The internet connection is playing havoc. I register a complaint with my service provider at 9 in the morning. I am sitting there waiting for paint to dry. My work comes to a standstill. The technician shows up after numerous follow up calls at 7pm. He takes one look at the connection and says that he has been trained in the old technology and has no clue about how to fix my problem. Why has the company assigned you to this task if you are not trained on the new technology? I am on the verge of a breakdown. Looking at my desperation, the technician uses one lifeline. He phones a friend who is trained in this tech. The friend tells him that he is in the middle of a farewell party and will take some more time. As we wait for his friend to show up, he explains to me that the new provider (he whose name has three letters) offers extra money and poaches all technicians. My provider has responded by stopping all investments in training these technicians. He explains the strategy to me, “If there are no trained technicians, then the competitor has no one left to hire. They will be forced to train their new hires and my employer will then poach them.” “When the Titanic is sinking, do not stop investing in swimming lessons.” I tried to translate that without success. “This friend of mine who is coming to fix your problem, is also joining that company. He is attending his own farewell and will come over after that.” 
40 million learners
Yesterday, Google released their annual “Year in Search — India: Insights for brands” for India. There is a new Bharat that is experiencing what it means to be connected to the world. 40 million new users go online every year, making it the fastest market worldwide. Low-cost smartphones, combined with affordable data packages, have propelled digital far beyond the big cities. The result — 400 million Indian consumers are now online. When we need information, we Google it. When the new learners want to learn something they choose video.
The Google report goes on to say, “Indian consumers love video, and not just for entertainment. They use it to search for, learn about, review, and research products before making purchase decisions. It’s estimated that there’ll be 500M online video users by 2020. It’s no surprise, then, that video watch times are exploding across categories and verticals. In the auto category, for instance, we found that 80% of auto buyers watch YouTube videos to find answers and reviews before making their purchase. Other users are turning to video to educate themselves, with watch time for science and hobby videos growing 3X year-on-year (YoY).”
Video and Voice
Video and voice are engaging the new learner. Businesses have to create content that is interesting. If it is not interesting, the content is not consumed. There is a 270% growth in voice queries (YoY) in India. Nine out of every 10 new internet users in the country will likely be an Indian language speaker. These trends have three sharp implications for organizations.
- Teach the leaders to create compelling content on videos.
- Leverage commute time. Create amazing podcasts that people tune in to.
- Make content creation on video and voice a precondition for promoting someone to a managerial role.
The company’s videos will not be consumed automatically unless they are better than the ones on YouTube. The CEOs podcast will not be downloaded unless it is more interesting than all the other podcasts that draw millions of listeners. It is not just about creating useful content alone but making useful content that fascinates the learner. That is a tall order for the leaders. ==========Written for the Planet Ganges blog <read it here>
