Pitch April-May Issue 2015

The Face of Marketing

Volume XI | Issue 12 | April-May 2015

` 75

10 PROMISING

TOP

YOUNG

Pg. 06

MARKETERS OF 2015

NATIVE ADVERTISING Why advertisers and publishers are opting for it?

Pg. 46

EXPEDIA’S GROWTH STORY The ‘technology travel’ company’s plans for the future

Pg. 40

Research by

KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

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CONTENTS COVER STORY Volume XI, Issue-12 April-May 2015

Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Annurag Batra Editor & Director Amit Agnihotri Director Nawal Ahuja

EDITORIAL TEAM

Deputy Editor

Rashi Bisaria

DESIGN TEAM

Art Director

Shivaji Sengupta

Senior Graphic Designer

Joby Mathew

Photographers

Vilas Kalgutkar (Mumbai) Suresh Gola (Noida)

MARKETING’S

YOUNG AND

RESTLESS

Meet the Top 10 Young Marketing mavens who have made a mark

06

AD SALES

Rajat Thareja Prashant Kulkarni Sneha Walke

9810134435 9886138249 9845541143

0FFICES

NEW DELHI: Shop No. 32, 33 south Ettn. Part-I, Om vihar, Uttam Nagar, New Delhi 110 059 NOIDA: B-20, I-Floor, Sector-57, Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201301 Phone: (0120) 4007700 Mumbai: 301, Kakad Bhavan, 3rd Floor, 11th Street, Bandra (W), Mumbai - 400 050 Phone: (022) 2640 3303/09/14/16 Bengaluru: Flat No. 1,062, 1st Floor, 2nd Cross, 6th Main Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indira Nagar, Bengaluru - 560 038

FEATURE

CIRCULATION/DISTRIBUTION

Vinod Sharma (Delhi) - 9999447209 vinod@exchange4media.com Anandan Nair (Mumbai) - 9819445200 anair@exchange4media.com On News-stands ` 75 www.pitchonnet.com Printed and published by Annurag Batra on behalf of Adsert Web Solutions Pvt Ltd B-20, I-Floor, Sector-57, Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201301 Printed at All Time Offset Printers, E-53, Sector-7 Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201301 An exchange4media Publication

GSK Marketing Director on his journey with brand Horlicks

50 FEATURE

Kinetic Worldwide’s David Payne advocates ‘smart OOH for a smart world’

58

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Expedia-Exploring new frontiers

40

CONTENTS MAKING A HABIT OF SUCCESS

DETACHED FROM THE ANXIETY OF DEADLINES

HANDS-ON, COLLABORATIVE, ACCESSIBLE

Anika Agarwal

VP, Head Marketing, Max Bupa Health Insurance

Pallavi Singh

10

URGING THE COUNTRY TO BE ‘FIT FOR LIFE’

Marketing Head, Tag Heuer

Mudit Shekhawat

26

18

Prashant Sarwade,

Director Marketing, Ola Cabs

GM, Head of Marketing and NPD Dunkin Donuts India 30

28

“THINKS NEW AND DOES MORE”

EXECUTING IDEAS

DEFINES HIM

Akshay Mehrotra

BUSINESS ACUMEN COMBINED WITH CREATIVITY CREATIVITY

‘TRANSFORMATIONAL’ LEADERSHIP SETS HIM APART

Kanika Mittal

Marketing Head, Reebok India

Puneet Sewra

Marketing Director, Harley Davidson, 14 India

SPEED OF

CMO, big bazaar

Tamanna Khanna Head marketing, Indiafirst Life Insurance

20

LIVING BRAND

22

A QUIET GOGETTER

PUMA DAY IN

AND DAY OUT Issac John

SANDEEP KOMARAVELLY

Head, Marketing, Puma India

32

Senior VP, Marketing, snapdeal

34

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

COLUMNS Anupam Sen

Founding Partner, Traverse Research n’ Consulting

08 Yateesh Srivastava Independent Consultant

36 Sudhindra Venkateshamurthy

Creative Director & Experience Design Lead, SapientNitro India

38

Hitesh Chawla

Avik Chattopadhyay

44 Titir Pal

Director, Solutions, AbsolutData Analytics

48 Apurva Chamaria

Head, Global Brand & Digital Front Office at HCLTechnologies

52

Hemal Panchamia

Co-Founder & CEO, SilverPush

Independent brand and Strategy Consultant

Marketing Head, Fastrack

56

54 INSIGHT

46

How can Marketers get

MEDIA RIGHT in 2015?

43

Q&A

59

Books

60

Column: Annurag Batra 62 Mark Henning | AMAP Head, Media & Digital Millward Brown

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COVER STORY

MARKETING’S

YOUNG AND

RESTLESS

TOP 10 PROMISING, YOUNG MARKETERS OF 2015 6

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KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

BY RASHI BISARIA

A

s consumer patterns change in the country, the role of a marketer is also beset by unique challenges . Marketing has become more demanding , experimental and cutting edge than before. The marketer in India needs to wear many hats considering he has to play many roles. The multi-faceted marketer today is often seen to be young, dynamic, agile and consumer focused. In fact, brands need executives who are full of new ideas, restless in their quest for success. The surprising fact is that many of them are very young men and women who can give their seniors a run for their money. The focus of our Cover Story is on the young marketing mavens who have taken both new and established brands to the pinnacle of success on the strength of their personalities and expertise. As we started our journey to discover these achievers, it became clear that the marketing landscape had a sizeable number of marketing whiz kids who are 35 years of age or below.

Our Knowledge partner Traverse Research n’ Consulting has done a �ine job of sifting through numerous candidates to �inalise on the Top 10 promising young marketers of 2015. We arrived at the metrics used for the selection after much debate and discussion. The �inal 6 metrics used were:

FIND OUT WHO THE YOUNG MARKETING MAVENS ARE WHO HAVE TAKEN BOTH NEW AND ESTABLISHED BRANDS TO THE PINNACLE OF SUCCESS

RISE IN STATURE

This assessed the pace of growth within the organisation/ across organisations

MENTION IN MEDIA

This included the mention of the marketer in any medium.

External awards and felicitation were also included here.

INTEGRATION OF TRADITIONAL AND NEW MEDIA This assessed how the marketer managed to integrate TVC, Print, and Radio etc. with new media like social, digital, experiential etc.

ADDED VALUE

This looked at the marketing activities that were over and above regular marketing duties at the company. Here we included brand building measures that were innovative.

BRAND-PROFIT ALIGNMENT

We looked at how the brand goals were not merely aimed at pro�it earning but also aimed at establishing and taking

forward business purpose and mission, and whether they were long term in nature.

COMPETENCY BUILDING

These included actions taken in the study period that have been strategic steps aimed at building competencies for the future, such as business expansion, searching for new business opportunities etc.

The two stages of the process were a preliminary analysis followed by a secondary analysis to arrive at the �inal names. The ones who did not meet the criteria performed poorly on the metrics not warranting further examination and analysis.

The names that �inally made it to the list are standout marketers, who are 35 years or below, and have the unique traits that a professional in their position needs to possess.

They have added value to the marketing eco-system. Almost all are detail driven, adventurous, exceptional leaders with a vision for their organisation. They are passionate, action oriented and quick decision makers. The ones on the list show immense promise for the coming months and are the ones to watch out for.

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

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COVER STORY

COLUMN

KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

ANUPAM SEN

Founding Partner, Traverse Research n’ Consulting

Changing the rules to change the game

S With the cutting across various sectors, and three of the Top five being women, the

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tarting early and young is catching up and this new breed of marketers is starting young.

The old rules do not apply anymore in a culture that is breeding entrepreneurs and making ‘innovative thinking’ a norm. It is not unusual to �ind marketing heads of organizations in their late 20s handling key responsibilities.

This trend has been coupled with a shift in the marketing landscape with organizations spinning off digital marketing into separate units; and with new areas like experiential marketing gaining more signi�icance, the scope of a marketer has increased manifold. Working in silos and focusing on one marketing end is simply not enough.

This brings us to the question – does all this lead to the need for all these marketers to get noticed for the right reasons? And the answer is ‘Yes’. Hence, our key brief for “Most Promising & Young Marketers” was very clear – to identify the best in the industry. What was tougher was to de�ine

what ‘Most Promising’ refers to. We realized that every young marketer is constantly in two minds – to take actions that leave an impact versus completing given tasks responsibly. It is this juxtaposition that makes a young marketer stand out.

The next crucial aspect we wanted to clarify at the outset was our intent with the study and the subsequent listing – which was to focus more on individual capacity of these young marketers and less on brand performance metrics.

We looked at the last three years of each candidate, but also analysed if they had the potential to materialize this promise to become an outstanding marketing leader.

Apart from the identi�ication of these young promising marketers, we feel change is the only constant. For years, we have been hearing about the changing role of the CMO. While that still stands, we also found in our research that the role of selecting the CMO itself has changed.

There are a gamut of challenges that a consumer

– brand organization faces today. They have to deal with multiple customer touch points, fragmented media spends, and growing importance of consumer generated media and opinion.

The Top 10 Promising , Young Marketers study is an attempt to highlight these marketers who have been outstanding in their pursuit for excellence. With the Top 10 cutting across various sectors, and three of the Top �ive being women; the results could not be more encouraging. We also saw that Top 10 had their own paths to success, with some being true wunderkinds, and others having performed exceptionally in the last year or so.

While there is no one silver bullet to success, the common denominator among all these marketers has been that they have focused not merely on the brand, but have managed marketing capabilities, spearheaded innovation, built marketing competencies; and at the same time have ensured brand – pro�it alignment.

