India's Internet Language Tree

Large Digital Platforms such as Google, Microsoft, YouTube and Facebook have stepped up their efforts to engage the non-English speaking Internet user by speaking in multiple tongues for a few years now. However entertainment is still the driving force behind much of the user engagement. Now many are looking at ways to lock in the next wave of Internet users with language support for critical services, thereby increasing user stickiness and brand engagement on their platforms.

Nearly 500 Million Internet non-users are likely to go digital if Internet is provided in a language of their choice. In the next four years, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu speaking Internet users will form 30 per cent of the total Indian language Internet user base, according to a Google-KPMG report on Indian languages (2017).

Internet platforms are turning polyglots not just because they see the rising importance of tapping into a user base that exists far beyond the top tier cities, but also brands are looking to ride their services to expand the customer base or improve employee efficiencies. Cab aggregator Ola has implemented language localization across the board to an extent that around 80 percent of the drivers use the language in the vernacular format. Google recently rolled out support for a number of languages on their proprietary keyboard or G-board.

Social Media has played a key role in driving the language train. Facebook has been actively prompting users to post content in their local language for years now. YouTube is collaborating with content creators across major cities like Hyderabad and Mumbai through fan events and creative spaces in order to encourage regional content.

There are 300 regional language channels on YouTube in India with over a million subscribers mark. Almost 70% music and video streamed online, 50% of messaging service usage and 50% news consumption across the country is done in regional languages. Globally, China managed to achieve the highest number of Internet users by using Mandarin script content, so much so that Chinese is the second most popular language on the Internet after English. In contrast, Indic content accounts for barely 0.1 % of the worldwide Internet content.

The potential for brands across the spectrum, not just advertisers and entertainers is huge. At present, barely 15% ticket booking, 17% online job searching and 21% banking services consumed online is done in regional languages. This reflects the restrictions of access of such critical Internet service in Indic, which in turn is limited Internet penetration in rural India and amongst the economically weaker section. Out of 481 Million Internet users in India almost 335 Million consume online content in Indic languages.

Bengaluru based technology startup Reverie Language Technologies, which provides Language as a Service (LaaS) solutions notes that a user’s online journey starts with content consumption, followed by engagement, which is followed by transactions or conversions. When the number of transaction-users grows, businesses will start looking into providing them with relevant localized solutions to solve their pain points. With 200 Million rural users coming online this year, companies will have to take efforts to help these users navigate through the digital world.

Biggest Tech Brands in the World

Technology Brands are all the rage right now so it’s no surprise that Apple and Google have occupied the top two positions in Interbrand list of most valuable global brands for three straight years. Branding consultancy recently released list of top 20 brands names in the world of Technology. This article includes their Global Rank in 2014 & 2015 and also their Brand Value in 2014 & 2015.

Foremost is the Apple. Their Global Rank in 2014 & 2015 is one. Brand Value of Apple was $118.863 Billion and in 2015 it is $170.276 Billion. Second spot is hold by Google. Their Global Rank in 2014 & 2015 is two. Brand value of Google was $107.439 Billion and in 2015 it is $120.314 Billion. Microsoft Global Rank in 2014 was five whereas in 2015 it is four. Brand Value of Microsoft was $61.154 Billion and in 2015 it is $67.67 Billion.

IBM Global Rank in 2014 was four and in 2015 is five. IBM Brand Value in 2014 was $72.244 Billion and in 2015 it is $65.095 Billion. Next is Samsung with Global Rank seven in 2014 & 2015. Their Brand value in 2014 was $45.462 Billion and in 2015 it is $45.297 Billion. Amazon Global Rank in 2014 was fifteen and in 2015 it is ten. Brand value of Amazon was $29.478 Billion in 2014 and in 2015 it is $37.948 Billion. Intel Global Rank in 2014 was twelve and in 2015 it is fourteen. Their Brand value was $13.153 Billion in 2014 and $35.415 Billion in 2015.

Cisco Global Rank in 2014 was fourteen and in 2015 it is fifteen. Brand Value of Cisco was $30.936 Billion in 2014 and in 2015 it is $29.854 Billion. Oracle is sixteen in Global Rank in 2014 and 2015. Brand value of Oracle was $25.980 Billion in 2014 and in 2015 it is $27.283 Billion. HP Global Rank in 2014 was sixteen and in 2015 it is eighteen. Their Brand value in 2014 was $23.758 Billion and in 2015 it is $23.056 Billion. Facebook Global Rank in 2014 was 29 and in 2015 it is 23. Their Brand value was $14.349 Billion in 2014 and $22.029 Billion in 2015.

