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According to two new studies by <keyword id="2681073" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pluralsight">Pluralsight</keyword>, a technology learning platform, 69 percent of Indian IT professionals believe that online learning is a more effective learning method than offline training. Meanwhile, 90% of IT organizations are gamifying learning. The findings of these studies provide insights into learning styles of the Indian IT professional and how gamifying learning is making it more interesting. Conducted by market research firm <keyword id="6354341" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kantar-IMRB">KANTAR IMRB</keyword>, the studies surveyed 568 IT professionals across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, NCR, Kolkata and Ahmedabad on how an IT professional in India likes to learn, his views on various learning methods, has he set learning goals for himself and how it links to his personal and career growth. The second report surveyed 106 IT companies across the services and product space and looks at how the <keyword id="6374576" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IT-Industry">IT industry</keyword> is making learning interesting with <keyword id="1071127" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gamification">gamification</keyword>, how many companies are adopting it and what experience bracket they believe is the right target for gamified learning. Key findings from the studies include: 1) 97 percent of IT professionals believe in the importance of building one’s technology skills and 74 percent of them have undergone learning programs in 2016 2) 48 percent of IT professionals have set learning goals for themselves in 2017, those who did link it to career growth and better pay 3) 69 percent of IT professionals feel that online learning is more effective than offline training. Only 8 percent of IT professionals consider ILT (instructor-led training) to be an effective learning method 4) 74 percent of IT professionals want freedom in what they learn rather than being directed 5) Just-in-time, byte-sized and repeat learning are emerging as new learning styles 6) 94 percent of IT professionals feel personalization of learning experience, 93 percent feel byte-sized learning and 92 percent feel adaptive online assessments as key developments that will impact learning in next two years Gamification in Learning 1) 90 percent of IT organizations are implementing gamification in learning, 80 percent find gamification relevant and unique 2) 47 percent of the IT industry considers employees with eight or more years of experience as the target audience for gamification, while 37 percent considers employees with 0–8 years as the target audience – breaking the myth that gamification is only for younger employees What people want to learn IT networking, web development and JavaScript are the top three skill areas for learning in 2017. When looking at focus areas according to profession, software developers focus more on web development, while IT operations focus more on IT networking and creative professionals focus more on Photoshop. “With re-skilling being a critical need for Indian IT to prepare for a Digital-led future, it is important to understand how today’s technology professionals learn and how learning can be made interesting for them,” said Arun Rajamani, Country GM at Pluralsight India. “Learning styles have changed over time and are becoming online, personalized and byte-sized. Online learning will play a key role in helping the IT industry reduce the skills gap by helping them assess their skills, find or build the right learning paths, get instant expert help and apply learning interactive labs. Learning must also be made interesting. It is exciting to see the rise of gamification in learning in India. Gamification brings in the 3 elements of progression, pride and play into learning and promotes a socially inclusive culture”, added Arun. Pluralsight’s learning platform is designed to help technology professionals with a <keyword id="3829689" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-ecosystem">digital ecosystem</keyword> of learning tools, including adaptive skill tests, directed learning paths, expert-authored courses, and interactive labs and live mentoring. These tools help inculcate a goal-oriented learning habit via Assessments and Skill Paths, support personalization of learning via Channels, and the modular design of courses helps address byte-sized learning needs of the learners. “Skill development and learning is the key for all level of employees in today’s dynamic technology and business scenario. However, employees are not keen to go through traditional learning program because of several reasons such as paucity of time, ineffective teaching, boredom etc. This is where online learning can play a major role. Gamified learning not only makes the learning process more of fun activity, it also increases learner engagement and effectiveness. If implemented in right manner, gamified learning will enhance the overall learning experience for all experience brackets”, said Indranil Dutta, Account Director, KANTAR IMRB.

A report reveals Indian IT professionals wanting to reskill are finding online learning more effective than offline training

<ul><li>Indians are among the most optimistic about technology in the world.</li><li>Majority of Indians feel that technology makes their life better.</li><li>More than half feel that even if automation were to jeopardise their current job, technology would also create new opportunities for them.</li></ul>Indians are a lot more optimistic about technology than people in other parts of the world. From technology making life easier to future of work, a large percentage of the Indian population is willing to embrace emerging and new technology. More than two quarters of the respondents surveyed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) also believe that technology companies want to do more than “make money”. According to them, technology makes personal relationships, society and jobs better. Over the past few years, data has become cheaper in the country with <keyword id="6354504" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="reliance-jio">Reliance Jio</keyword>’s pricing war forcing other telecom operators to lower their prices. In 2019, people using the Internet in India exceeded half a billion for the first time. By the end of the year, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/internet-users-in-india-to-reach-627-million-in-2019-report/articleshow/68288868.cms?from=mdr">Kantar IMRB</a> expects that double digit growth will bring over 627 million people online. Here's how Indians feel about the three big questions around technology:

Three charts that explain how Indians feel about the future of technology

<ul><li>We bring to you a series of columns from industry experts, looking back at the last 10 years.</li><li>The columns will explore how the media, marketing and advertising industry has transformed in the last decade.</li><li>Tarun Chugh, MD and CEO, <keyword id="151079" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bajaj-Allianz-Life-Insurance">Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance</keyword> tries to decode evolving consumer behaviour and shares a few ways in which the BFSI sector is reaching out to them in today's digital era.</li></ul>New-age Indians are unlike their previous generations. As a demographic, India’s population is getting younger and with more exposure to the world, the demands of the younger generation are changing. This change is forcing all industries to innovate, and the shift is more visible in the insurance space than anywhere else. For instance, young people are considering life insurance not simply for protection but to achieve their life goals. Ambitions such as entrepreneurship, world travel, preventive healthcare and having a parallel career demand financial planning by young people. According to a recent survey conducted by Kantar IMRB, 2 in 5 Indians have retirement related goals and the number is even higher in the metros with every second person wishing for a comfortable retirement as one of their life goals. In fact, retirement related life goals feature in the list of top 5 life goals for Indian millennials as well. This has led to a paradigm shift in the way financial planning has been so far. Indians are now looking at planning their retirement early on in life to maintain their standard of living and achieve life goals even post retirement. There’s a lot more interest towards long term life insurance products and the appearance of new-age online ULIPs has really helped the takeoff for these products as they offer transparency and convenience. Customers’ expectations from insurance products are rapidly changing as they demand more efficient service which match their lifestyle and needs example, Digital touchpoints, self-service apps and automated payment reminders. Increasingly, the product demand is also shifting towards new-age products which can be bought and redeemed online, have more transparency and don’t tangle the customers in complex terms and conditions. It’s not hard to see that the industry is responding to these shifts comprehensively. And regulatory changes by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India have also helped. For instance, IRDAI’s regular interventions have meant that products in the market are transparent and customer-friendly with more benefits than the terms and conditions attached to them. The intervention has also ensured that new products are innovative in terms of their structures and payouts rather than refurbished old schemes launched with newer names. This has led to renewal premium collections going up recently which has greatly helped affirmed people’s faith in life insurance as a product. Insurance premiums as a percentage of GDP have been steadily climbing up as it reached 3.69% in 2017 from 2.71% in 2001. Gross premiums in India reached Rs 5.53 trillion in FY18, with Rs 4.58 trillion contributed by life insurance and Rs 1.51 trillion coming from non-life insurance. Even though it’s a significant development, the penetration level at 3.69% of the total addressable population remains quite low and provides itself as an opportunity for companies to innovate and reach the last mile. The way to reaching new consumers is largely going to be phygital -- physical + digital. A recent research survey by PwC stated 47% of people research insurance online before making a buying decision as compared to 22% relying on agents. Moreover, 49% of consumers said that they prefer digital mode as their preferred channel for purchasing insurance followed by 32% who still prefer to call an agent. Interestingly, 18% of people want their insurance companies to communicate with them through emails – clearly emphasizing the increasing importance of two-way communication rather than a one-time sale model. The life insurance sector is set for a big boost with the increase in digital proliferation and customer awareness. According to the Kantar IMRB survey, Indians choose life insurance as their preferred investment option for 60% of their life goals. This is a clear signal of the latent demand in the country which the insurance industry is eager to fulfil with innovative products, tech-enabled seamless services and newer distribution channels. Further, with the right pace of technology adoption and customer-centric business processes, India’s life insurance sector is poised to be the fastest growing sector. - By Tarun Chugh, MD and CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance

How consumer behavior has evolved in the life insurance sector

<ul><li><keyword id="6039988" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-Go">Google Go</keyword>’s new camera capability — using <keyword id="3238609" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-Lens">Google Lens</keyword> — will now allow users to translate signs by simply pointing a camera at them. </li><li><keyword id="6355629" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword> Go’s camera feature can read the sign out as well as translate the text within the image into more than 12 languages.</li><li>The company has announced that the feature will be live on Google Go before the end of the month. </li></ul>Google announced a new camera capability that they're introducing to Google Go during the company's annual developer conference, Google I/O 2019. Using their landmark Google Lens technology in cohesion with Google Go, users will now be able to translate signs and billboards by simply pointing a camera at them. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="What you’re seeing here is text-to-speech, computer vision, the power of translate and 20 years of language understanding from search — all coming together." auname="Aparna Chennapragada, Vice President at Google"></div>



















 Not only is this useful for the 800 million adults who struggle to read the words that they come across in their daily lives, it’s also useful for 75 million Indians that come online for the very first time every year according to a report by <a href="https://bestmediainfo.com/2019/03/internet-usage-in-india-exceeds-half-a-billion-people-for-the-first-time/">Kantar IMRB</a>. 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="languageinda" msid="69224849" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Google I/O 2019 announcement of Google Go&amp;#39;s new camera capability&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>













 Google Go is Google’s variant of Search for entry level devices. According to Aparna Chennapragada, Google’s vice president, all you have to do is open Google Lens directly from the search bar and then point at the respective sign. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="We want to make this feature accessible to as many people as possible, so it already in more than a dozen languages. And the teams worked incredibly hard to compress all this tech to just over a 100KB." auname="Aparna Chennapragada, Vice President at Google"></div>



















 The phone will automatically read the words on the sign out loud while highlighting them on the image simultaneously. 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="Untitled design" msid="69224922" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Google Go&amp;#39;s translation Google Lens capability overlays the translated text above the original image&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>













 And, in case you don’t understand the language at all, you can translate the text in the image into your own local language. The translated text will directly overlay the original text in the image. So, the sign will essentially look like it was written in your local language to begin with. Should you choose, you can have the text read out loud in your local language as well once been translated in the image. 
 <div type="Youtube" id="ePwKgKp69GE" title="Google Lens: Urmila’s Story" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ePwKgKp69GE/mqdefault.jpg"></div>