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COVER STORY

1 ANIKA

AGARWAL MAKING A HABIT OF SUCCESS

VP, HEAD MARKETING, MAX BUPA HEALTH INSURANCE

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KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

S

coring high in all 6 metrics of the study is Anika Agarwal, the dynamic, young marketer who is currently heading all marketing activities by Max Bupa Health Insurance as its Vice President and Head Marketing.

Her experience in diverse marketing roles in companies like Nokia India, Nokia Corporation and now Max Bupa have helped strengthen her skills and understanding of consumer insights.

Having worked across India, MiddleEast and African markets, Anika’s experience as a seasoned marketer is unparalleled.

What helped her plan campaigns and manage marketing activities successfully for 70 countries at Nokia Corporation? Her colleagues attribute it to her no-nonsense, methodical approach to work.

At Max Bupa too Anika has displayed great initiative and drive in educating consumers about the sector.

Having spent a little over three years with the brand, she has already come up with several successful campaigns and properties to communicate with the consumers.As a result, Max Bupa has been ranked No 7 in the B2C private health insurance space. In a cluttered market, where all players are pushing for share of mind and wallet, Max Bupa has been able to make a mark.

One of the ideas that Anika has taken forward is the need for activation. She knows the value of on-ground initiatives in the face of stringent media budgets. Most of these are rooted in consumer insights based on research.The initiative, ‘Walk

for Health’ was born after extensive research on walking patterns of consumers. She also focused heavily on loyalty programmes like for the �lagship product Heartbeat policy which has two loyalty options. The month on month redemption on these programmes has been on the rise.

Annual health check-ups also form an important aspect of connecting with consumers on the ground. Max Bupa wants consumers to take educated decisions about health insurance and not be pushed into buying insurance due to fear. Max Bupa has been

Bringing fresh ideas to the table has been one of her key strengths.

She has an exemplary record of consistently meeting new business goals Somesh Chandra

Chief Operations Officer and Chief Quality Officer, Max Bupa

ONE OF THE IDEAS THAT ANIKA HAS TAKEN FORWARD IS THE NEED FOR ACTIVATION. SHE KNOWS THE VALUE OF ON-GROUND INITIATIVES

positioned as the health partner for consumers and tries to educate them.

For instance, the brand kicked-off its “All fact no myth “ campaign in February to reach out to customers telling them about bene�its of early adoption of health insurance.

Referring to the education initiatives, Anika explained, “Health

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COVER STORY

IN A CLUTTERED MARKET, WHERE ALL PLAYERS ARE PUSHING FOR SHARE OF MIND AND WALLET, MAX BUPA HAS BEEN ABLE TO MAKE A MARK insurance is a highly underpenetrated and misunderstood category in India. Customer education to drive sales among non-users and a better understanding among existing users is the need of the hour. Taking cognizance of the importance of enabling people to overcome their lack of involvement and negative disposition about health insurance, we decided to talk to families and not just individuals. It also resonated with our innovative family offerings like Heartbeat and Health Companion which provide health coverage to joint families.”

Anika has made excellent use of digital media to amplify all of�line campaigns. It has also enabled customers to buy health policies via facebook through the engagement platform-Get Help. This engagement platform has been able to simplify the process of buying insurance. Max Bupa

12

has a strong fanbase on Facebook and an overwhelming following on Twitter. It has used Instagram to great effect. Commenting on the importance of digital media, Anika says, “ With the number of people visiting social media platforms for information rapidly increasing, our All Fact No Myth and Walk for Health Campaigns were rolled out on multiple digital platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The engagement with customers through conversations around health and their important life moments is helping us build trust, amplify recall and preference among users.”

So what makes Anika a super achiever? “Anika has a solution centric approach that signi�icantly enhances the organization’s performance in a constantly evolving business environment where one needs to think on the go. Bringing fresh ideas

to the table has been one of her key strengths. Right from planning to execution, she has managed it all, owing to her innate ability of devising long term practical goals. She has an exemplary record of consistently meeting the new business goals,” says Somesh Chandra, Chief Operations Of�icer and Chief Quality Of�icer, Max Bupa who has witnessed her working style.

He also adds, “Anika has a sharp business acumen and her democratic and participative leadership qualities have helped the business deliver superlative results.” A double gold medalist in Marketing and Finance and a Delhi University topper, Anika has scripted her own success story.

No wonder this young executive has managed to make it to the number one spot in the rankings. It will be interesting to watch out for her next moves.

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

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COVER STORY

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PALLAVI SINGH HANDS-ON, COLLABORATIVE, ACCESSIBLE

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MARKETING DIRECTOR, HARLEY DAVIDSON, INDIA

KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

I

n a span of eight years, Pallavi Singh has risen to the role of Marketing Director for the iconic cult brand Harley Davidson in India.

She began her journey with Yamaha Motor in 2007 where her interest and understanding of the two wheeler big bike market �irst took shape. When she joined Harley Davidson in India, she already had a grip on the market for bikes, having been deeply involved in ground-level consumer research. As Assistant Manager, Marketing she was a part of the founding team that set up Harley’s operations in India. The responsibility lay in establishing a market presence for the brand among potential consumers.

Brand building of an aspirational brand like Harley was no mean feat.

It meant tapping the right consumers, building a community of likeminded people who would become in�luencers. It involved setting up systems and processes which exist till date for the brand. A good amount of market research and data analysis went into identifying the consumer

base, the market and the target group’s preferences. As Pallavi says, “We not only build value through great products but also by creating an engaging and holistic environment for our customers through activities such as HOG Rallies, Harley Rock Riders and other events. Because we have been successful at creating a ful�illing and dynamic relationship with our customers, they not only continue to ride our motorcycles but also frequently upgrade and own multiple bikes across all models. Today our customers are also supporters, enthusiasts and most importantly evangelists who continue to bring others into the fold of the HarleyDavidson brotherhood. For us, such continued engagement is the most rewarding and sustainable avenue to ensure healthy sales.”

One of her strengths as a marketer lies in her understanding of the consumer. “Pallavi really sees marketing through the lens of the customer and is able to unlock the passion and inspiration that HarleyDavidson gives customers to ful�il their dreams of personal freedom,” says Greg Willis, Director of Marketing Operations, Asia Paci�ic, HarleyDavidson Motor Company. Greg also

BRAND BUILDING OF AN ASPIRATIONAL BRAND LIKE HARLEY WAS NO MEAN FEAT. IT MEANT TAPPING THE RIGHT CONSUMERS, BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE feels that her insight into the core values of the brand have enabled her to bring it alive in India through strong brand marketing, cutting through events such as Harley Rock Riders.

Today, the Harley Rock Riders has completed �ive seasons, combining the passions of music and motorbikes. Harley now has 13 models in India and there are more than 6000 Harley bikes on the roads.

The community has expanded and has an enviable presence on social media. Being an advocate of the brand has certainly helped. “As an advocate of my Brand, my customers

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COVER STORY

Somesh Chandra

Chief Operations Officer and Chief Quality Officer, Max Bupa

She thinks like a CEO, anticipating and understanding the relationship and impact of each activity on the entire business don’t just look at me as the Marketing Director of Harley- Davidson but identify with me as a fellow rider and HarleyDavidson loyalist, because of these characteristics. Hence, they are far more transparent and engaged when I meet them in person. This ability, to form a personal connection with the brand and customers alike, is a great asset for any Marketing Professional,” explains Pallavi.

Her colleagues and seniors know Pallavi to be a resourceful marketer who is detail-oriented and works in a collaborative and creative manner. One of the best comments about her, come from Anoop Prakash, Managing Director, Harley-Davidson India, “She thinks like a CEO, anticipating and understanding the relationship and impact of each activity on the entire business.”

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Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

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COVER STORY

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PUNEET SEWRA DETACHED FROM THE ANXIETY OF DEADLINES MARKETING HEAD, TAG HEUER

KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

T

hirty two year old Puneet Sewra has exhibited a steady climb up his career graph, having evolved as a sharp marketer with a keen sense of the luxury market. In his two and a half years at Tag Heuer, a branch of LVMH Swiss Manufacturers he has launched new campaigns, revived old ones, handled celebrity associations and reached out to new Target Groups like the SMEs. Puneet began his career as Assistant Manager at Reebok and in a span of six years rose to the rank of Marketing Head. Qualities such as a sharp, analytical mind combined with a creative bent and a strong focus have helped him succeed in his roles as brand manager and Marketing Head, both at Reebok and at Tag Heuer. “He makes improvisation look like a re�inement,” says a consultant who worked with Puneet at the Adidas Group. It is perhaps this quality that has stood him in good stead at Tag Heuer. His smart breakthrough marketing on a small media budget speaks volumes about his understanding of the luxury market. He knows the value of giving consumers interesting talking points through innovative marketing campaigns like the time when Ranbir Kapoor was launched as a brand ambassador in style at the home of the annual Formula One Grand Prix with aweinspiring stunt performances. “We reach a select audience and attempt to create a lasting memory,” explained Puneet to the media at the time of the announcement.

Tag Heuer revived a global advertising campaign recently, called ‘Don’t Crack Under Pressure’, featuring

Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor.

Surprisingly, Puneet steered clear of television media using print, outdoor and digital instead . He knows the drawbacks of television for a luxury brand and the unnecessary spills of the media spend. He’s selective about the channels and screens he targets.

