiled its Android-based phone, Galaxy S, for '28,000 while Micromax launched an Android-based smartphone (named 'A60') at a much lower, sub-'7000 range.

By the end of 2010, more than 30 Android OS-based mobile phone models - 3G-enabled with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth facilities - were available in India, marketed by various players like Micromax, Spice, Videocon, Samsung, Motorola, Acer, HTC, LG and Dell.

Another reason - apart from the fact that it was open source - that contributed to Android's popularity and hype was the availability of free applications (apps) on its application store called Android Market. Interestingly, a few mobile brands like Samsung and Olive aggressively advertised their tablet personal computers - Galaxy and Olive pad respectively (powered by Android) - on the plank of these applications.

Big? Bigger?

Though no official data is available on the market size of Android OS in India, it is estimated that less than 1 per cent of total smartphones available in India are powered by Android. About 3,300 Android powered mobile devices are sold daily. That figure is expected to go up to 10,000 this year as more marketers launch Android-based devices.

According to industry estimates, more than 3 lakh Android enabled mobile devices are activated daily globally. In the US, Android has already gained a significant market share in the mobile OS market. According to comScore, more than 19 per cent of the smartphones sold in the US, in August 2010, were powered by Android. The rest of the break-up - 37.6 per cent of the smartphones were based on the Blackberry OS, 24.2 per cent on Apple iOS while Microsoft Window's Mobile had a 10.8 per cent share in the same month. On the apps front, Google recently declared that more than 1 lakh downloadable applications are now available on the Android platform.

Is it worth the hype?

The Android user base in India could reach or cross the 4 million mark by the end of 2011, if it grows by three times the speed it has up to now. Last year, it grew at 1 lakh units per month. But even so, it has a lot of catching up to do. Symbian, the leader, is miles ahead. It is estimated that it will be the OS on over 35 million units next year.

However, there is another perspective to it. It is expected that an Android user - a person who can afford a mobile phone of an average price of 12,000, is highly networked and connected and appreciates technology. Such a prospect would be more attractive from a marketer's viewpoint compared to a low-cost (less than 5,000) mobile handset user.

The marketing opportunity

* Branded applications: Companies can create branded mobile applications and distribute them through Android Marketplace or an app store. For instance, a movie ticket booking site can develop an application to enable Android users to book movie tickets through it.

* In-app advertising: Marketers can explore the opportunity of inserting ads inside mobile phone applications that are compatible with Android OS. For instance, mobile ad networks owned by Google (AdMob) and Singapore-based BuzzCity serve ads on Android applications. AdMob offers expandable and click-to-call banner ad options. Alternatively, marketers can opt for text or graphic ads served on Android-based applications available on, or affiliated to, BuzzCity's mobile ad network. Android apps are sold primarily on the basis of cost per click or cost per thousand ad impressions.

2. Mobile web

Mobile web refers to access of internet-connected content such as websites, applications, videos and games through mobile devices like GPRS-enabled mobile handset or tablet computer.

The rise of mobile web

Year 2010 witnessed a remarkable growth in the number of mobile web users. According to one industry estimate, the number of active mobile web users - those who access the internet on mobile devices at least once a week - in India, increased from 8 million (2009) to about 20 million in 2010. It is expected that the number of mobile web users will cross the 35 million mark in 2011.

Though many mobile users do not access the web through Opera Mini browser, the statistics revealed by the browser company indicate that mobile web usage is exploding. According to Opera's 'State of the Mobile Web' report, the number of mobile web pages viewed per user (in a month) increased from 339 in December 2009 to 433 in November 2010 in India.

In India, Facebook was the second most visited destination on the mobile web in November 2010 (it was at No 3 in 2009). Google occupied the top slot, as it has for the past two years. Other busy sites with Indians on the mobile were Orkut.com, Youtube.com, Getjar.com, Zedge.net (a content website that offers ringtones, themes, wallpapers and games), Yahoo.com, Wikipedia.com and Songs.pk.

The rise of mobile web usage in 2010 was primarily led by the launch of unlimited and innovative internet data plans by mobile service providers and the availability of low-cost GPRS-enabled phones, believe industry experts.

In 2010, most of the mobile operators like Aircel, Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Docomo and Uninor unveiled unlimited internet consumption data plans for less than '100 per month. Many of them even launched low-cost daily internet plans. For instance, Aircel introduced and extensively promoted Pocket Internet packages like 20 MB of free internet usage for a day at 5. Similarly, Tata Docomo started offering 10 MB of free internet usage for '5 a day.

The launch of affordable (less than '7,000) GPRS-enabled phones, especially by companies like Micromax, Spice and Intex also helped the mobile web market grow.

The availability of free applications (apps) - like in-built Facebook and Twitter apps combined with affordable internet data plans and GPRS-enabled mobile phone - could have been the trigger that set off such frequent usage of the mobile web in India. Facebook.com tied up with various mobile operators like Airtel and Videocon and made available its mobile version called 0.Facebook.com for free. It conveys that users are not charged for internet data consumed, when they access and used Facebook via 0.Facebook.com.