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="Our teams in India have been working with some early testers and getting alot of feedback to make the product better." auname="Aparna Chennapragada, Vice President at Google"></div>



















 
 
 The feature should start rolling out by the end of the month according to Google. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/live-watch-googles-biggest-conference-of-the-year/articleshow/69223273.cms">LIVE: Watch Google's biggest conference of the year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-is-google-one-everything-you-need-to-know-about-googles-paid-storage-service/articleshow/69223246.cms">'What is Google One?': Everything you need to know about Google's paid storage service</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/googles-biggest-conference-of-the-year-is-next-week-here-all-the-new-products-and-announcements-were-expecting/articleshow/69186448.cms">Google's biggest conference of the year is next week - here all the new products and announcements we're expecting</a>

Google I/O 2019: Google Lens on Google Go will now let you translate signs on the move

<ul><li>Netflix has been seen testing a new ₹250 ‘mobile only’ monthly subscription plan on its video on demand platform in India.</li><li>Despite the decrease in price, the monthly subscription is still more expensive as compared to the streaming service’s competitors in the Indian market.</li><li>But it’s a smart move by the company to capture the growing market of Indian users who watch videos on their smartphones.</li></ul>Netflix is testing its cheapest ever plan in the Indian market with a price tag of ₹250. The ‘mobile only’ subscription is half of Netflix’s basic monthly subscription rate of ₹500 but, it’s still relatively expensive when you compare it to Amazon’s ₹129 plan or Hotstar’s ₹199 — which are cross platform, not just mobile. But, considering that the difference in pricing is closing in — Netflix may have finally found a way to increase its subscribers in India. An EY <a href="https://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-a-billion-screens-of-opportunity/$FILE/EY-a-billion-screens-of-opportunity.pdf">report</a> shows that the number of paid video subscribers has doubled over the past year. One of the primary reasons they cited is how pricing of video streaming platforms is inching closer to TV pricing. <div type="image" title="paidsubscribersinindia" msid="68531061" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Increase in paid subscribers of online video streaming services in India&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>
 The increase in the number of paying users resulted in a four fold growth in revenue to ₹13.4 billion in 2018. And, the price tag falls under the ₹255 average that users Indians are prepared to pay, on average, for subscription content, according to a joint report by IMRB and Kantar Media. That increase in paid subscribers is coupled with growth in the number of people — 325 million as of 2018 — who watch videos on their smartphones. An Omidyar Network <a href="https://www.omidyar.com/sites/default/files/file_archive/Next%20Half%20Billion/Innovating%20for%20Next%20Half%20Billion.pdf">report</a> shows that Indians spend 30% of their time consuming media and entertainment when they’re on their mobile devices. The ‘Digital in 2018’ <a href="https://digitalreport.wearesocial.com/">report</a> paints a similar story where they say that watching videos is the second most popular activity with smartphone users in India. That is in part aided by the growth of cheap data services in India. 
 
 
 
 
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 It makes sense that Netflix would test this new service in India, not because it is a price sensitive market, but because it has one of the <a href="https://www.limelight.com/resources/white-paper/state-of-online-video-2018/">highest</a> per capita consumption of online videos in the world. 
 
 
 
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 Data also shows that there might be enough space for each video streaming to hold its own ground. According to EY, most users consume content on multiple video streaming services, and at least two of them are subscription based. There at least 30 reasonably sized over-the-top (OTT) platforms in India as of today and the industry is still expanding. The next three to four years are critical to determine which ones will come out on top. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/netflix-dominates-internet-traffic-just-not-in-asia/articleshow/66084836.cms">Netflix dominates internet traffic, just not in Asia</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/youtube-fact-checking-feature-india-pak-tensions-misinformation/articleshow/68317976.cms">India is the first country where YouTube is trying to fact check videos</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/netflix-and-hotstar-hedge-their-bets-against-government-regulation-through-self-censorship/articleshow/67573187.cms">After Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hotstar plan to go down the path of self-censorship in India</a>