Amit Chaloo, General Manager, LVMH Watch and Jewellery India speaks highly about Puneet’s working style. “ Be it a watch release or boutique launch, Puneet’s efforts have always been to push boundaries and make it an event worth remembering.

While driving tough targets, he takes a balanced approach to risks, keeping cool and detached from the anxiety of deadlines,” he says.

This young and enthusiastic marketer has focused the brand’s attention on the young generation between the age group of 18-35 years.

His own enthusiastic personality connects well with the new positioning of the brand. Not mincing words in his praise, Amit adds, “Puneet’s working style is very hands on. He takes an interest in all aspects of marketing and business. He Amit Chaloo

General Manager, LVMH Watch and Jewellery India

While driving tough targets, he takes a balanced approach to risks, keeping cool and detached from the anxiety of deadlines

QUALITIES SUCH AS A SHARP, ANALYTICAL MIND COMBINED WITH A CREATIVE BENT AND A STRONG FOCUS HAVE HELPED HIM SUCCEED is calm yet stirred about his work.

With an incredible knowledge of not only the watch industry, he derives inspiration from other industries like automobile, electronics, sports, etc. making his approach and decisions holistic and all rounded.”

Puneet stresses more on wanting people to be seen wearing a Tag Heuer watch more than spending on advertising. This has led to the focus being on events and the experience. He is tapping some of the untapped nonmetro markets, reaching out to people through innovative ways. He does not want consumers to buy the watch just for the sake of it. He wants the passion behind the product to touch the consumers as well.

Engaging the youth will be one of the priorities for the brand in the year ahead and Puneet is geared up for the innings ahead. What helps him achieve his targets? Amit says, “ He is a team leader with an open door policy and a keen ear and mind for constructive feedback.”

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

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4SPEED OF

COVER STORY

EXECUTING IDEAS DEFINES AKSHAY MEHROTRA CMO , BIG BAZAAR

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KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

N

ew ideas, speed and innovation seem to be the resounding buzzwords for 34 year old Akshay Mehrotra, the Chief Marketing Of�icer at Big Bazaar.

He’s spent more than two years with the Future group and in this short span of time, not only has he harnessed the potential of middle class consumers but has displayed great consumer insight in executing several marketing led initiatives.

Akshay knows the pulse of the consuming population, to use digital media to get footfalls into stores and has been able to integrate traditional and digital media to bring about results.

Supermarkets-on-wheels was a concept introduced by him in January, 2014 for the occasion of Republic day. In order to reduce the commotion in stores, these trucks became mobile stores for the 3-day Republic Day sale. They provided discounted products to the doorsteps of consumers. The trucks plied between areas where there was no Big Bazaar Store.

They looked like smaller versions of the supermarket store itself and needless to say, the concept was a masterstroke

by Mehrotra and his team.

Speed seems to be his major strength as he goes about executing his ideas. Describing Akshay’s working style Vivek Biyani, Director, Future Group says, “He takes very little time to come up with new ideas/Consumer insights that could be easily executed. He has the ability to blend new age marketing tools with traditional forms of media to deliver high impact campaigns.”

In 2014, Big Bazaar connected with

the masses by associating the brand with the earthy mass sport Kabaddi. It became the promoter of Kolkata franchise team ‘Bengal Warriors’ of Pro Kabaddi League. It strengthened the positioning of the retail chain in Kolkata where the country’s �irst Big Bazaar outlet was launched in 2001.Great visibility, an impactful association and robust posturing made this initiative work for the brand. It was the perfect blend of rustic sensibilities and modernity. Like Kabaddi, Big Bazaar also cashes in on its mass appeal and low costs. In that sense, Big Bazaar reinstated its status as a brand that belongs to an emerging modern consumer. Sharing his vision for the chain, Mehrotra himself said, “The brand has gone through a journey of modernization over the past 2 years and successfully repositions itself not only as a modern retailer but also a brand which appeals to modern India.”

In February 2014, Fashion@ BigBazaar received a shot in the arm with the ‘Got Style, get famous’ campaign which targeted the youth. A new brand ambassador was roped in and the campaign idea was based on the fact that each person has a unique style of their own. Mehrotra was at the forefront again, executing the campaign with his trademark Vivek Biyani

Director, Future Group

He has the ability to blend new age marketing tools with traditional forms of media to deliver high impact campaigns.

AKSHAY KNOWS THE PULSE OF THE CONSUMING POPULATION, TO USE DIGITAL MEDIA TO GET FOOTFALLS INTO STORES swiftness. When asked about the success of the Fashion category at Big Bazaar, Mehrotra said, “FBB is one of the largest fashion brands in the country. It not only stands for democratizing fashion in India but also brings forth the latest apparel and delivers its promise of ‘Lets make india thoda aur stylish’ across the length and breadth of the country with its reach in over 100 cities and a presence in more than 230 stores.”

Under his leadership, Big Bazaar launched the e-commerce portal for Big Bazaar Direct, a direct selling platform to aid the customer. The quick roll-out and execution of campaigns prove him to be a quick decision-maker. Among the criteria considered for the ranking, Akshay has scored the highest in ‘mention in media’ giving him an edge as a master communicator.

Whether at Policybazaar.com or Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, Akshay managed to be in the news in each of his professional stints. As Vivek Biyani puts it, “The best thing is that he challenges the norms to push the bar and his constant quest to produce something better every time.” Needless to say, he’s a young marketer to watch out for in 2015.

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

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COVER STORY

HOW TAMANNA “THINKS NEW AND DOES MORE” TAMANNA KHANNA HEAD MARKETING, INDIAFIRST LIFE INSURANCE

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KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

I

n her own words, “Thinking out-of-the-box and doing things differently by developing user experiences that build on effective use of different platforms is at the core of what great brands do.” As Head, Marketing of a young life insurance company like IndiaFirst Life, Tamanna Khanna has made sure that this �ive year old brand holds its own among more mature and experienced players. Under her leadership, the brand has managed to win prestigious marketing communication and corporate collateral awards. Launching innovative products and services has come easy to Tamanna.

Having been with the brand right from the start has helped her get under its skin. As a founding member, Tamanna has grown with the brand, kick starting several innovative initiatives that have captured consumer mind share. IndiaFirst was awarded the Media Innovation of the Year award for their special Jet Experience zones. They targeted frequent �liers, forming a part of the campaign , “IndiaFirst Money Back Health Insurance Plan”. The initiative led to a huge jump in the calls for action. The Aerobridge branding for the same plan at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad fetched the brand the Best in Communication Platform award.

This was a massive step towards gaining mind share of the travellers and earned great visibility.

So just what makes Tamanna a charismatic leader and skilful

marketer? “She is up to date on recent trends and does a good deal of research. She also has an excellent rapport with all agencies,” says Mohit Rochlani, Chief Business Of�icer, IndiaFirst Life Insurance describing her strengths as a marketing professional.

Tamanna has adhered to the two guiding values of the brand, “Think New and Do More” and these are re�lected in all its communication.

IndiaFirst has shown a growth of 34 per cent year-on-year for �inancial year 2012-2013, riding on the back of several customer focused initiatives like Demat Policies, Picture Policy Card, Mohit Rochlani

Chief Business Officer, IndiaFirst Life Insurance

She is up to date on recent trends and does a good deal of research.

She also has an excellent rapport with all agencies

AS A FOUNDING MEMBER, TAMANNA HAS GROWN WITH THE BRAND, KICK-STARTING SEVERAL INNOVATIVE INITIATIVES MagicBoard and a do-it-yourself online insurance store. According to this ISB graduate,the secret to the brand’s success lies in its agility.

“With an enthusiastic team, one of its biggest strengths has been the ability to remain agile and adaptable in the marketplace – identifying opportunities with every change in the sector, economy and customer preference. Remaining true to its philosophy of always placing its customers First, has ensured sustained growth for the brand,” explains Tamanna. But behind the agility and will to experiment is a marketer who is young ,vibrant and ready to take risks.

She is also someone who has exacting standards in her work.

Her highest personal score is in the brand-pro�it alignment metric considering that she has seen the brand’s steep growth in the Indian market. RM Vishakha, MD and CEO IndiaFirst Life Insurance who has seen Tamanna’s working style at close quarters appreciates her for her sense of perfection, “She takes her work

Pitch | April - May 2015 23 www.pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY

SHE WANTS TO BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE BRAND’S PHENOMENAL GROWTH STORY. HER MANTRA FOR MARKETING SUCCESS HAS ALWAYS BEEN –CUSTOMER FIRST RM Vishakha

MD and CEO IndiaFirst Life Insurance

A marketer needs to have that fine attention to detail without losing sight of the big picture.

Tamanna brings this strength and whole hearted commitment to her work.

24

seriously and strives towards perfection in everything she does. A marketer needs to have that �ine attention to detail without losing sight of the big picture. Tamanna brings this strength and whole hearted commitment to her work.”

It’s been a roller coaster ride for her at IndiaFirst Life, before which she was with Reliance Capital. Her ride at IndiaFirst is not over yet. She wants to be an integral part of the brand’s phenomenal growth story. And her mantra for marketing success in today’s world? “The basic mantra for marketing success has always been –customer �irst.

In this digital age, it is crucial, to think for the customer, be open as a brand and build dialogue in a manner that makes sense and adds value to their life. After all, they are the reason for our existence,” she says.

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

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25

COVER STORY

6KANIKA MITTAL URGING THE COUNTRY TO BE ‘FIT FOR LIFE’ MARKETING HEAD, REEBOK INDIA

26

Pitch | April - May 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

H

er quick climb to the top rung of the marketing profession is dif�icult to ignore.

