ETtech Opinion: Sixth Sense strategies: the keys to the future of the company

The world is becoming more and more digital by the day. Today’s consumer, who was slowly moving towards digital, has taken a giant step forward thanks to the pandemic. Today, in most developed and emerging economies, over 80% of customers prefer to check out a product online before deciding to buy it, and over 90% of decisions are influenced by online stories. The crowd of millennials and the emerging customers of tomorrow, who will soon become decision-makers, prefer to shop on the internet than in physical stores. These are serious metrics businesses need to improve their digital visibility and reach.

Traditional Indian businesses have depended on the good old supply chain and the scope of the market to get things to every nook and cranny of the country. Many large conglomerates that operate in the FMCG space have been market leaders … until now. But tomorrow’s consumer will be online first, seeking digital visibility as a measure of the products they are looking for.

Collaboration and reach through digital means and being served at home seem to be the main expectations of this new age consumer. Traditional models, which are more dependent on the physical world, can slowly become obsolete, and giant manufacturing companies can become obsolete if they don’t embrace the new, tech-driven world.

Digital innovations are increasingly being exploited to improve the competitive advantage in terms of business efficiency, consumer engagement and logistics. Many companies are deploying new technologies such as Industry 4.0, intelligent robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning to improve operational efficiency. Particular attention was paid to creating a digital ecosystem capable of driving smart manufacturing, product quality, traceability and supply chain agility.

Today’s digitally connected consumers express their opinions frankly and openly on social media, exchange information on blogs and forums, research and shop online, write reviews on e-commerce sites and share their experiences online. It is therefore imperative to create an agile system that monitors emerging trends and uses artificial intelligence and neurolinguistic programming (NLP) techniques to generate consumer insights. It is imperative that businesses recognize and embrace digital technologies to thrive in a rapidly changing business and consumer-centric environment.

For example, companies like ITC have been the torchbearers of digitization, which started over 20 years ago thanks to innovative initiatives such as e-Choupal. They have now started to enhance this digital journey through the uniform establishment of dedicated Marketing Command Centers, interestingly called Sixth Sense, which are aggressively led by ITC President 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 tries to bring the benefits of advanced technologies and digital revolution to improve operational efficiency and keep pace with changing market circumstances.

Sixth Sense obtains insights through unstructured data mining such as relevant social chatter while keeping customer focus at heart. It identifies emerging changes in consumer behavior, 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 adds to the understanding of the brand. people’s preferences, consistent benchmarking of ITC’s brands against the competition in the digital space, exploring the new immersive and evolving storytelling of brands across the world and measuring digital performance ITC brands.

The information from Sixth Sense has helped the company identify both fads and trends and also helped it better communicate with its consumers through marketing initiatives and digital campaigns. During Covid, the Sixth Sense team was able to generate real-time information for all divisions of the company giving early insight into inventory management and supply chain management. The company also partnered with new distribution partners such as Domino’s and start-ups such as Swiggy, in addition to launching the “ITC Store on Wheels” to ensure its products were available to consumers.

The company has teamed up when necessary to launch B Natural +, which is clinically proven and boosts immunity, which is rich in vitamin C. Several “Vocal for Local” communication campaigns have been launched in line with the sentiments client. Social media trends on Dalgona Coffee have 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 to know its consumers better. Conscious of confidentiality, the company has even obtained the permission and consent of many of its consumers to offer them new products, communications and new services while taking their comments into account.

The need now is for more Indian businesses to embrace new forms of technology-based consumer engagement and align with new-age consumers, who will expect to have everything right on their doorstep. .

The writer is CEO of IndiaTech.org and a leading voice in the tech industry in India