Netflix is testing its cheapest ever plan in India — Here’s why it might work

<ul><li><keyword id="1817861" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Outbrain">Outbrain</keyword>, a digital native advertising company was launched in India in 2017.</li><li>Last year, the platform launched Zemanta, the native Demand Side Platform (DSP) that it had acquired in 2017, in India.</li><li>Sandeep Balani, Head of India, Outbrain tells us how Outbrain has been providing technology and strategic expertise to publishers, enabling them to reach, engage and retain audiences for their digital content.</li><li>He also tells us why he is confident about the growth of programmatic native in India.</li></ul>The last year was an eventful one for digital native advertising company Outbrain. At the end of 2019, they announced a potential merger with Taboola, to ‘give advertisers a way to diversify away from Google and Facebook’, in the words of Taboola Founder and CEO Adam Singolda. Closer home, Outbrain launched Zemanta, the native Demand Side Platform (DSP) that it had acquired in 2017, in India. We recently caught up with Sandeep Balani, Head of India, Outbrain to understand some of the highlights of the year gone by, the growth drivers for Outbrain in India and some of the key areas of focus going ahead. Edited excerpts: Q) How is the Indian market shaping up for Outbrain? According to market research agency Kantar IMRB, India's internet users are expected to register double-digit growth to reach 627 million in 2019, primarily driven by rapid internet growth in rural areas. This opens up huge opportunities for publishers and advertisers as they are able to reach and engage with a far larger part of the country’s population via their digital channels. Our role in this is to provide the technology and strategic expertise for publishers and enabling them to reach, engage and retain audiences for their digital content while funding quality journalism. On the advertisers’ side, through our non-intrusive, and respectful ad formats powered by our proprietary interest data, we give them a scalable way to engage their audiences and drive a significant return on their advertising investments. Most recently we have signed partnerships with NewsX, DailyThanthi and OneIndia Group, allowing us to give even more reach than ever before to our advertising partners. Q) What are the key drivers for the growth Outbrain’s India business? Our Founder and CEO were recently quoted as saying, “In 5 or 10 years, we will see that the most successful media will be those that respected their users and offered trustworthy material.” I think this is the case in India too, and the most important shift we will see is a move from intrusive ad formats to move native ad formats. This will be further accelerated by the growth of programmatic native, which has a huge potential in India. The video will also play an important role in the growth of native. We are shifting from banner blindness to video blindness - after all, we are the generation X, ie, the generation that just can’t wait to click on the X. Opt-in video formats where the user chooses to engage such as our Click-to-Watch video solution will increasingly replace ad formats that interrupt the users’ experience. Q) A lot is being spoken about programmatic native. What's the scope? How does Zemanta fit into Outbrain’s overall programmatic offering? Recent reports have predicted that by 2025, native will reach its tipping point and be the preferred form of advertising. It only makes sense that Native Programmatic will follow suit. With 90% of the display being purchased programmatically already, native will follow that same trend. However most of the media buying tools used by marketers were made for a display world and are not optimal for native advertising, so we believe we are best positioned to help marketers execute more effectively and at a larger scale, on the most premium and brand-safe environment. We are committed to programmatic native through an earlier acquisition of Zemanta, the world’s first DSP built for native and the DSP of choice for agencies. In addition to that, Outbrain now has omnichannel support for advertisers who are looking to buy native via Digital Video 360, Appenexus, Tradesk etc. This gives advanced controls overbidding and campaign flight. Q) How will going the programmatic route help the native ecosystem grow? The native eco-system in India has primarily relied on direct relationships with advertisers and agencies. However many clients take time to embrace newer platforms and introduce them to their buying mix. With programmatic alignment with assorted DSP’s, advertisers can now buy Outbrain via different DSP’s which gives us access to unique budgets and get more advertisers to grow the native eco-system which eventually brings tremendous transparency, reach, and control to advertisers. Q) Going ahead, what will your area of focus be? We have received great response from the premium publishers due to the quality of ads, trustworthiness and the relationships we have built in the market for audience acquisition, engagement, and retention. Our prolonged objective is to ensure that we empower our publisher ecosystem with more monetization opportunities. Q) What will be the most important theme for the publishing and advertising industry in 2020? Trust! User trust has been eroded because of factors such as disruptive ad formats, fake news etc. The whole industry must now come together and rebuild consumer trust and creating value on the open web that works for everyone. Users want to discover relevant, trusted, high-quality content presented in engaging formats. Marketers are looking for scalable ways to engage their audiences and channels they can invest in to drive return on their advertising budgets. And publishers need to find business models to fund quality journalism alongside ways to reach and develop ongoing relationships with audiences. Simply put, it will be all about publishers, audiences and marketers coming together to create an ecosystem that drives mutual value and trust on the open web.

Why Outbrain is confident about the growth of programmatic native in India

A study conducted by <keyword id="1125471" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Mortgage-Guarantee-Corporation">India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation</keyword> (IMGC)-Kantar IMRB revealed <keyword id="25903" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indians">Indians</keyword> have to pay too much housing loan interests, which makes them reluctant to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Home-Buyers-May-Soon-Get-90-Loan-In-India/articleshow/33163130.cms">take loans</a> and dig into their savings in order to own a house. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Home-buyers-fighting-fraud-builders-in-courts/articleshow/50575376.cms">Home buyers are now fighting fraud builders head-on</a> 
 
The study also showed that people in the age bracket of 25 to 44 years in smaller towns are much more interested in affordable housing as compared to their counterparts in metros and mini-metros. 
 
"Housing sector is poised for a higher growth, especially in affordable housing segment by the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Stagnant-property-prices-cheer-home-buyers-become-headache-for-investors/articleshow/52201283.cms">Housing-for-all</a> by 2022 Mission and infrastructure status accorded by government, apart from various other measures," said Sriram Kalyanraman, MD&amp;CEO, <keyword id="152130" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Housing-Bank">National Housing Bank</keyword>. 
 
Out of the people surveyed, around 38% said that interest rates on housing loans are too high, while an equal number of respondents said that they don’t own a house owing to low savings and hesitation in taking loans. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/markets/economy/tax-collections-will-exceed-rs-17-lakh-crore-despite-demonetisation-arun-jaitley/articleshow/57773980.cms">Tax collections will exceed Rs 17 lakh crore, despite demonetisation: Arun Jaitley</a> 
 
Other than these, factors like higher property rates (32%) and insufficient loan availability (32%) too contribute in discouraging home buying plans. 
 
Talking of the effects of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/post-demonetisation-debit-cards-have-replaced-credit-cards-in-the-market/articleshow/57850201.cms">demonetisation</a>, Kalyan said that because of alternative currency going out, property rates have fallen. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/the-fate-of-note-ban-helpline-depends-on-one-call-from-the-government/articleshow/57935324.cms">The fate of note ban helpline depends on one call from the government</a> 
 
The survey, which was conducted in two phases, had a sample size of about 4,100 respondents from metros, mini metros and towns combined. The respondents, divided into 25-34, 35-44 and 45-55 years age groups, either had home loans or had applied for the same. 
 