Kanika Mittal’s journey at Reebok began as Assistant Marketing Manager in 2007 and today she heads the Marketing and Brand Communications at Reebok India. She took over as Marketing Head at a time when the brand was positioning itself as a �itness initiator and authenticator of India. Kanika found herself in the midst of the churn at Reebok, and took charge of the situation. “While it was a bit challenging, it is experiences and challenges like these that teach you the most and are a true test of your expertise,” reveals Kanika. Changing the image of Reebok from a ‘Sports brand’ to a ‘�itness brand’ took some doing. Her strength as a multi-tasker came handy as she went about introducing fresh ideas in every aspect of business.

“The multi-tasking across different marketing verticals like ATL, BTL, PR, Retail, Digital and Brand Communications is what I enjoy the most as it gives me an opportunity to suitably use each media as per the role they play in a consumer’s lifestyle while innovating across verticals to deliver the message in an impactful and memorable manner.

I also enjoy the launch phase of any new product or marketing campaign right from understanding consumer behavior to adopting the right strategic direction for the launch and bringing it to life for the consumer through a 360 degree approach,” Kanika explains, describing what she likes best about her profession.

Some of the initiatives she has helmed at Reebok are the brand’s massive

campaign featuring the 3 �itness icons, MS Dhoni, John Abraham and Nargis Fakhri, the digital innovation ‘Ignite Your Fitness Fire’ and a successful global launch for Reebok’s technology, The Reebok ZQuick.

The ‘1 hour for �itness’ campaign with MS Dhoni ahead of the ICC World Cup 2015 was widely talked about. All campaigns have focused on Reebok’s new ‘Fit For Life’ philosophy establishing Reebok as a premium �itness brand.

Puneet Sewra , Marketing Director of Tag Heuer praises her ability to bring out the best in people, “As a professional, Kanika is insightful, hands-on, and believes in managing her team by empowering them. She is passionate about what she does and believes in a meritocracy driven culture while ensuring everyone has fun along the way. She likes to bring out the best in people through involvement, engagement, fairness and applies these principles equally enthusiastically in her interactions with internal colleagues and external partners and agencies,” he says.

Her insight into consumer behavior and effectiveness of campaigns came to the fore when she spoke to exchange4media in November 2014. ‘Agencies and brands should explore ways and means to create idea-driven, low-cost, impactful �ilms which would help to increase Puneet Sewra

Marketing Director, Tag Heuer

She is passionate about what she does and believes in a meritocracy driven culture while ensuring everyone has fun along the way

KANIKA FOUND HERSELF IN THE MIDST OF THE CHURN AT REEBOK, AND TOOK CHARGE OF THE SITUATION the frequency of creating �ilms, induce freshness for brands and encourage non-TV advertising brands to join the fray, thereby increasing the overall pie itself.”

Reebok’s ‘ LiveWith Fire’ brand �ilm was one such example that she cited.

But while she has endorsed TV advertising, she knows the potential of social media. “I am particularly interested in the sphere of “digital and social” marketing where communication becomes horizontal instead of vertical thereby changing the landscape of how you engage with consumers and paving the way for immense innovation and customization across web and mobile.

One of my favorites is the “Social for Social” approach where you use social media marketing as a tool for social causes. An example is our MSD4India campaign where we used social media to take forward our philosophy of Inspiring Indians to be Fit for Life and thereby encouraged consumers to adopt a �itter lifestyle,” she says.

Among the criteria considered, Kanika has scored the highest in ‘RISE IN STATURE’. Her stint at Reebok India has given her career a signi�icant boost. This alumnus of MICA, Ahmedabad is scripting her own inimitable success story.

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

Pitch | April - May 2015 27 www.pitchonnet.com

7

COVER STORY

MUDIT SHEKHAWAT ‘TRANSFORMATIONAL’ LEADERSHIP SETS HIM APART DIRECTOR MARKETING, OLA CABS

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Pitch | April - May 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

M

udit Shekhawat, Director Marketing, Ola Cabs sits comfortably on the 7th spot having put Ola �irmly in the spotlight in the past 8 months. With a strong background in marketing and a career spanning 7 years, Mudit seemed to be the ideal choice for the brand. The taxi aggregator industry has been beset by troubles, cut-throat competition, unwanted media attention and the fear of a government ban due to safety issues. But Ola has been able to shun all negativity and create a niche of its own. Mudit has con�idently steered the brand in a troubled market with his soft but authoritative approach.

Within a short span of eight months, Mudit has understood the strength of the platform and successfully leveraged it. He’s clear about how he wants to build the brand and how he wishes to position it. “Very early on we were clear on what kind of consumer behaviour we want to push. We wanted people to book on the app and we wanted people to take immediate rides. That’s where the strength of Ola as a platform truly shines.

The proposition that Ola brings to the table is that it enables you to travel whenever the need arises. This is extremely exciting and opens up a lot of options to creatively exploit this space. That’s what Ola’s �irst campaign has done with #ChaloNiklo - It’s contextual, witty and has immense extension

possibilities,” explains Mudit about the recent campaign that delivers a key message.

The young marketer has tried to introduce a new way of thinking among consumers, that of depending on Ola transport for spontaneous travel needs. The execution of the ‘ChaloNiklo’ campaign was focused based on extensive qualitative research . In Mudit’s own words, “ The campaign itself was massive in size with TV, Digital, Print and Outdoor media being present right down to each one of our 85+ cities. This and the continued presence we’ve maintained after that is largely responsible for the recall that Ola enjoys. Our elegantly branded cabs which have increased in huge numbers also play a big role in building awareness for the brand.”

Mudit enjoys building and growing young brands.”I especially enjoy the entire journey of discovering consumer insights and building on the brand proposition and �inally developing communication,” says Mudit about his fascination for brand building. He is also excited about social media and its ability to extend the Sudarshan Gangrade

VP, Marketing and Category, Ola

He can combine an intuitive sense of consumer behaviour with actual data to arrive at the right consumer insight

MUDIT HAS CONFIDENTLY STEERED OLA CABS IN A TROUBLED MARKET WITH HIS SOFT BUT AUTHORITATIVE APPROACH campaign message. On the analytical side, he enjoys playing with numbers which is especially useful in a data driven organisation like Ola. Before joining Ola, Mudit headed brand marketing for Myntra Designs and also served as Marketing Manager at Yahoo. His colleagues describe him as ‘detail-oriented’, ‘supportive’ and a ‘team player’. Sudarshan Gangrade, VP, Marketing and Category at Ola describes his strengths as a marketer, “He has a proven ability to build a brand from scratch, particularly in the online space. He can combine an intuitive sense of consumer behaviour with actual data to arrive at the right consumer insight. He also displays high standards of execution, and building alignment within his team as well as with other functions,” he says. He describes Mudit’s leadership style as ‘transformational’.

Mudit has helmed innovative initiatives like the recently held �irst ever hackathon by Ola. He has a strong hold over the local markets and Ola aims to expand its services to over 200 cities this year. At present, he’s focusing on safety features for Ola and is at the forefront of all marketing innovation.

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

Pitch | April - May 2015 29 www.pitchonnet.com

8

COVER STORY

PRASHANT SARWADE BUSINESS ACUMEN COMBINED WITH CREATIVITY GM, HEAD OF MARKETING AND NPD DUNKIN DONUTS INDIA

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Pitch | April - May 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

H

e keeps a low pro�ile and lets his work speak for him.

Within the eight years spent in the industry, Prashant Sarwade has been with brands like Britannia Industries Ltd, Reliance Fresh and Cadbury India Ltd. He joined Jubilant Foodworks Ltd at a time when the brand Dunkin Donuts was on the brink of expansion in India.

When he took over as General Manager, Head of Marketing and NPD Dunkin Donuts India in 2013, he had the onus of taking the brand to the next level.

Currently, 55 Dunkin Donut restaurants are operational in 20 cities of India and Prashant is responsible for growing the brand in the country, adapting to local tastes and expanding its presence.

His experience with brands like Britannia, where he spent more than 4 years, seems to have given him the requisite skills. Brand development and activation come easy to this IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore alumnus. He excels at building positioning. He has experience handling three segments of consumers‘The bold Youth’, ‘the indulgent top end’, and ‘conspirator kids’.

When Prashant took over as Head of Marketing at Dunkin Donuts he was enthused about his new role and told the media, “I am interested in building an engaging consumer proposition and attractive business.” In less than two years, Prashant has been able to establish the brand with impactful launches, and innovative and localised menus.

Commenting on the challenging task of localising the menu for India, Prashant

explains, “Customers come to Dunkin’ Donuts to consume a slice of Americana made relevant to them. Overtly localizing products will only under-deliver on the consumer expectations and a completely western taste pro�ile may be alienating.

A right mix of both in the overall proposition is the key to consumer delight.” It is this understanding of his consumer coupled with a knack for innovation and swift execution that have made him a promising young executive.

So what does he �ind exciting about his role at Dunkin Donuts? “Dunkin’ Donuts has given me an opportunity to participate in building the brand contextual to India. The brand idea is inspired from a cultural insight that gives us a fertile space and a new voice. What can be more exciting for a Marketer ?” he says. “ Dunkin’ Donuts is a conversational brand. It connects to the young adults by striking a conversation through its store design and décor, advertising and more importantly through its differentiated product range. A range that includes Tough Guy Burger, Naughty Lucy Burger, Death By Chocolate, Alive by Chocolate, Wicked Wraps and the recently launched Crunchy Joe Burger.

