I took a trip to India a while ago, but for some reason I haven't wanted to write about my experience. I guess I needed some time to sort my thoughts and figure out exactly what I was going to write about.
I was visiting Gurgaon, (just South of New Delhi) to speak to digital marketers about social media, mobile marketing, search marketing, etc... and perhaps I was thrown a curve ball by the lifestyles I saw, or simply how different it was not only from the US, but from other places I have visited as well.
Either way - I realize now that what I really want to share with you is not anything that happened to me during the several days I was in India - but something that happened just moments before I left the country standing in line at the gate to board my plane back to the US, which really brought the power and reach of social media home.
First, a little about India and the location I visited.
Gurgaon, which is a very affluent, high tech location, is considered one of the Silicon Valley's of India. One of the things that startled me was that even in a very high tech, affluent area like this - everything seems divided into luxury and poverty. There is no middle ground, no transition from one to the other.
These two pictures were taken about 100 yards away from each other. On the right is the inside of the Gurgaon Mall. Yes, that is actually a BMW dealership inside the mall. (Impulse buyers beware!) The left picture is about 100 yards outside the mall, just beyond the parking lot. No transition between the two - you literally cross a line (with security) between poverty and affluence.
Since this is a digital marketing blog, I should at least give you some interesting digital marketing tidbits about India.
1) There is a lot of opportunity for digital marketers. Of the 1.2 billion total population, current estimates show about 107 million online in 2013, and that is expected to double by 2016.Within those online users, 71% participate in Social Networking. 1
2) Practically everyone has access to a mobile device. Even in rural households where there is a high level of poverty nearly 50% of all households own a mobile phone, and 64% in urban areas. Everyone may not have the latest smartphone (smartphone penetration is currently 16% of all mobile users) - but txt messaging...you bet! You can reach a very significant percentage of the population with a txt msg based marketing effort. There are some new laws just making their way onto the books around SMS marketing to help regulate what is currently a very wild wild west - bottom line, SMS is a huge opportunity for digital and mobile marketers. 2
3) Mobile penetration exceeds desktop as a way to access the internet. 74% of people asked the question "Do you access the internet from your mobile device at least once a week" answered yes. By comparison - US was 56%. The highest ranking was China at 79% - so India is very high. 3
4) Does that mean there is no place for apps, LBS, or innovative techniques? Of course not! Even though it is a smaller percentage of the population that may actively participate in something like this, it still has it's place. Check out my placemat from McDonalds. (At the same mall that had the BMW dealership.) Not just a QR code, but a QR code that is promoting a VR experience. You can't see the promo - but it's for a movie featuring the Indian version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Quite a production.
OK - so here is the short story that really drove the power of social media home. After 5 days in India, I am standing in line to get on the plane to return to the US, and I am standing next to this woman from Seattle. We strike up a conversation and she tells me she is with a group that helps fund orphanages, hospitals, etc... and that she had been visiting some of the most rural areas in India where some of their funding has gone. She was bringing some gifts for the children, looking at the state of the facilities, meeting local directors, etc...
One of these extremely rural towns she visited has a computer. One computer for the entire town, and you have to ride a stationary bicycle for about 2 hours in order to generate enough electricity to power the computer for a few minutes of time online. The town uses this resource for education, communication, etc...
As she is telling me about her experiences - she gets a Facebook post notification. The post was a thank you message from the children of this town. They explained how they had used their free time for the day to jump on the bike and power up the computer for enough time so that they could say thank you for the soccer balls and other gifts they received over Facebook.
This one moment completely brought home for me the power and reach that social media has to connect people and share experiences around the world.
OK, before I sign off, I have to tell you about this really amazing food adventure that I took while in Delhi.
I am a huge fan of Bizzare Foods with Andrew Zimmern - so, when I saw something called Delhi Food Adventure on Travelocity I had to check it out. It's a food tour of Old Delhi, in the Chandni Chowk section of town. We're talking street food, rickshaws, walking through the bazaar sampling items - it's an incredible way to experience a culture.
Before we can go on the tour we have to sign a release form. I've never signed a release form for food that has a spot for "Next of Kin."
We walked from street vendor to street vendor, visited a few hole in the wall local restaurants, and had an amazing time sampling the local food and culture. Andrew would have been proud.