(Image source: Finance Buddha)

Indians pay too much interest on home loans, reveals study

It is India’s love for everything herbal that <keyword id="6356684" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="patanjali">Patanjali</keyword> Ayurved has in no time made a name for itself. Not only this, several of its rival companies have also seen a rise in the sales of herbal products. 
 In six months ending December 2015, the company led by <keyword id="6355107" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Baba-Ramdev">Baba Ramdev</keyword> has seen a 64% jump in sales, standing at Rs 731 crore, while rivals Dabur and Himalaya have also grown in double digits in the consumer products market, as per the IMRB data. 
 
The figures don’t include commodity products such as ghee and flour. 
 
Not only are herbal products cheaper, they are also made of natural ingredients and health benefits, which is what has led to the popularity of these products. 
 
"Patanjali has registered a near-80 per cent growth in penetration, which is about 5 per centage points on an absolute level, in one year," K Ramakrishnan, GM of IMRB Kantar Worldpanel told ET. 
 
"The first wave of growth came from personal care products only, but the recent growth has been driven by homecare and food and beverages, which still has a smaller base," he said. 
 
Not only this, Patanjali has grabbed market share from non-ayurvedic companies as well. While the growth of ayurvedic brands in the category of ‘face wash’ products category increased to 50% from 36%, the growth of non-ayurvedic brands fell down to 16% from 21% last year. 
 
Talking of shampoos, sales of Ayurvedic brands more than doubled and currently stands at 194%, while for non-ayurvedic MNCs, it declined to 15% from 21%. 
 
"This unusual phenomenon of consumer products market disruption is rare as brand erosion or loyalty for well-established brands generally doesn't happen so quickly," said Devendra Chawla, president, food and FMCG, at Future Group. 
 
"Other Ayurvedic companies are coming up with good quality products at even cheaper prices, which is ultimately doing good. The country is huge and the FMCG market is so large that we may not be able to provide for everyone," Acharya Balkrishna, MD at Patanjali Ayurved told ET. He also added that the company has almost met its sales target of Rs 5,000 crore for the financial year ending March 2016, which is more than double its revenue in 2014-15. 
 
<a href="http://www.nextbigwhat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/maxresdefault2.jpg">Image source</a>