Dev Amritesh

President and COO, Dunkin Donuts India

He has a goofy yet intellectual air about him and that makes him an interesting package.

He has an endearing personality and is easy to work with

A STRONG BUSINESS ACUMEN COMBINED WITH A CREATIVE STREAK GIVE HIM AN EDGE OVER PEERS Each one of them carries an interesting backstory and has consumers talking.

Bringing alive these interesting stories and the pressure to be “always be imaginative” and to “look at the world through a new lens” is bringing out the best in me and I’m growing rapidly,” adds the self-motivated thirty two year old.

A strong business acumen combined with a creative streak give him an edge over peers. As Dev Amritesh, President and COO, Dunkin Donuts India says, “Prashant is a rare combination of left brain business acumen linked with right brain creative sensibility. Prashant has led very impactful entry for Dunkin’ in Hyderabad and Bangalore. Very innovative ideas brought to life and executed very well resulting in long lines outside our stores in the opening weeks.”

On a lighter note Amritesh adds, “Prashant is full of PJs that often no one �inds funny other than him. He has a goofy yet intellectual air about him and that makes him an interesting package.

He has an endearing personality and is easy to work with.”

Dunkin Donuts is on a high after a short lived identity crisis in the country and is ready to take on the big burger chains.

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

Pitch | April - May 2015 31 www.pitchonnet.com

9

COVER STORY

ISSAC JOHN LIVING BRAND PUMA DAY IN AND DAY OUT HEAD, MARKETING, PUMA INDIA

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Pitch | April - May 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

L

ess dependence on traditional marketing channels and incorporating use of new age media and technologies, helps Issac to get a futuristic approach to marketing,” says Abhishek Ganguly, MD, Puma India of Issac John, Head, Marketing, Puma India who has been leading Puma’s positioning as a lifestyle brand for the past 3 years. Puma has acquired an aggressive approach in marketing as it tries to overtake Adidas.

A nationwide network expansion is on the cards for Puma which is currently at number 2 behind Adidas in terms of sales. Pushing Puma to the next level is Issac John who is ecstatic about managing to get Usain Bolt, the brand ambassador to India. “To get an active sportsman of that stature down in India, was both challenging and enjoyable and a great learning experience,” says John whose previous stints have been with HT Media and Sport 18.

John has made a mark in the 3 years he has been with Puma, adding value by bringing international brands to India.

In fact, new brand launches have been the highlight of his stint with Puma. He helped launch two of the popular global high-end brands Mobium and Faas. The brand’s stated focus is the premium consumer who is quality conscious and willing to spend.

John is satis�ied with the way Puma is positioning itself, “As a brand, we push ourselves in doing things in a manner never done before. And to be able to combine that in a space that’s as dynamic and universal as sports, is something I truly enjoy. India is witnessing a sea-change in the sporting scene and to be at the

forefront of it with a brand like PUMA, is a both a joy and privilege,” he says. He truly enjoys his role at the forefront of a dynamic brand that connects so well with the youth. What he also thrives on is the thrust on innovation at Puma. “We thrive on innovation. Starting with our products like Ignite and, right down to innovations like the Clever Little Bag, as a brand it’s our way of living at PUMA. And then we ensure that we extend it to our communication. For example, when we launched the Arsenal jersey, we built the Arsenal Tunnel of Time at UB City for fans to go down memory lane with the club - something that really endeared the brand to the AFC fans. Simply put, if our communication isn’t innovative enough, we just won’t go ahead with it.”

So what are John’s strengths as a marketer? Ganguly says it’s his consumer centric, fresh and innovative approach to marketing. “He has a strong business orientation and takes avid interest in areas beyond the marketing function. This helps him deliver a marketing proposition which is effective and has a high return on investment,” adds Ganguly.

Before Puma, John had an impressive stint at HT Media where he was part of the successful launch of Fever 104 FM and was lauded for his efforts. He was recognised as the Marketing Champion for Fever 104.

Abhishek Ganguly MD, Puma India

He has a strong business orientation and takes avid interest in areas beyond the marketing function

HE HAS BEEN ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY ESTABLISH PROPERTIES LIKE RUNNING COMMUNITIES FOR CONSUMERS The retail footprint of Puma extends to over 350 stores in India and John is proud of having acquired category leadership. While consolidating its position as a premium lifestyle brand he remembers that it is rooted in sports. Reconnecting to the sports legacy is very important for him. He has been able to successfully establish properties that consumers can relate to. Running communities like Puma Urban Stampede were launched by John and his team. Collaborating with Indian Super League and Kerala Blasters were conscious efforts to associate with communities. “He has approached PUMA’s marketing with the intent of creating properties and assets which are news and content worthy leading to earning media value far beyond advertising spends,” comments Ganguly on John’s efforts especially in 2014.

Well read and knowledgeable, this young marketing leader commands respect in the organisation, leads his team from the front, giving them independence and support in equal measure. But what really works for him? As Ganguly says, “He lives the Puma brand day in and day out.”

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

Pitch | April - May 2015 33 www.pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY

10 SANDEEP KOMARAVELLY SENIOR VP, MARKETING, SNAPDEAL

A QUIET GO-GETTER

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Pitch | April - May 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

A

s Senior VP, Marketing for the most talkedabout deal site Snapdeal, Sandeep Komaravelly has been keeping extremely occupied. That does not come as a surprise considering how Snapdeal has been making news of late due to its advertising blitzkrieg, the acquisition of FreeCharge, the churn in the upper echelons of management and new launches on its site. So when we approached Sandeep to break the news about having made it to the list of Top 10 Promising Young Marketers, he was too caught up to respond. But his work speaks for him.

Sandeep began his career as Assistant Manager, Operations at Dabur India in 2003. He also spent more than two crucial years as a Management Consultant at Accenture.

At Snapdeal, he has been a part of the core team. He was a member of the founding team at Grabbon.com which was acquired by Snapdeal and has been with the company since then.

Sandeep has an inclination to work behind the scenes and tries not to attract media attention. He has always kept his achievements and work in the public domain while maintaining a low pro�ile. His efforts have paid off with Snapdeal entering the big league.

It is counted among the top three ecommerce sites in the country.

HE HAS MADE INROADS NOT ONLY IN THE INDIAN MARKET BUT ALSO IN THE MINDSETS OF PEOPLE, ESTABLISHING GREAT BRAND RECALL He has made inroads not only in the Indian market but also in the mindsets of people, establishing a great brand recall with innovative marketing campaigns which have made Snapdeal a household name.

Strategic tie-ups, celebrity brand endorsements , novel concepts like brand stores, technology platforms for sellers have all been introduced during his marketing tenure. The latest brand ambassador is Bollywood veteran Aamir Khan endorsing ‘Dil Ki Deal’. From focusing on value, the brand is now looking at leveraging its emotional connect with consumers.

His colleagues have termed him a ‘go-getter’ who accomplishes everything he is assigned. Sunam Bajaj, AVP, Product Engineering at Reliance Jio Infocomm points out his thirst for knowledge and ability to handle critical situations, “He has a unique way of providing solutions to some very challenging technical or

business problems especially in the VAS/Mobile domain.” Sunam was a colleague at Accenture who managed Sandeep indirectly at the �irm. Dev Batra, Co-Founder at Neo Turks Ventures calls him a ‘no-fuss client with very clear marketing objectives”. Dev was a Consultant to Sandeep at Snapdeal.com.

By launching an online rehab and support store for the differently abled, Sandeep has managed to create a socially conscious image for Snapdeal too.

Late last year it tied up with a �ilm on the Bhopal Gas tragedy in order to support the Gas tragedy victims.

An engineering graduate from BITS Pilani, Sandeep is also an alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur. The combined knowledge of Marketing and Finance and invaluable experience with Snapdeal have given him an edge in the industry.

Please note: The designations used are those taken at the time of research. These might have changed during the course of printing

Pitch | April - May 2015 35 www.pitchonnet.com

COLUMN

YATEESH SRIVASTAVA

Independent Consultant

ROI from

Digital in 2015 D

As marketers see the results from digital and as metrics become more analytical, digital will come into its own and become a force to reckon with 36

Pitch | April - May 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

espite all the buzz and hype that surrounds digital, the share of spend on digital, while increasing exponentially every year, continues to remain relatively small (less than 20 per cent) for most marketers. However, digital has taken giant strides from the times when it used to get the ‘leftovers’ from the media budget. Most mainstream marketers are now factoring digital into their media planning process.

So will 2015 be the year of digital? If I de�ine ‘the year of digital’ as the year in which digital spends equal or overtake mainline media spends, then the answer is

an unequivocal ‘No!’ Unlike China, that moment in India is still a little way away.

However I think as marketers see the results from digital and as metrics become more analytical, digital is certainly coming into its own and becoming a force to reckon with.

One of my pet peeves with ‘digital evangelists’ of yore has been their approach to selling digital. In the past they have always come and put the measurability metric as

the competitive advantage of digital over other media. This approach actually painted digital into the corner of pure acquisition and it took a long time to be recognised as a legitimate tool for branding and quite honestly some marketers continue to be sceptical about this.

So what are the mantras to get ROI from digital investments in 2015?

I think one of the critical areas of concern for marketers is ‘�indability’ - is your digital consumer being able to �ind your digital presence and interact with it in a meaningful manner?

This will see investments in both SEO and SEM. Marketers complain that consumers are becoming elusive - the truth is that marketers are unpleasantly barging into their lives and creating symptoms of avoidance.

