‘Indian Consumers Need To Understand The Value Of Data They Are Sharing’

As technology evolves, the challenges for Indian marketers have changed. The consumer nowadays expects more from the brands in exchange for their loyalty.

Chetan Mahajan, Founder & CEO, The Mavericks said, "The only thing which is certain today is uncertainty. There are four things in this context of today. Firstly, there are no simple solutions to the challenges. Secondly, there is no single technology that can cater to the diversity that India offers, thirdly, there is an immense opportunity for the marketers to cater to a range of individual choices and fourthly, the internet reach in India as per the studies has reached close to five million. Facebook has around 170 million and WhatsApp has 200 million subscribers. So we find that the Indian consumers are ready to share the data as compared to other countries wherein only 40 per cent of people wants to share the data."

Another challenge is that marketers face a huge trust deficit. Speaking at the launch of the 14th edition of the BW Businessworld Marketing Whitebook 2018 in St Regis, Mumbai on July 20, Mahajan added, “The Indian consumers are digitally active but they are not digitally aware of their rights and privileges on the internet and if you offer Indians freebies they are far more ahead in sharing the data that they should not be sharing. So the comprehension of data is at a nascent stage in India. We are in the process of getting a New Data Act, that currently is not addressing the challenges that face with. The proposal is with the PMO, which should be implemented soon addressing the challenges.”

With the advent of technology in pro of global awareness, the Indian consumer will question the worth of sharing the personal data soon. Peshwa Acharya, CMO, Sterling Holidays said, "From the consumer’s point of view, the Indian consumers are not very digitally aware about the data for what it can be used. But, they know what data can help them and what cannot. So if the consumers can understand the value of data that they are sharing, I think we can help them by using the data in a proper manner.”

Ajay Kakar, CMO, Aditya Birla Capital added, “Of course it is important to use the data efficiently without breaching the privacy. You need to create a delight for customers to remove all suspicion about what will you do with the data, so you need to  build that confidence, so as to make optimum use of data and technology."

Speaking on the optimum use of data, Veetika Deoras, Head-Marketing, Category and Digital and Loyalty Tata Starbucks said, “There is a need for regulations and the brands need to use the data with responsibility which is also their moral responsibility since this is the age of ultra transparency.”

So how can marketers implement transparency and educate the consumer about the good or bad use of data? Anil Talreja, Partner, Deloitte India, said, "The perception of risks exists, so most brands while collecting data need to be explicit. If we see the traditional customers they have a dilemma about where the data is going while Gen X, Y, Z of today do not care about how much data is being given and they do not have enough awareness but still, they give consent to share data easily.”


UT Ramprasad, Head Marketing & Brand Communication, Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles said, "India had the youngest population nearly 60 per cent of Generation Y & Z who will dictate the next three-four decades. So the future is that the consumer will not be concerned about where the data is going but more on deliverables.”

(By Priyaanka Mathur)