I have always in my discussions with many marketing and agency professionals in India, seen a bit of cynicism with the Indian online numbers.
It's common to hear things like
- " It is too small to pay attention to this medium right now. "
- " Internet is not my medium when it comes to reaching my customers."
- " It's too niche and tiny"
I wanted to put a perspective to this and evaluate it for yourself. According to ClickZ stats, India's internet users areabout 36.47 million( according to the CIA fact book! ). Just compare the scale with a few other countries -
- Brazil has 22 million internet users!
- Australia has 13 .01 million users!
- Canada has about 20. 45 million!
- China has 99.80 million( still India's internet user base is not a bad audience size)
- France has about 25 million
- Germany has about 41 million only
- South Korea has about 31 million
- UK has 33 million users
- USA 185 million internet users
Frankly, I think the Indian online audience is a large base ( Sure. Penetration is low vis-a-vis population. But, how does that matter?). Using it in campaigns and as a customer touchpoint in tandem with the mobile population can have a telling impact.
One should not look it as just a communication medium. Forget the click thros, CPC, CPM, pageview models. I believe it has reached a size that is compelling to
a. Give more information about brands(Bring the brands alive!).
b. Can be a brilliant interactive medium for a two way dialogue right across the sales process.
c. Imaginative Applications that can make brands sit on desktops rather than seeing it as banners or links will be a great idea. For example, an apparel brand can have a grooming guide application which customers can download and refer anytime that they want.
There can be more ideas. Let's not underestimate the size and the power of this medium.