Hence everything you do around SEO and SEM is based on creating and serving the right content that helps

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consumers solve problems - relevant, is jargon free - simple and gets your message across in a focused manner creative. All this content will help make you more �indable and will also ensure that customers engage with you rather than avoid you.

The second mantra to maximise

ROI from digital is ‘video’. There is an explosion of video on the Internet and video is already the most shared form of content on the Internet forwarded not only on social platforms but also on messaging platforms - thus exponentially increasing reach. Internet video - that follows the tenets of great story telling and not just brand jargon - will always help you spread your message at a rapid pace. The caveat is that a video brief should not be for

something that will go viral but a brand brief to tell a great consumer story that has the potential to go viral. Have a robust video content strategy in place as part of your overall content strategy.

Another good way to get things going and increase ROI is to interact with the community of people who are already

using video platforms successfully and build meaning partnerships with them.

Look at the brand and platform �it.

The third mantra to get digital ROI is ‘mobility’. While developing digital content use a mobile �irst thinking to ensure that the 65 per cent of mobile only Internet users are also able to seamlessly consume your content on a mobile device of their choosing.

Content that is web-only will soon become as extinct as the dinosaur.

One of the critical areas of concern for marketers is ‘findability’ - is your digital consumer being able to find your digital presence and interact with it in a meaningful manner? This will see investments in both SEO and SEM

Marketers will have no choice but to embrace mobile.

Digital today is providing us with the never before opportunity to measure customer intent and act upon that. Hence the last mantra to increase digital ROI is ‘analytics’.

Keep looking at search trends, listen to what is buzzing on social media and what are triggers for conversations. Use intent to serve the right content using real-time analytics. If a person is searching for a reason to buy a category, do not serve ‘buy now’ content.

Instead redirect customers to your content that gives them a rationale to buy - either video or text. Map customer journeys and help them reach a considered conclusion. Do not push action buttons at them but always keep them handy in case they make up their minds.

Listen, serve content, respond to queries and above all be relevant.

Understand the journey and react accordingly.

Pitch | April - May 2015 37 www.pitchonnet.com

COLUMN

SUDHINDRA VENKATESHAMURTHY

Creative Director & Experience Design Lead, SapientNitro India

Building Experiences through User Interfaces

T

People undergo experiences when their perception, motivation, emotion, and action are in dialogue with the world 38

Pitch | April - May 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

oday, our world is filled with devices of all shapes and sizes, a whole lot more than the human beings occupying it. Each of these devices helps shape the experience of the user and in many cases, for those with him or around him. The user interface directly affects the ultimate experience.

A great interface makes for a great experience as illustrated by the fun theory experiments

by Volkswagen. In this experiment, regular staircase steps became giant piano keys that enticed people to walk up the stairs instead of using an escalator. The interface was so enjoyable that 66 per cent more people took to stairs instead of the escalator.

Experience is holistic. People undergo experiences when their perception, motivation, emotion, and action are in dialogue with the world. Here an interface provides the dialogue connecting these

experiences. It is the closest imitation of a human being in the world of technology.

A good interface is easy to use but a great interface is one which does not let the user feel that it is working. In other

words, successful interfaces are invisible.

The 70s had keyboards as a primary way to interact with the computers. It was with the invention of mouse

in the 80s which marked the beginning of the engaging user interface. When the internet happened, fields such as Human Computer Interaction and Usability brought in ease of use, efficiency and learnability.

These smart interfaces proved to be the differentiators for human experience and made technology adoption easy. Steve Jobs’ thrust on simplicity in design and user interface earned rich rewards.

In fact, Apple is not your regular “Technology Company” - it is an “Experience” company if there is such a term.

At the heart of all their innovative experiences is a game changing interface.

The Mouse allowed real time visual feedback on manipulation of controls, through an external device.

This made computers human friendly instead of a “geek’s toy” This is how we got a “Computer in every house”.

Into the 90’s, while the music industry was booming with many mp3 devices in all forms, there came a disruptive “wheel”

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interface on the iPod. This made finding your desired song interesting and fun in a screen with limited capabilities.

The music lovers changed the way they heard music. Choices became unlimited as all the songs were merely a click away and the “Digital Walkman” became cool again.

After iPod, Apple’s iPhone proved to be the next transformation agent.

The touch interface allowed for direct manipulation and the phone smartly replaced the bulky and baulky desktop

computer. The iPhone allowed for an immersive entertainment experience and its further versions have phenomenally advanced the capabilities.

It amplified the sense of being omniconnected with the world we desire to live in.

The minimalism, service excellence and product excellence initiated by Apple took the smart phone experience

to a whole new level. It further expanded people’s comfort with technology and devices became more effective in their own ecosystems.

Apple continues to lead the way in which new interactive experiences are developed. The voice interface as manifested by Siri, though in its nascent stages is expected to see further evolution. It enormously helps the specially abled and when combined with other capabilities, has the power to enhance people’s lives.

Interfaces are now reaching their zen like goal of “Invisibility”. After Siri, the wearables, led by Google Glass and Apple Watch, have the potential to further connect the human body with the world around it.

Disney is using the wearables effectively through MagicBands in their park and resorts. It allows the user to enter the parks, unlock Disney Resort

The minimalism, service excellence and product excellence initiated by Apple took the smart phone experience to a whole new level.

It further expanded people’s comfort with technology and devices, became more effective in their own ecosystems

hotel room, buy food and merchandise, and access to all the experiences one has selected online, so one can simply concentrate on enjoying the visit.

Successful businesses have understood that technology is a partner in enabling future centric experiences. New and innovative forms of interactions through Leap Motion, Kinect and Myo will help expand the role of digital and naturalize it, as much as the rocks and plants we see around us.

The much talked about Minority Report interface from Oblong is expected to see daylight soon. Oblong claims to be the future of interactions with several users across different operating systems able to effortlessly collaborate. The claim is yet to be tested but it is certainly going to add to a healthy mix of choices for people.

And who knows, one day, the brain-to-brain interface may be a reality.

This means that one needs to desire and can see the thoughts being manifested right in front of her eyes. Researchers have already demonstrated the brain control of interactions in a lab set up. Let’s see how far the human imagination takes these interfaces.

The promise is huge.

Pitch | April - May 2015 39 www.pitchonnet.com

FEATURE

Expedia

Exploring new

frontiers Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.”

– Mark Twain

Manmeet Ahluwalia Marketing Head, Expedia India

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ravel can satiate the soul of the traveller in different ways and with the surge of online travel agencies, there are a plethora of differentiated offerings for the Indian traveller today. These have entered the lingo of our times in a way that is hard to ignore. But with the explosion of options for travel, there is now a spike in demand for unique travel experiences for

the well-heeled traveller. It is this evolved need that Expedia tries to meet. The leading online global travel agency entered India in 2008 with the intention to provide Indian travellers with something new. With a wealth of 4,35000 hotels worldwide as inventory, Expedia has an edge especially for those looking to travel abroad.

Seven years down the line and many campaigns later, Expedia has maintained its edgy appeal hinged on strides in technology and innovation. “We pitch ourselves as a technology travel company.

Technology and Innovation are a part of our DNA,” says Manmeet Ahluwalia, the Marketing Head of Expedia, ensconced in his Gurgaon of�ice.

“When we launched in India, we were the �irst brand globally to launch the hotels plus �light product.

Our consumers are all evolved and wish to customise their holiday plans. We have a concept of a �light plus hotel which needs a lot of technology at the backend, in order to support the product real time.

Now all companies have followed suit, ” he adds. Expedia has been innovating and bringing tried and tested global products to India.Today it is the only website in the country that sells holiday activities online.

“We sell about 7000 holiday activities online which can be booked along with booking the hotels or the �lights.

These range from excursions to city tours to museum tickets to tourist passes,” says Manmeet explaining how the traveller today wants a superior experience.

Expedia’s own research segments Indian customers into 3 broad groups: recreational, experimental and experiential. The Experiential consumer is super evolved and wants to travel to unchartered destinations.

This group comprised 10 per cent of the travel market in 2010 and has been increasing ever since. These are essentially DINKS (Double Income

Expedia’s own research segments Indian customers into 3 broad groups: recreational, experimental and experiential No Kids) and single travellers with no added liabilities. “The travel pattern throughout the year is sustained by experiential consumers for the entire industry. Year on year online travel is growing by 33-34 per cent.

More and more consumers are latching onto online transactions,” explains Manmeet. Their core target consumer is the experimental and the experiential traveler, who is more

aware, evolved and takes charge of their travel for domestic as well as international trips. Together these two categories constitute about 70 per cent of the split.

Over the years, Expedia has not only established itself in the Indian market having developed an understanding of Indian psyche, but has also scaled up its back-end technology in order to serve the

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FEATURE

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consumer’s speci�ic needs.” Analytics helps us with understanding shopping behaviour. We use business analytics against consumer data. This analysis answers several questions for us.

It also helps us in de�ining our products and services. All campaigns are born out of data-driven insight.

We have also adopted technology for retargeting and advertising technology players like Criteo work with us,” says Manmeet.

Research has led them to come up with innovative concepts and products. Expedia has been able to give discounts on its different price structures. They have permanent properties on the site like ‘Deal Hunter’ which offer discounts no matter when one visits the site to make travel plans. It keeps innovating in its merchandising campaigns.

Research helps them understand if a global concept would be accepted in the Indian market. One concept that the brand was able to successfully launch in India and which has found wide acceptance is “Staycation” which allows consumers to check into hotels in the city they reside in, over the weekends. “We have tried this concept in Indian metros and it has worked.

