The world is becoming increasingly digital by the day. The modern-day consumer, who was slowly moving towards digital, took a giant leap courtesy the pandemic. Today, in most developed and emerging economies, more than 80% of customers prefer to check out a product online before deciding whether to buy it, and more than 90% of decisions are influenced by online narratives. The millennial crowd and the emerging customers of tomorrow, who will soon become decision makers, prefer to shop on the internet than at physical stores. These are serious indicators that businesses need to enhance their digital visibility and outreach.

Traditional Indian businesses have depended on the good old supply chain and market reach to get things to every nook and corner of the country. Many large conglomerates that operate in the FMCG space have been market leaders... until now. But the consumer of tomorrow will be online-first, looking for digital visibility as a metric for the products he/she seeks.

Collaboration and reach through digital means and being served at home seems to be the primary expectation of this new-age consumer. Traditional models, which depended more on the physical world, may slowly become obsolete and giant manufacturing enterprises may become obsolete if they don't embrace the brave new technology-driven world.

Digital innovations are increasingly being harnessed to enhance competitive advantage in business efficiencies, consumer engagements and logistics. Many businesses are deploying new technologies such as industry 4.0, smart robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, industrial internet of things (IoT) and machine learning to enhance operational effectiveness. Substantial focus has gravitated towards the creation of a digital ecosystem that can drive smart manufacturing, product quality, traceability and supply-chain agility.

Today's digitally connected consumers express their opinion frankly and openly on social media, exchange information on blogs and forums, search and purchase online, write reviews on ecommerce sites, and share experiences online. This makes it imperative to build an agile system that monitors emerging trends and uses artificial intelligence and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) techniques to generate consumer insights. It is imperative that companies recognise and embrace digital technologies to grow in a fast-evolving business and consumer-driven environment.

For example, companies like ITC have been torchbearers of digitisation, which started more than 20 years ago through path-breaking initiatives such as e-Choupal. They have now begun to enhance this digital journey through the even establishment of dedicated marketing command centres, interestingly called Sixth Sense, which are being driven aggressively by ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri. The company has made substantial investments to create a digital ecosystem to drive smart manufacturing, product quality, traceability, and supply-chain agility. It is attempting to bring the benefits of cutting-edge technologies and the digital revolution to enhance operational efficiency and keep pace with evolving market circumstances.

Sixth Sense derives insights through the mining of unstructured data such as relevant social chatter while keeping consumer-centricity at the core. It identifies emerging shifts in consumer behaviour, the rapid evolution of different cohorts and life-stages of people in the country, a shift in preferences in areas such as health, indulgence, authenticity, transparency, etc. This is in addition to understanding the brand preferences of people, consistent benchmarking of ITC's brands against the competition in the digital space, exploring newer evolving, immersive storytelling by brands across the globe, and measuring the digital performance of ITC's brands.

Insights from Sixth Sense have helped the company identify both fads and trends and have also helped it communicate better with its consumers through marketing initiatives and digital campaigns. During Covid, the Sixth Sense team was able to generate real-time insights for all divisions of the company by giving early insights on stock management and supply chain management. The company also tied up with new channel partners such as Domino's and start-ups such as Swiggy, besides launching the 'ITC Store on Wheels' to ensure that its products were available to consumers.

The company partnered where necessary to launch clinically proven, immunity-supporting B Natural+, which is rich in Vitamin C. Several 'Vocal for Local' communication campaigns were initiated in line with customer sentiments. Social media trends on Dalgona coffee helped deepen consumer engagement for its Sunbean Beaten Caffe.

Sixth Sense has therefore emerged as a repository of market trends and acts as a customer data hub, helping the company know its consumers better. Conscious of privacy, the company even took permission and consent from many of its consumers to reach out to them with new products, communications, and new services while taking feedback.

The need of the hour is for more Indian companies to embrace new forms of technology-based consumer engagement and align themselves with new-age consumers, who will expect access to everything at their doorstep.

The writer is CEO of IndiaTech.org and a prominent voice in India's tech sector

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https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/catalysts/sixth-sense-strategies-keys-to-the-future-of-business/articleshow/86068579.cms