Thanks to Patanjali, India’s herbal market has got a new life

<ul><li>India has banned 118 Chinese apps including Tencent's PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) as border tensions with China continue to flare up. </li><li>We speak to Indian gaming apps and digital experts to understand what it means for the industry. </li><li>They believe that it is time for Indian Gaming Companies to capitalise and use this opportunity to win the game. </li></ul>In the wake of mounting border tensions between China and India, the government of India ordered a ban on Battle Royale title game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) yesterday. According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, PUBG has been banned along with the other apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, on grounds that they engage in activities which are prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the state and public order. As of May, Tencent’s PUBG had been downloaded 34.2 million times of which India accounted for 35.8% — 12.24 million installs, according to data provided by Sensor Tower. It has seen a global revenue gain of $1.3 billion, which is nearly Rs 22,457 crore with the highest number of downloads in India. The gaming industry in India is also at its peak right now. As per ‘The Power of Mobile Gaming in India,’a report released by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and Kantar IMRB in association with POKKT, the mobile gaming industry in India is projected to reach $934 million in 2022 and the number of gamers is expected to swell up to 368 million by 2022. While gamers took to social media to mourn the loss of the game, experts are rejoicing at the government’s decision. They said that there are plenty of fish in the sea to fill PUBG’s void and the move will only bring India-made games to the forefront. They also said that it may be a setback for gamers who made a living from that platform but they will eventually find another home like former TikTokers have. Here is what experts had to say about PUBG’s ban: Roland Landers, CEO, All India Gaming Federation: Any decision taken by the government in order to protect the safety, security and sovereignty of the Indian cyberspace is welcome. The move would safeguard the interests of Indian mobile and internet users while presenting a great opportunity for indigenous homegrown game development studios to showcase their talent and create exciting game formats as part of the #Vocalforlocal and #Aatmanirbhar initiatives. We are confident that games like Rogue Heist, a multi-player online shooter game, designed and developed entirely in India and many others similar to this will fill the gap. Anirudh Pandita, Founder, Pocket Aces (Owner of Loco): The Indian gaming industry has been seeing rapid growth with users from across the country taking to esports and mobile gaming in a big way. We are seeing talented gamers showcase their skills through games such as PUBG, Call of Duty, Freefire and more. We’re confident that the recent ban on PUBG has been made by Government after much deliberation and with good reason. That means streamers and gamers now have to develop their skills on other games. We are confident that our gaming community will rise to the challenge and that our great nation will produce even better and bigger talent. Loco is more determined than ever to serve the Indian gaming community. We stand by our streamers and are working hand in hand with them at this moment to chart out a new course for Indian gaming. Our platform empowers users to stream games and showcase their talent to India. 100% Made in India, Loco will amplify its efforts towards making India a gaming superpower. Yash Pariani, CEO, Indian Gaming League (IGL): This may seem like a loss to the Esports community, however, in the interest of national security, the country must take whatever precautions they deem necessary. There are plenty of other games to fill the void for PUBG and IGL have started capitalising on the recent surge of demand for these other games as soon as the ban was announced. Games such as Call of Duty (COD) Mobile, Free Fire and Fortnite may see a surge in users in India. While we may see some players move to other platforms such as PUBG PC, the majority who prefer the mobile version will be sticking to similar games on the same platform which would be COD Mobile. This will affect millions of gamers, it will have the same effect as it did when TikTok was banned for the influencers that had made a living from that platform, however, for the time being, we will see PUBG influencers and players switching to other games to make a living, it may be a set back for them but eventually, their audiences will also respond to the change. With this ban in effect, we may even see a version of the game that the audiences have grown to know and love, be developed here itself from India. Piyush, CEO &amp; Founder, Rooter: We welcome this move by our government to safeguard Indian users' data and protect the country against the potential threat these apps pose to our national security. This ban opens up tremendous opportunities for the Indian gaming ecosystem to align their businesses with the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat strategy and also enable gaming and eSports platforms to grow faster." Stating that the company anticipated the ban and kept investing in other games, he said, "Most of the users and content creators on our platform engage in games other than PUBG. Rooter had less than 10% PUBG streamers and it was a conscious effort on our part to ensure that we focus more on other games like Free Fire and Call of Duty. Both the games have strong engagement on Rooter and most of their top streamers are part of our user base. That said, in the last two and a half months, Rooter has witnessed unprecedented growth by adding nearly 3 million users. This ban will further fuel the growth, which will help us become a dominant player in the market. Sowmya Iyer, Founder &amp; CEO, DViO Digital: Online gaming in India is at a very interesting threshold where it’s gaining a strong foothold as a subset of the Entertainment Industry. With a combination of deep mobile phone penetration, an increase in active internet users &amp; the youngest population at hand, we are seeing that the interest in gaming &amp; the number of gamers is on an exponential rise. Perhaps as a testament to this growing gaming fever in India, the digital ad spends of such games have also grown exponentially, sometimes even surpassing the actual cost of making the game. And as for marketing on these platforms, gaming has revolutionized the way we consume content &amp; has brought forth a whole new world of engaged &amp; engrossed users which is a gold mine for brands and marketers. Leading the computing &amp; online gaming movement in India, we had PUBG but with the ban, we can see the potential for the Indian Gaming Companies to fill in very well. Players like Games 24X7, Nazara Technologies are pushing the boundaries in terms of providing Indian gamers with fantastic gaming options and content. As we see a huge surge in people adopting games and engaging with games as an entertainment medium, the big shot OTT platforms like Disney, Flipkart, Amazon, etc are also taking gamification as a focus area. Statistics show India went from having just 25 gaming companies in 2010 to grow more than 250+ companies in a decade’s time which means we have the potential to create engaging content &amp; conquer the gaming industry. Now that PUBG successfully hooked a whole generation to the gaming scene in India, it’s time for the Indian Gaming Companies to capitalize &amp; use this opportunity to win the game! GD Prasad, Associate Vice President, Dentsu Webchutney: PUBG has permeated the digital media ecosystem in a way that no other game being played in India has. This is a game that has as many people watching gameplay footage on YouTube and Instagram as it does actual players. It has helped catapult a fresh set of influencers with millions of followers and subscribers and a streaming community with as many viewers. Money and politics aside, it will be interesting to see how this community adapts to the situation. I believe, we will see many changes to mobile gaming in India as a result of this move. PubJio in the making? Well, you never know! Shradha Agarwal Co-founder &amp; COO, Grapes Digital: The banning of more than 100 additional apps by the indian Government with any linkages to China, is certainly going to create unrest and affect the livelihoods of many. These apps, including PubG was not only a gaming platform but a subsistence. For PubG, India was its largest market with content creators in the universe of gaming. PUBG has helped the hardcore mobile gaming market in India to grow exponentially in all 3 metrics — users, usage and monetisation. For the first time in India, we were seeing sizable in-app purchase revenues from a single game and the ban of PUBG amongst all the other apps, will directly impact the business model for many, thereby affecting their livelihood. The ripple effect will also be felt by event organizers, marketing agencies and influencers who were using PUBG and game streaming to optimize and monetize their livelihood, surely had become a way of life and existence. With a quarter of lifetime PUBG installed in India and more than 40 million monthly active users in the month of July, according to one of the top mobile insight firms, will lead to immense uncertainty with the overnight ban of these apps. However, this move by the government was expected to come anytime soon, following the ban of TikTok. Karan Gupta, Managing Director, Zirca Digital Solutions: The Ministry's move to ban the 118 China-backed apps, while keeping in mind India's national security, will no doubt come as a shock to gamers, especially those on the PUBG platform. PUPG has been extremely successful in the country because of its mobile-first strategy, captivating the youth and attracting huge advertising revenue opportunities over the past year. The gaming market will undoubtedly see the rise of various alternative gaming apps (including some homegrown ones) which will fill the void that the ban has brought about. Though it may bring about further fragmentation in the mobile gaming industry in the short term, Indian gamers will definitely find alternate gaming apps and advertising money will follow them. MPL Spokesperson: Every such development can be an opportunity for our ecosystem. We have a very strong game developer ecosystem here in India. We have partnered with close to 30 already and the number is only growing. Rogue Heist, India's first home-made Battle Royale game, has already been called a "PUBG rival" and has been doing well on our platform for over three months now.