There is a social reason of spending quality time with family. It’s been barely a year since we started this in India. People are happy choosing this concept because we offer good discounts. Business Hotels run low occupancy over weekends, so they are happy giving discounts,” he says.

While Expedia is an online brand, India is still a country where a large share of travellers still depends on travel agents and prefers making bookings of�line. To be able to deliver bene�its of Expedia across sections, the brand decided to expand its Travel Agent Af�iliate Programme to India. This helped them reach out to the travel agents, who cater to leisure and corporate travellers. Their association with Track India further helped them to strengthen the channel Pitch | April - May 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

To be able to deliver benefits of Expedia across sections, the brand decided to expand its Travel Agent Affiliate Programme to India

and expand reach to Tier II/III cities.

What is also helping Expedia is a �lurry of acquisitions like German Hotel Search site Trivago, online Travel Agency Travelocity, and very recently Orbitz Worldwide. In a highly fragmented marketplace, this consolidation was imminent and it has only given Expedia the muscle it needs to clamp down on competition.

It now has a bigger resource pool and inventory especially of hotels.

So what is Expedia’s focus In 2015 ? “Our focus like the previous years is Hotels. The entire conversation is around a hotel in most campaigns. The Hotel is what constitutes an experience for the end consumer. Flights are just a means of transport. We want to sell our hotel products to the end consumers through our 360 degree campaigns and we want to gauge their acceptance of the �light plus hotel product. We will also be pushing our holiday activity which is unique to us,” reveals Manmeet about the brand’s plans for 2015.

Expedia has been witnessing a consistent triple digit growth from 2011-2013 (200% growth in 2013, 160% growth in 2012 after a 200% jump in 2011.) and the brand is all set to continue with this growth. It has been leveraging its global footprint and will continue to do so but only after conducting research surveys to �ind out preferences in the local market.

INSIGHT How can Marketers get

MEDIA RIGHT in 2015?

Milward Brown’s Annual Digital and Media Predictions provide a guide to how marketing is likely to change this year

Mark Henning AMAP Head, Media & Digital, Millward Brown.

In 2015 we expect marketers to be equally focused on the benefits programmatic may be able to bring to building meaningful brands and the opportunities to leverage it more creatively.

A key challenge for marketers in 2015 will be balancing identification of the perfect marketing moment with a need to generate cost-effective scale and reach.

• As native advertising becomes an established medium, advertisers should partner with best-in-class publishers who strike the right balance between advertising and editorial.

• New and exciting paid marketing opportunities will emerge on micro-video platforms, but only brands who know, learn and love those platforms will succeed.

• Location-based marketing opportunities will become powerful when brands focus on consumers’ interests rather than on their own.

• Second Screen syncing to bring greater multi-screen control • Social and mobile media will offer a more coordinated look at the landscape they occupy • A shift in focus from ‘Big’ data to streamlined ‘intelligent’ data • Analog’s modern-day design will truly take shape

Pitch | April - May 2015 43 www.pitchonnet.com

COLUMN

AVIK CHATTOPADHYAY

Independent brand and Strategy Consultant

avikchatto@hotmail.com

To build a proud nation, Inclusive thought, co-creative action!

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When a population gradually develops national consciousness, it works out solutions to its most pressing issues through co-creation 44

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complete my three-part story on building Brand India. It started with my agenda of working on a “Create in India” mission, concurrent to the Make in India one, as that will ensure true sustainable value creation in the country and not just immediate wealth generation. That was the “what” in my Brand India mission. Then I shared my views on the importance of the right symbols and rituals that represent India, to its own people as well as globally, to de�ine the “why”. I complete my thought process here with the “how” of building Brand India.

The operating principle is clear, as in the very title of this piece – inclusive thought leading to co-creative action.

This principle is borne out of the very depth and diversity of my nation…in the vintage of our civilization, the multitude of cultures, the variety in thoughts and the contrasts in needs. And these times are crucial as the ugly heads of divisiveness and ‘balkanisation’ have risen again, in numbers, rhetoric and types, as in the last 12 months before we became

a free India! If the powers that be do not take focused and �irm actions on building Brand India, all the right steps being taken in industry, banking, hygiene and gender-equality will lose their way into the “dreary desert sand of dead habit”.

So, what needs to be done to ensure that the right symbols and rituals are created to eventually ensure sustainable value creation? Just two things, to be speci�ic.

A Mission for National Consciousness Yes, a mission has to be set up to start a country-wide programme on “national consciousness”. It has to be “National” –covering all thoughts, faiths, paths, colours, regions, sizes, shapes, allegiances, biases, languages, scripts and genders. And it has

to be about “Consciousness” – not merely awareness – about positive action, social action, individual action.

The purpose of this mission is to create, inculcate and nurture the concept of nationhood, national purpose and national pride.

We need to understand “India” as a concept, appreciate its core values and cherish the roles played by people, events, ideas and philosophies over the centuries of the sub-continent that truly determine the uniqueness of the concept that is India.

Inculcation has to start right from the primary school level, for if a generation of proud and proactive Indians is to be created, it is the children of today who shall play that role tomorrow.

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It is the responsibility of the state to facilitate and finance solutions that are cocreated at local levels and then share them with the others

The curriculum cannot be boxed into a single class or two per week, but the underlining ethos of national consciousness has to be injected into every bit of education, analysis and knowledge. The curriculum also cannot have any overt or covert religious or regional agenda as that will be a futile exercise bringing us back to where we currently lie. Thought leaders, academicians and people of action who are brought together to craft the curriculum just cannot have any religious or regional bias. They cannot fall prey to any pressure group, right or left, north or south, coloured or discoloured. The state needs to play for role of only a facilitator and enabler, without any interference in the content, while ensuring rigorous implementation.

While inculcation at the primary education level is of greatest importance,the rest of us have to be involved too, proud of the nation we belong to and do our positive bit for the Brand India. Our role has to be totally action-oriented, wherein the state creates a platform for sharing activities undertaken across the country, transferring knowledge, recognising initiatives and encouraging as many as possible to act at the local level, taking up

tasks of greatest importance and impact to the society there.

We have somehow lost close to 70 years in not building a common sense of pride and purposefor India, while we were initially building edi�ices of modern India and later taking them down to build yet new ones. But all merely in brick and mortar, none in thought and spirit.

A National Mission for Co-creation On the foundation of national consciousness needs to be built a unique eco-system of co-creation – a process wherein all stakeholders are actively involved in generating solutions for our needs. Education, healthcare, gender equality and public services need solutions and they can be best created if co-created. If we have developed from a nation that created “Ayurveda” to now that does “jugaad”, we are solely to blame.

For we have never used the power of what our forefathers had already created, fused them with what the ‘western’ world had given and then produced solutions that were truly unique, sustainable and democratic.

When a population gradually develops national consciousness, it works out solutions to its most pressing issues through co-creation, for that ensures

greater good for greater numbers in the true sense. Allow the community, groups of people, collectives and local teams to generate ideas and implements for solving problems. For people at the ground level know their eco-system, resources and realities much better than any else. It is not the job of the state to design solutions for the entire country.

It is the responsibility of the state to facilitate and �inance solutions that are co-created at local levels and then share them with the others. By doing this, the government departments will not be out of jobs at all…in fact they will have their hands full just facilitating the millions of co-created projects across the country through material, logistics, cost management and funds.

No fresh funds are needed, no fresh taxes need be imposed, no ‘black’ money needs to be brought back, neither the corrupt be exposed. Just redirect what we have budgeted for into a co-creative of national scale and depth, while instilling pride and purpose into tomorrow’s youth to go ahead and prove themselves.

That will help create an India that is truly democratic, secular, progressive and sustainable. A truly unique nation brand that the world admires, respects, aligns with and emulates.

As the poet had envisioned, “Where the mind is led forward by thee, into ever-widening thought and action, into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake!”

Pitch | April - May 2015 45 www.pitchonnet.com

NATIVE ADVERTISING POISED TO TAKE OVER With mobile taking over in a big way, native advertising has become a topic for discussion among both advertisers and publishers A study by Interactive Advertising Bureau states that 70 per cent of consumers prefer to learn about products through native advertising versus traditional ad formats Why use native ads?

1. Extremely high visibility 2. Users remember the message or content of the ad 3. Higher user acceptance of native ads especially on mobile devices 4. Very real and measurable effect on the bottom line

Yahoo-Wharton Findings: • For Native to really work, the content put forward has to be shown at the right time, the right place and to the right users • Sponsored Content should be clearly identified • For effective integration, content must fit in with the MEDIA, AUDIENCE, DEVICE, EDITORIAL

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he always connected consumer of today is attention de�icient, impatient , short on time and �looded with choices. How can the marketer, who also belongs to the same world, grab the customer and earn his loyalty? Experiments in advertising on different media have been yielding mixed results. How long can standard ad formats work especially when web

INTERVIEW: NITIN MATHUR Senior Director, Marketing, Yahoo APAC

BLENDING IN IS THE NEW STANDING OUT In the midst of the noise about native advertising, where publishers and advertisers are still getting used to this new format, Yahoo has taken it upon itself to educate people about it. With 200 brands advertising with Yahoo through the native format already, the publisher has acquired an ease with it in the span of less than a year. The aim is to get other publishers to use Yahoo’s native advertising solutions . In conversation with Rashi Bisaria, Nitin Mathur, Senior Director, Marketing, Yahoo APAC, delves into the advantages of native advertising, the growth it has seen in the last few months, issues of transparency and choice and the challenges of personalizing the experience. Edited excerpts:

How much has native advertising picked up in the Indian market in the last one year?