1. eMarketer Global Media Intelligence Report: Asia Pacific - 9.27.12
2. eMarketer On Mobile Narrower Gap between Rural and Urban in India - 11.15.12
3. eMarketer Internet users who use the mobile internet Oct 2012
I was visiting Gurgaon, (just South of New Delhi) to speak to digital marketers about social media, mobile marketing, search marketing, etc... and perhaps I was thrown a curve ball by the lifestyles I saw, or simply how different it was not only from the US, but from other places I have visited as well.
Either way - I realize now that what I really want to share with you is not anything that happened to me during the several days I was in India - but something that happened just moments before I left the country standing in line at the gate to board my plane back to the US, which really brought the power and reach of social media home.
First, a little about India and the location I visited.
Gurgaon, which is a very affluent, high tech location, is considered one of the Silicon Valley's of India. One of the things that startled me was that even in a very high tech, affluent area like this - everything seems divided into luxury and poverty. There is no middle ground, no transition from one to the other.
These two pictures were taken about 100 yards away from each other. On the right is the inside of the Gurgaon Mall. Yes, that is actually a BMW dealership inside the mall. (Impulse buyers beware!) The left picture is about 100 yards outside the mall, just beyond the parking lot. No transition between the two - you literally cross a line (with security) between poverty and affluence.
Since this is a digital marketing blog, I should at least give you some interesting digital marketing tidbits about India.
1) There is a lot of opportunity for digital marketers. Of the 1.2 billion total population, current estimates show about 107 million online in 2013, and that is expected to double by 2016.Within those online users, 71% participate in Social Networking. 1
2) Practically everyone has access to a mobile device. Even in rural households where there is a high level of poverty nearly 50% of all households own a mobile phone, and 64% in urban areas. Everyone may not have the latest smartphone (smartphone penetration is currently 16% of all mobile users) - but txt messaging...you bet! You can reach a very significant percentage of the population with a txt msg based marketing effort. There are some new laws just making their way onto the books around SMS marketing to help regulate what is currently a very wild wild west - bottom line, SMS is a huge opportunity for digital and mobile marketers. 2
3) Mobile penetration exceeds desktop as a way to access the internet. 74% of people asked the question "Do you access the internet from your mobile device at least once a week" answered yes. By comparison - US was 56%. The highest ranking was China at 79% - so India is very high. 3
4) Does that mean there is no place for apps, LBS, or innovative techniques? Of course not! Even though it is a smaller percentage of the population that may actively participate in something like this, it still has it's place. Check out my placemat from McDonalds. (At the same mall that had the BMW dealership.) Not just a QR code, but a QR code that is promoting a VR experience. You can't see the promo - but it's for a movie featuring the Indian version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Quite a production.
OK - so here is the short story that really drove the power of social media home. After 5 days in India, I am standing in line to get on the plane to return to the US, and I am standing next to this woman from Seattle. We strike up a conversation and she tells me she is with a group that helps fund orphanages, hospitals, etc... and that she had been visiting some of the most rural areas in India where some of their funding has gone. She was bringing some gifts for the children, looking at the state of the facilities, meeting local directors, etc...
One of these extremely rural towns she visited has a computer. One computer for the entire town, and you have to ride a stationary bicycle for about 2 hours in order to generate enough electricity to power the computer for a few minutes of time online. The town uses this resource for education, communication, etc...
As she is telling me about her experiences - she gets a Facebook post notification. The post was a thank you message from the children of this town. They explained how they had used their free time for the day to jump on the bike and power up the computer for enough time so that they could say thank you for the soccer balls and other gifts they received over Facebook.
This one moment completely brought home for me the power and reach that social media has to connect people and share experiences around the world.
OK, before I sign off, I have to tell you about this really amazing food adventure that I took while in Delhi.
I am a huge fan of Bizzare Foods with Andrew Zimmern - so, when I saw something called Delhi Food Adventure on Travelocity I had to check it out. It's a food tour of Old Delhi, in the Chandni Chowk section of town. We're talking street food, rickshaws, walking through the bazaar sampling items - it's an incredible way to experience a culture.
Before we can go on the tour we have to sign a release form. I've never signed a release form for food that has a spot for "Next of Kin."
We walked from street vendor to street vendor, visited a few hole in the wall local restaurants, and had an amazing time sampling the local food and culture. Andrew would have been proud.
1. eMarketer Global Media Intelligence Report: Asia Pacific - 9.27.12
2. eMarketer On Mobile Narrower Gap between Rural and Urban in India - 11.15.12
3. eMarketer Internet users who use the mobile internet Oct 2012