Can Indian games fill the void that PUBG will leave behind? Experts tell us their thoughts

<ul><li>Bajaj Allianz Life India’s Life Goals Preparedness Survey 2019 was designed to get a complete picture of the Life Goals that drive Indians, their aspirations, their influences, their preparedness and how they are working towards achieving these goals. </li><li>Emergence of unconventional life goals marked the findings – entrepreneurship, focus on health and fitness, aim to travel more, and giving back to society – topped the list. </li><li>The insurance company’s new campaign thus aims to change the meaning of ‘retirement’ and encourage millennials to pursue their goals whenever they want to. </li></ul>There is a shift in the way Indians are planning their lives; from simply pursuing standardised milestones such as having children, throwing a lavish wedding, retiring at the age of 60, they are branching out to unconventional Life Goals that are individualistic in nature. In order to deepen its understanding of Life Goals in India, <keyword id="151079" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bajaj-Allianz-Life-Insurance">Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance</keyword> undertook a Life Goals Survey with Kantar IMRB to learn more about this age group and their goals. The study was conducted across 13 metros, Tier I and emerging Tier-II cities and over 150 life goals were mapped. Some of the new-age Life Goals that emerged include entrepreneurship, focus on healthcare and fitness, travel, life enrichment to strengthen or re-establish the connection with ‘self’, amongst others. These goals are also enabling Indians to move past their comfort zones, experiment with life – whether it’s taking that plunge or starting up or rekindling a long-lost passion. Indians are willing to invest time and money on these goals at their early age, which presents a huge opportunity for Life Insurance companies. These new, emerging Life Goals have the power to shape the choices, actions, emotions, and investment choices of Indians. The Bajaj Allianz Life India’s Life Goals Preparedness Survey 2019 was designed to get a complete picture of the life goals driving Indians, their aspirations, their influencers, their preparedness and how they are working towards achieving these goals. Bajaj Allianz Life has seen 60% of its traffic coming from millennials and after this survey, the brand is hoping to see more millennials resonating with it. Chandramohan Mehra, CMO, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, said, “Some of the early indicators including our website traffic, engagement on social media pages and inbound call traffic witnessed a significant share from millennials, validating the fact that millennials are inclined towards life insurance products for fulfilling their Life Goals. They have higher preference towards brands and products who they resonate with the most.” Emergence of Unconventional Life Goals in the Survey <ul><li>Becoming an entrepreneur in early 30s: A rising life goal of Indians is being an entrepreneur, where 1 in every 10 Indian wants to start something new or pursue a parallel career -- highlighting that new-age Indians are no longer playing it safe and are willing to put in an effort and take the risks</li></ul><ul><li>More focus on planning retirement: 2 in 5 Indians have retirement related life goals; more so in metros, where every 1 in 2 people have a retirement-related life goal. Amongst Indian millennials, retirement related life goals features in the top 5 life goals, and 42% millennials consider it as their life goal. More than 1 in 4 millennials in metros aspire to retire rich by growing their wealth</li></ul><ul><li>One in three respondents cited focus on health and fitness as a life goal -- being physically and mentally fit was amongst the top 10 life goals of Indians and 1 in 2 respondents seek a balanced life, which straddles work-life balance, reliving a passion and leading a peaceful life </li></ul><ul><li>Travel is catching-up as a part of the mainstream culture; 1 in 4 respondents want to travel abroad or travel to new exotic locations</li></ul><ul><li>Philanthropy is a new-age life goal that emerged as well, clearly showcasing that Indians are keen on creating social impact. 1 in 5 respondents said one of their life goals is the need to give back to society. Philanthropic avenues included providing employment opportunities, support another’s dream or imparting knowledge through teaching</li></ul>While there is a trend that new-age Indians want to pursue unconventional life goals, certain conventional goals continue to remain on India’s mind – these include children’s education, buying their own house, or owning a luxury car. The survey reveals that these conventional goals are typically influenced by family and social circles. Although Indians are dreaming big, they remain unsure of achieving 38% of their life goals. Interestingly, metros are more under-confident than non-metros. Metros cite 48% goals as ‘unsure of achieving’, as against 29% in non-metros, revealed the study. Mehra thinks that after this study, the entire financial ecosystem has a great role to play in bridging the gap between what Indians want, what they end up doing, and how they do it. “While Indians are optimistic, they are inadequately prepared to accomplish the majority of their life goals. One of the reasons for the lack of preparedness for 'me' goals, I guess, is from the social conditioning. The 'we' goals like child education continue to take priority over unconventional Life Goals like travel or fitness,” he expounded. “To address this challenge, the solution is to deepen the understanding of the consumer, aid simplification and build relevant engagement with the category,” he adds. Inspiration Behind these Goals The consumer research findings from Bajaj Allianz Life India’s Life Goal Preparedness Survey indicated that 1 in 5 Life Goals are influenced by social media. Unconventional Life Goals including travel and health related-goals are largely driven by social media. It was also found that the impact of social media is 20% higher for millennials than non-millennials, whereas the influence of movies is 50% higher for millennials than non-millennials. Changing the Company’s Positioning Bajaj Allianz also changed its positioning to a company that is young, approachable and solutions-enabler, and through its latest campaign, the brand is challenging the common meaning of ‘retirement.’ It unveiled a 360-degree campaign that breaks a stereotypical mind-set and focuses on driving home the message that retirement need not happen later in one’s career, but can happen anytime -- all they need is a bit of planning. <keyword id="527604" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="early-retirement">Early Retirement</keyword> Goals can be achieved is the key message of the entire campaign. The young protagonist in the video reminds the audience that now is the best time to retire as he doesn’t want to wait for tomorrow. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="Youtube" id="L_376gLtMoQ" title="Plan your #EarlyRetirement Life Goal with Bajaj Allianz Life" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L_376gLtMoQ/mqdefault.jpg"></div>























