Web2.0 in India, is slowly but steadily gaining some pace. Sameer Khandelwal, Group Head Business Development from Position2 believes “The advent of always-on computing and web 2.0 applications has enabled the Internet as our desktop. From photo-sharing to online spread-sheets, Indian’s are embracing the paradigm shift of web 2.0 applications. YouTube has over 88,500 videos for the search tag ‘India’, 52,400 for ‘desi’, from ‘desi superman’ in Punjabi to ‘english babu desi mem’ in Hindi. This analogy is repeated across popular web 2.0 sites with India-related user-generated content”.
Even though Indians are adapting to web2.0, we are more tuned to the international web2.0 platforms like Orkut, Facebook. India in that sense lacks a web2.0 brand that can be exclusive and explosive. Sidharth Rao, Founder and CEO, Webchutney, claims that “That most of the popular web2.0 platforms in India are International. Indian web2.0 sites will grow but the true question to be answered is will they sustain their self? Gang of Girls claims that it has 1 million users, will they be able attract more users, and can they stand out to differentiate themselves?”
Mr Rao also believes that Indian Broadband connections have a huge impact in the way the internet is and can be used. Cyber café that run on narrow band connections also contribute to the broadband issues.
While mobile telephony has taken off with cheaper tariffs and low cost mobile phones, broadband usage stands at a mere 2.1 million users. The lack of broadband connection in India is considered as one of the major factors that hinders the growth of web2.0 in India. If the broadband connections in India improve it will directly impact the rate of participation on the web2.0 platform.
Another factor that acts like an obstacle for web2.0 is the experience of trust. Manish Vij Business Head, Quasar, quotes that “The Indian society always had a lower contribution of “trust” factor therefore the trust which the digital generation will build over other digital users is important to maintain. Better the experiences – the better the growth. I have always respected the job done by reviewers and bloggers but I repeatedly encourage them to only write truth because this is an important factor of the growth of this medium.”
There has recently been a lot of debate of whether web2.0 is here to stay. Its commercial implications have been taken advantage of in many parts of the world. India too is catching up on this race, but to do so Mr Ratan KK, the man behind Pinstorms, New Year Campaign, Says “As long as web2.0 insists the topic of discussion are more focused and structured it will help commercialization”
Mr Ratan believes there’s a variety of web 2.0 but it is still not focused. He states that anyone can start a web2.0 platform, but if the topics being discussed are not focused it could hinder commercialization and hence advertising. He also believes that web2.0 will help some Indians become rich.
Web2.0 will work in advantage for many marketers and advertisers. “The advantage this medium has given the marketers is the “speed of viral and power of immediate word of mouth” therefore they should encourage the influencers (by sampling the products) and give them a free hand to write about it. I bet if it’s good they will not need a single rupee for marketing. See examples like Microsoft Vista and Apple iPhone – But please be ready in the web2.0 economy the bad will not last because consumers have power and consumers trust other consumers” Explains Manish Vij.
Initially emails and websites were not considered as important and were perceived critically, though now they are more a need than a want. Mr Rao believes that web2.0 will take time to take off, and currently needs to be backed with a lot of main stream media advertising.
While Tanmay Mohanty, Head Strategy & Account Planning, ID8 Labs, considers that Web 2.0 as we define it is going to be short lived and will evolve in to some of the best marketing techniques that we know. “The UGC and Social Media Optimization are going to be some of the key features of the revolution. The advent of Marketing 3.0 or that we will know as where marketer has moved from user feedback to engaging client in application based solutions are key issues.”
He believes that the growth of such tools will come from the use of web Application, RSS, Web Office tools, Rich Internet Apps and Semantic Web products.
Do you guys consult on marketing via microsites and viral marketing?
Yes Sanjay.. Our company WATConsult does provide web 2.0 strategy consulting which would cover web 2.0 microsites and viral marketing. We also work with blogs wikis and other web 2.0 tools. Check http://www.watconsult.com.
i could not find anything relevant on your watconsult.com blog. you have not mentioned your services. even wat consult reports available on watblog have not been uploaded on watconsult.com. i could not find any information about marketing via microsites and viral marketing.
Sanjay.. Right now we are focussed on blogging and other web 2.0 related product and marketing strategy consulting. Hence we are also carrying out workshops on the same. As far as microsites and virals is concerned we are capable of executing such stuff but aren't as yet foccusing on those tools for marketing. But at the same time we are open to an opportunity to execute such sites and virals. Hope that answers your question. Do let us know which company you represent so that we can get in touch with you. You can mail me on rajiv AT watconsult.com for any further queries.