THE VOICEBOX

GroupM in association with exchange4media has launched a report which will take you through the industry landscape of Voice marketing and on how brands can use voice to create a sound strategy for their products. Technology has changed our behavior to a very large extent. Right from the way we shop to the way we interact with one another. One of the key aspects of technology that has changed the way we interact with our devices is the element of Voice. Consumers are using voice technology to order food, get directions, make reservations, book travel, etc. Indian internet users are fast adopting this search tool and finding comfort in regional language.

Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia says, “Voice is set to become a vital medium and India will see a revelation in the years to come. Indian marketers and media planners consider this as a huge and scalable market to tap with the ample opportunities present in this sector. Not only in Urban, but voice is foraying into the rural markets as well. Rural India is progressively turning to voice to get tasks done. Marketers must understand various facets of voice. Times are changing and we want to empower marketers with the knowledge that can help them in a long run.”
Active internet users in India touched 574 million in 2020 and those accessing internet through phone being 99% of that has resulted in an increase in voice search by 270% and a rise in Hindi voice searches by 400%. Despite being at a nascent stage Voice is growing at a very rapid pace. Majority of Indians being multilingual find voice easier to use for searches versus typing, in fact over 100 million cricket queries in Hindi were received by Assistant in the 2019 cricket season while 60% users in general use Google voice assistants on phone, throwing up a host of opportunities in urban and rural India.

Tushar Vyas, President Growth and Transformation – GroupM South Asia says, “Immense developments in voice and voice-enabled technologies are changing the way people interact with brands. With the expansion of the digital ecosystem, voice has started portraying its strong position at the forefront of the market. Voice is soon going to be further focused upon, especially in a market ecosystem like India, as the next big chunk of consumers might opt for typing as well as voice. With increased rural awareness on voice, consumer companies are focusing their spends on rural markets because of the clear rise in demand. The voice ecosystem has a larger role to play in marketing communications as smart speakers, connected devices ecosystem and AI-driven assistance adoption grows.”



The surge in voice searches, the rapid adoption of virtual assistants, the integration of bots to drive conversational commerce will change the dynamics in which brands would engage with the consumers. Hence, marketers need to study the impact of voice technology on consumer behavior and should adopt voice technology to make their marketing campaign more efficient. Brands across various categories, such as CPG and travel, have already started integrating voice assistants with their customer service to help customers. AI and machine learning would further assist businesses to enhance customer experience and improve ROI.
This report highlights some of the emerging marketing trends in voice technology as well as recommends strategies which a brand should follow for better results. The vision is to help all brands find their voice for what the future entails.