SAP Global rank in 2014 and 2015 is twenty five and twenty six. Their Brand value was $17.340 in 2014 and $18.768 in 2015. EBay Global Rank in 2014 was twenty eight and in 2015 it is thirty two. Their brand value in 2014 was $14.358 Billion and in 2015 it is $13.940 Billion. Canon Global Rank in 2014 was thirty seven and in 2015 it is forty. Their Brand value in 2014 was $11.702 Billion and in 2015 it is $11.278 Billion. Accenture global rank in 2014 was 44 & in 2015 it is 42. Their Brand value in 2014 was $9.882 Billion & in 2015 it is $10.8 Billion.

Sony global rank was 52 in 2014 and in 2015 it is 58. Their Brand value was $8.133 Billion in 2014 and in 2015 it was $7.702 Billion. Panasonic global rank was 64 in 2014 and in 2015 it is 65. Their brand value in 2014 was $6.303 Billion and in 2015 it was $6.436 Billion. Adobe global rank in 2014 was 77 and in 2015 it is 68. Their brand value in 2014 was $5.33 Billion and in 2015 it is $6.257 Billion. Xerox global rank in 2014 was 62 and in 2015 it is 71. Their brand value in 2014 was $6.641 Billion and in 2015 it is $6.033 Billion. Huawei global rank in 2014 was 94 and in 2015 it is 88. Their Brand value in 2014 was $4.313 Billion and in 2015 it is $4.952 Billion.

Planet of the Apps

India has the third largest mobile user’s country in the world. With data showing Indian users, spend an average 198 minutes each day on their smartphones. It is believed that mobile phones are the future of an economy. Soon laptops may become obsolete and everything in the world will be operated through smartphones and tablets. Many companies are trying to make this happen.

Smartphones are used on a large scale because of 1.3 Million Android apps and 1.2 Million Apple app available to use. With introduction of mobile apps, most businesses in the world are turning their focuses towards mobile apps. Especially in the Internet based business. For E-commerce, business mobile app is the future. Mobile apps began appearing in 2008 and are operated by Operating system of a mobile. Mobile app is a short version of a website and a handy layout to operate.

Every social networking, news, business, entertainment, and sports have their apps. This not only will increase the usability and business for app developers, but will also increase the use of smartphones. In India, number of toiletries is less than the number of smartphones people have. Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google are the most dominating companies in mobile apps. I remember the first app I used was the Shazam in my Nokia Symbian phone six years back.

After that Whatsapp, the most used chat app in the world. As the time passes by, now I use plenty of apps in my Android Smartphone. It has become easy for me to collect any information in an instant of time from mobile apps. There is no doubt that mobile app developers and companies will grow more. However, there will be time when everything will be available on the app. Most e-commerce business they use mobile apps because 70% of orders are placed from mobile apps.

The benefit of companies from mobile apps is that they collect user information and can sell that information to other companies in millions. Now talking about, E-tail companies give more discounts on ordering from mobile apps. In India, E-tail companies offer vouchers for other businesses too. Amazon was the first company in India to launch app sale, although Flipkart did planning first. However, there is an increase in growth of mobile apps and a majority of this growth is coming from outside of metro cities.

If internet reach is more in rural India then increase in number of users for mobile apps will also increase. However, new government “Digital India” initiative can make this possible. This will not only add value to reach people but will also contribute to Indian Economy. More companies will emerge out and people from Rural India can bring their businesses online.

50 companies that changed the world

Over the past 200 years, many companies had the most impact on our world, and on the way, the business is done today. The same thing Howard Rothman takes up in this fascinating, easy reading jaunt through business history. I finished reading in this book and I found it a historical book with histories of all companies that changed or made impact in this world. This book contains a list of 50 Companies that had the most profound impact on the world around them.

The author ranked the firms according to their influence and contributions. International in scope, the selections range from obvious choices like Microsoft, AT&T, Toyota, and McDonald’s, to more provocative selections like CNN, the Walt Disney Company, and Ben & Jerry’s homemade. For each company the author presents a lively, historical sketch and discusses its strengths and weaknesses in the context of each company’s individual operations. It also tells about their size, capitalization, and information about their current leadership. It is both an entertaining read and a handy reference work. It is fun to read this book because it takes me to history of companies from all sectors.

If one is interested in, knowing the histories of famous, old companies that this is the perfect book to read. It mainly consists of companies that were established in 20^th century. One time I feel that these are not the companies that are affecting world today as Google and other big firms are missing out in this book. However, the collection of companies is relevant to history of the world. This book makes me learn how some of the greatest companies of all time achieved their success, stayed on the top of trend, and fell from pinnacle when they failed to follow the path that made them successful.

A management student, a businessperson, an employee should add this book into their library. In short, it is an historical book with consists of names of companies, leaders who drove them, obstacles they faced, their capitalization, number of employees, sales, changes they made to be on top, their acquisitions, and how they begin to produce. Read it once, it will add value to your knowledge.