The Chennai floods highlighted the power of digital media, how it can play a big role in bringing a nation together in times of crisis. The numerous messages on various digital platforms enabled a swift response from members of the public, who initiated selfless efforts to rescue the affected people. Digital media is the undisputed public medium today, it is way ahead of other traditional media formats.

India has the world’s third largest television viewership base and second largest print industry (in circulation terms), yet the speed and appeal of digital media has surpassed them. A report titled Shaping the Industry at a Time of Disruption jointly published by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) emphasises that the next decade could fundamentally transform the sector, thanks to digital media.

With 250 million digital screens (smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs included), India is witnessing a consumption explosion. This explosion is expected to touch 600 million in five years’ time, by 2020. This means, every second person in India will have a media consumption device, one that is highly personal.

Good but inexpensive content The bottom line here is that the Indian market will perpetually be on its feet, with consumers demanding quick, speedy, and highly personalised information. They will be extremely mobile, on the go, and will want seamless delivery of services across devices. All beliefs that were considered sacrosanct will have to be questioned and answers have to be found. For instance, is the printed word really the ultimate? With more people, particularly from the younger generation, preferring to consume information in audio-visual and in new digital formats, this premise may no longer hold true.

Riding the wave of mobile penetration, we see a host of ways that news and information will be relayed to individual consumers, in a manner they prefer to receive it — text, audio, video. The traditional media formats of print and television are unlikely to fade away in the near future, mainly because of their ubiquity and affordable pricing. As a result, traditional media will continue to see traction among consumers though it may not be at the rapid pace of digital media.

All this simply means that the digital media explosion is here to stay, and content, considered king, is expected to be generated cheap. Content aggregation and content management will become as important to the value chain of content creation. User-generated content will put pressure on media organisations to create and curate content smartly. Consumers have already begun to believe good content need not be expensive.

Organisations in the publishing space should brace for a complete transformation. Many have already started thinking in the direction of multiple media formats, monetisation of content and investing in creating good quality content. What will also be crucial is measuring the feedback and usefulness of content. All these cannot be achieved without fully utilising the advances in technology. Data journalism, crowdsourcing of content, cloud-based technology usage, and deep analytics are some aspects that will be critical. Media organisations must stay invested in them to be able to benefit from the digital explosion.

Original content websites Recently, a mobile-first website covered the Bihar elections, using only smartphones, doing away with the traditional outdoor broadcasting vans and photographers that visual and print media has. This is just a start. The increase in the number of devices capable of supporting digital media along with increasing internet access speed, has provided consumers with an easy option to access content of their choice digitally — be it information, entertainment, or social activity anytime, anywhere. The focus is shifting from the online editions of Print publications to ‘original content websites’, where the news is unconventional, interesting, catchy and short.

Stories that may not find a place in print are now being viewed and liked online. The content generated by these contemporary websites is dynamically changing the way news is perceived, absorbed and shared. These websites are finding their niche consumers who are always on the go and like to pick up their news from where they left off.

According to a report by KPMG and FICCI, the number of internet-enabled smartphones in India is increasing and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 30 per cent. This means that by 2019, India will have 435 million internet-enabled smartphones. This percentage is only going to increase over time — given the rapid penetration of broadband access and smartphones. India also has the largest young population in the world which is driving the digital media consumption in India. Such statistics tells us that online publishers need to go back to the drawing board — to publish content in a format which appeals to the millennial and post-millennial generations with rich media content, robust personalisation engine and a transformed art of storytelling.

Today, forward looking media organisations are focusing on how they can reinvent their digital platforms and extend their media portfolios beyond traditional formats to drive valuable traffic, boost revenue, increase subscriptions and protect subscription renewals. There are promising digital publishing platforms on the rise who offer a modern, seamless and flexible workflow management process, customised audience development and engagement features and finetune the content strategy according to client needs. Digital software as a service (SaaS) platforms enable modern publishers to focus on their core content, rather than get distracted in managing the maze of technology solutions and capital-intensive investments. The more focused publishers seem keen to differentiate themselves based on the quality of their content. They would rather leave the technology to experts with a good understanding of mobile, big data, semantic analytics and artificial intelligence. This kind of pay-as-you-go publishing systems are set to shake the digital market.

As the digital space gets hotter, getting the right kind of business model will be critical for success.

Amit Rathore is Founder & CEO, Quintype.

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