The marketing opportunity

The significant growth and increased usage of mobile web will help marketers reach a large number of digital media users, directly, in non-metros and tier II and III towns, apart from top metro cities. It is estimated that unlike PC-enabled web usage - which is predominantly restricted to SEC A or B type users in urban or semi-urban towns in India - mobile internet consumption is spread across the country. And this is what they can do:

* Branded applications and games: Marketers can create branded applications and games and make it available to users through mobile applications stores owned by operators (like Aircel and Airtel), mobile handset marketers (Blackberry, Apple or Nokia) and on Android apps stores.

Bajaj Allianz recently launched a mobile app for tax planning. It is a calculator that enables users to compute their tax liability. The app is compatible with almost all mobile handsets like Nokia, Samsung and Blackberry, including Android-supported handsets. NDTV had launched an Android application in 2010. The app features news stories and stream videos live from the TV channel studios.

* Location-based advertising (LBA): As users started using the mobile web and experimenting with location-based internet tools or sites like Foursquare.com on the move, marketers leveraged it to track their location and serve ads or promotional offer at a particular spot.

Café Coffee Day (CCD), for instance, tied up with Nokia to execute a two-month long location-based advertising campaign in 2010 to target consumers based on their location and drive them to the nearest CCD outlet.

Nokia users with models like the N97 and above were served CCD ads on the weather or events page. Clicking on the ad gave the users two options - click2web which took them to CCD's Facebook page and click2route which directed users to the nearest CCD. The company claims that it received a 7 per cent click-through rate within 24 hours of the launch of the campaign. About 3,702 ad impressions were served on the first day and about 263 users clicked to see the ad, of which 73 looked at the map to go to the nearest CCD. About 30 landed on its Facebook Page.

3. Tablet

Tablet computer is a touch-screen-interface-based, lightweight and internet-enabled mobile device which can be used to access websites, maps, office documents and presentations, games, instant messenger chats, e-mails, photos and videos. They can also listen to music and read digitised versions of books and magazines.

Additionally, a tablet computer also offers the functionality of calling and sending MMSes and SMSes. A tablet computer is typically smaller than a netbook but bigger than a smartphone.

The rise of the tablet

Globally, the category came into the limelight when Apple launched its tablet computer named iPad in 2010. iPad is still not available in India officially.

Various players launched tablets last year. Dell introduced a tablet computer Streak; Samsung unveiled Galaxy Tab, HP launched Slate 500, while Olive Telecom introduced Olive Pad. Most of them are priced at '23,000 and above.

Apart from the prominent brands, other players like Notion Ink, a Bangalore-based company announced the launch of an Android-based tablet - Adam. Another company, HT Impex, launched the Zen Pad at an affordable price of '13,999. Players like LG and Motorola also plan to roll-out their devices in 2011.

Bigger than a Tablet

Though various players - especially Samsung, Dell and Olive Communications - marketed their tablet computers extensively through digital and mainline advertising, the market size of tablet computers is still minuscule in India. It is estimated that about 75,000 tablet computers were sold in 2010. Most of these were Apple, sourced by consumers primarily from the grey market.

It is anticipated that the tablet market in India will cross the 2 lakh unit mark in 2011. Growth will be primarily driven by the affordability factor as brands are expected to launch their basic models below '15,000. Experts believe that tablets will not become a primary source of internet consumption this year since they are used just for viewing content.

The marketing opportunity

* Rich content experience:The bigger, high-resolution screens of tablet computers help marketers and content owners create a more enriching experience with content on the mobile devices, compared to smartphones. Content owners can build sites specially designed for touch screens or tablet computers.

* Advertising: Marketers who used to focus mainly on banner and search advertisements on mobile devices, because of the limitation of screen-size and resolution, can now leverage the rich content experience of tablet computers to experiment with other mobile advertising formats like games, in-game advertising, in-app and video advertising, which were not tested much on mobile devices before.

Marketers can connect and target tablet computer users, who are early adopters and, probably, high-end consumers or influencers, with ads.

* Branded applications: Advertisers and content owners can build applications which can be used by tablet computer owners. Koh, a Thai restaurant at Mumbai's InterContinental, developed an app - iKoh - for iPad users. The app allows users to browse the restaurant's menu for food and beverages and view pictures of dishes. Interestingly, the restaurant has started using iPad as 'interactive menu cards', powered by the iKoh app.

NDTV also created an app for iPad users. The app will offer news and live videos from various NDTV channels.

(Based on interviews with Mahesh Narayanan, AdMob; Prasanth Mohanachandran, AgencyDigi; Guneet Singh, ex-cofounder Dealsandyou.com; Rajiv Hiranandani, Mobile2Win; Anuj Kumar, Affle; Kushal Sanghvi, StratosHear Technologies; Nimesh Shah, Windchimes Communications; Gaurav Mishra, MSL Group; Hrish Dhempe Thota; Flaunge.com; Nimish Dubey, Freelance Journalist, Manoj Kandasamy, GroupM Interaction and Lalit Bhise, Mobisy.)

To read part 2 of Digital Trends Decoded, click here.