 Telling us why the company decided to change its product’s positioning and the aim behind their new campaign, Mehra said, “We always had different kinds of retirement plans but the challenge now was – how can you build an engaging conversation on a retirement category? Generally, the younger audience does not relate to ‘retirement’ as a word. However, the definition of retirement itself is changing. It is not about someone waiting till 58. Retirement doesn’t mean you have zero income -- it is more about people wanting to pursue their passion on their own terms. You can be a photographer, a chef, or an organic farmer. Second is being able to take care of your health and spending time with your family. Since consumers echoed these sentiments in the study, we wondered if we can position our products as Early Retirements Products. Therefore, we embarked on this campaign and our aim is to capture a sentiment that resonates with millennials.” End Goals After a year into the campaign, Bajaj Allianz aims to change the meaning of retirement, erase the stigma around it, come up with relevant solutions for millennials by eliminating the middlemen, and being the ‘authentic Life Goals enabler’ that millennials can feel home at. By executing this plan, it further aims to become the ‘undisputed leader’ of the industry. “We continue to grow at a rate higher than industry on the back of strong holistic business fundamentals. We aspire to become the undisputed leader amongst non-bank promoted company in both topline and profitability,” shares Mehra.

How Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance is building its brand based on evolving millennial mindsets

When the government launched the Digital India mandate, its dual goals were to create a digitally empowered society, where citizens have access to information at their fingertips, and to transform India into a knowledge economy. With over a billion mobile phone subscribers leapfrogging brick-and-mortar access points to use the mobile as a gateway for basic e-governance related information, infotainment, online shopping, consumption devices have gone from luxury to utility. While this creates a concrete base for knowledge economy, by familiarizing citizens with <keyword id="6355118" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="technology">technology</keyword>, it cannot be the sole catalyst for transforming India to Digital India. 
 As an initial step to making local technology more competitive and relevant, the <keyword id="6360189" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Union-Budget">Union Budget</keyword> 2017-18 announced capital investments in electronic manufacturing clusters, focused on mobile phones, to spur the competiveness and innovative quotients of indigenous manufacturing. However, in a country that aspires to become a knowledge economy, mobile devices will be but a gateway for access to technology. 
 
Till date, the government has done a commendable job of taking its services to citizens through the mobile, but is that enough to equip citizens with the relevant skills to contribute to India’s knowledge economy? The UN Millennium Development Goals Indicators state that industrialized economies enjoy 63 times more access to personal computers (PCs) than developing countries. For most developed nations, the growth story has been an ‘and’ story, wherein they’ve had high levels of penetration of both PCs and mobile phones. Digital India’s story too will have to be an ‘and’ story, where consumption devices serve as a gateway to technology and PCs, owing to their larger screen size, physical keyboards and productive capabilities, are leveraged as a cornerstone for productivity and development. 
 
An analysis done by Kantar IMRB and the Indian School of Business shows that 54% citizens in non-urban India prefer a PC over a smartphone for education, while increased job opportunities remains one of the key reasons for non-owners of PCs to consider purchasing one. 
 
Additionally, owners of both smartphones and PCs are 7% more likely to use the latter to access healthcare, education, and career-related information. As current technology penetration in the country stagnates at a meagre 20% , the government must accelerate the process of making productive technology relevant here. The most critical step to foster a knowledge based economy is platform agnosticism, which entails the use of complementary devices, including mobiles and PCs, to plug gaps in development of skill, digital literacy, and content creation. 
 
Besides the device itself, several factors will play a crucial role in making this happen. The thrust to digitization with the extension of the Optical Fibre Communication (OFC) network, and improved access to development e-services under the BharatNet and Digigaon initiatives outlined in the Budget, will give a fillip to the Digital Villages that we have long envisioned. Offering free WiFi access and high-speed broadband connectivity will lay the foundations for the adoption of productive devices. 
 
Although local brands such as iBall are making computing affordable for consumers, price continues to remain a key deterrent to adoption. 
 To address this constraint, policy intervention is crucial to subsidize the costs of domestic PC manufacturing by extending customs duty benefits and capital investments to a build a holistic, robust electronic manufacturing and design sector. This will have a positive effect in the long term: it will not only trigger innovations in design customized to local needs, but it will sharpen the prongs of the government’s development trident: Make in India, <keyword id="6569577" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Skill-India">Skill India</keyword>, and Digital India. 
 
Classic gestalt theory follows that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; this could not be truer for Digital India today. Projected to be the most populated country in the world by 2022 , and already possessing the largest demographic dividend, India presents great opportunities in terms of economic development. 
 
However, to become a leader of R&amp;D and IP demands the skills and knowledge to be differentiated in the global market. We must aim to become a nation with knowledge as a backbone, for which the government must adopt and implement technology policies that enable citizens with the tools to move beyond content consumption, and toward content creation. And while the government will play the key role in setting policies, industry must collaborate to execute that vision, and local technology evangelists will help address citizens’ initial inhibitions and fears associated with the use of what are perceived as being complex devices. 
 
 (This article is authored by Debjani Ghosh, Managing Director, and Vice President, Sales &amp; Marketing Group, <keyword id="28115" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Intel">Intel</keyword> South Asia)

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