We have been in the Indian market for almost 10 months now. This has become the fastest growing advertising revenue steam for us at Yahoo. It started with the need of a certain segment of advertisers .

We wanted the right experience for the clients and hence have been treading carefully. Today, we have more than 200 brands using the format. The adoption rates have really grown across segments. On the performance and e-commerce side of advertising, brands like OLX, Flipkart, Amazon, Shaadi.com and India Property are some of the names we have on board. Auto companies like BMW, FMCG companies like HUL , are already there, so the adoption rate has cut across categories. In fact, we want to take this technology to other publishers to help them monetize their offerings. It brings additional supply to the network and the demand is already there. We want to increase the supply to bring about the right mix and enable publishers to use our native advertising solutions. They should simply plug Yahoo stream ads into their own content and start monetizing it. We are opening doors and actively starting to talk to other publishers who want to use this solution and get into a revenue share model with us.

Which sector is most easily adapting to native advertising and what is driving this trend?

surfers know how to circumvent them? Native Advertising has emerged as the answer to some or all of the problems that regular advertising has been posing.

This is paid content which forms a part of the content format of the website. It �lows naturally and can be mistaken for original content. Since it does not stand out it facilitates

Initially, we were choosy ourselves but right now the adoption is across all sectors. There are a couple of key factors driving this growth; �irstly, internet consumption on different devices means that the experience for the user has to be seamless. Traditional ad formats are not suited to connected devices. Native advertising has emerged as a format that transcends from a PC to a mobile to a tablet to a phablet.

Mobile, in particular, is driving native advertising.

Secondly, Yahoo believes in display advertising but at the same time understands the challenges associated with it. People have started identifying advertisements and ignore them. They are demanding formats which are less intrusive, which take into account the form factor and blend in well with the content. Blending in is the new standing out. These ads are non-intrusive and work well within the environment.

Thirdly, native ads score due to plain effectiveness. Studies have shown that people really notice native ads and want to click on them as they feel they are contextual. They do not cover the user’s experience. Also, these ads provide some value because of the way they are written and described. They are more effective due to their click through rates, ability to deliver more impressions at a lesser cost.

greater engagement and involvement of the reader. Its click-through-rates are higher than the average banner ads on sites. Needless to say, native advertising has quickly become the darling of marketers. Native makes for seamless advertising through embedded content in a contextual setting.

So what is Yahoo’s advantage?

We have a distinct advantage. We are the largest publisher of content on the web. Nobody publishes as much content as we do. We have a great depth and breadth of content and can play stream ads well in context.

Secondly, Yahoo provides personalized content. For example, your homepage will not look like mine. When we can personalize your experience around content, we can also personalize your experience around ads. It becomes a very powerful combination.

Thirdly, our targeting options driven by analytics make these ads very powerful

How is Yahoo ensuring that the end users get a superior experience?

Advertising is also about content. We ensure that end users get transparency and choice. Transparency means clearly demarcating these ads as ads.

We ensure that ads are called out as ads.

The second aspect is choice. Most of the Yahoo ads have an ad choices button which helps you, express your like or dislike for the ad. You can give us feedback and our engineers will �ine tune and make it smarter. The right experience will give good results.

So do you think in the near future, it will overtake the regular display advertising?

44% of the ads which we served on Yahoo in Q3 were native ads. If mobile is growing native is bound to grow..

Is advertising on Yahoo as compelling as content?

In part, we don’t really control it. Our job as a platform is to share audience insights with our advertisers. We are personalizing the ad experience as well.

We have a responsibility. Advertisers want their ads to be delivered and they have certain creative guidelines. Our job is to ensure we provide the right advertising experience. Our advertising algorithms really work to show the right ad at the right time. We don’t control the creative but we control the context in which it is shown and to whom it is shown. If we do that matching really well then I think the advertising content is going to be comparable.

What are the media properties on which you are providing these ads to advertisers?

Yahoo front page across PCs, Mobiles, Tablets, all screens. We also provide it on Yahoo mail across mobile, web as well as apps. We have introduced it on some modules and media properties as well.

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COLUMN

TITIR PAL

Director, Solutions, AbsolutData Analytics

Marketing Mix Modeling and why it’s well worth your time

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Irrespective of the quality of data and level of sophistication, starting and regularly building marketing mix models can be the key to effective and profitable marketing spends 48

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t is clear to all that business performance is continually impacted by marketing activities (controllable) and marketplace activities (little to no control). But it is notoriously dif�icult to quantitatively measure and evaluate the impact of such marketing activities.

Additionally, it is very dif�icult to differentiate clearly between the marketing actions that are working and those that are not; making it dif�icult to learn and build a better marketing strategy. “I waste half of the money I spend on advertising. I just don’t know which half” is a famous quote �irst attributed to John Wanamaker a US store merchant in 1862. The sad news is that we hear it all too often even today.

Marketing mix modeling, or MMM as it is more commonly called, is a ubiquitous term today. It is a domain in Marketing Analytics that uses predictive modeling to measure the effect of different marketing factors

(like price, distribution, advertising, consumer and trade promotions, and new product/variant introductions) by estimating the incremental sales generated due to each individual marketing factor.

Using this, companies can measure the impact of different marketing factors in terms of incremental sales generated and the Return on

Investment (ROI) which is simply the incremental sales generated per rupee spent on that marketing vehicle.

For example you can �ind out if spending 100 rupees more on TV ads is giving you more or less sales than the same 100 rupees spend on Digital ads. In addition to measuring the effectiveness the same models can be used to optimize overall marketing

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spends across different marketing vehicles.

In addition to these 2 main questions (i.e. measuring impact of different marketing factor and optimizing overall marketing spends) the same models can also be used to understand other related business questions.

• One can simulate impact of changes in the marketing strategy and estimate impact on sales. One can develop different marketing strategies to see how to meet a future growth target.

• One can estimate how competition’s growing presence in store or on television airwaves will impact their own brand’s sales.

• Understanding how marketing spend for one brand/variant in the portfolio affects the sales of other brands in the portfolio. How much is the cannibalization or halo?

• Estimate price sensitivity of the market. Figure out the optimal frequency and depth of price discounts • Deep dive into media planning.

Optimize �lighting patterns of TV ads; determine how much GRPs to gain on prime time vs. non-prime time; determine when to use longer duration ads vs. short duration ones While the concept of marketing mix has been around from the ‘50s, the market mix modeling fever did not catch on in earnest until the 1980s.

It started with the CPG companies (like P&G, Kraft, Coca-cola, Pepsi, etc) trying to make as much of their already slim margins. Over the years Retail, Financial services, Insurance, Telecommunication, Entertainment and pharmaceutical companies have all boarded the wagon in the quest to optimize their marketing spends.

The Marketing Mix Model if done well and its recommendations actually used in the annual marketing planning process, companies can get anything between 15 per cent to 30 per cent additional sales using the same marketing budget. This is a huge

impact considering the marketing budgets of companies today. This is why most Fortune 500 companies have made Marketing Mix Modeling a compulsory input to their annual planning process for every brand, every country.

While the term Marketing mix modeling is widely used and applied indiscriminately to evaluate different components of marketing strategy, the most common analytical approach is the multivariate regression model.

These models are based on a number of inputs and how these relate to an outcome such as sales or pro�its or both. Once the model is built and validated, the input variables such as advertising, promotion, etc. can be manipulated to determine the net effect on a company’s sales or pro�its.

However, in the last 5 years, several variations of the same have evolved, like non-linear models to capture

the diminishing return of spends in a single marketing vehicle, structural equation models to capture the long term effects of marketing on overall Brand Equity and in turn on long term sales, Attribution Models to accurately estimate the elusive impact of the digital and social media marketing efforts.

Most companies today are capturing marketing data and also doing some form of analytics. Some companies have more data than others while others are more analytically advanced.

But irrespective of the quality of data and level of sophistication, starting and regularly building marketing mix models can be the key to effective and pro�itable marketing spends.

Companies can expect to unlock 1530 per cent more value from their marketing budget, incentive enough to include Marketing Mix Models in the Analytics portfolio.

Pitch | April - May 2015 49 www.pitchonnet.com

GSK Marketing Director on his journey with brand Horlicks

Rashi Bisaria: What is special about this new campaign, considering Horlicks has always focused on smart children, their nutrition and health?

Rashi Bisaria: Horlicks Exam Time campaign is not just about smart children, it is about equipping children with improved concentration amidst the increasing distractions. Horlicks has always aimed at providing children with necessary nutrition and is the only health food drink clinically proven to improve concentration.

Designed around the thought of ‘Exam aage toh dhyaan na bhaage’, Horlicks Exam Time is a 360 degree campaign comprising TV, print, radio and digital, along with on-ground and expert-led workshops across the country to help students, parents, principals and teachers understand the importance of good nutrition and health during the exam time. As part of the campaign we have also designed a Concentration App that helps parents

December 2014 saw a reshuffle of top leadership positions at GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare leading to company veteran Prashant Pandey taking over as Marketing Director in India. Having been with the brand since 2008, Pandey has led the marketing for Horlicks including its new variants. In conversation with Rashi Bisaria, Pandey discusses Horlick’s latest campaign focused on exam time, his gratifying journey with the brand through the years and the challenges of his new role. Edited excerpts:

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gauge the concentration levels of their child and a national workshop to help parents and teachers understand concentration and its importance better.

The brand understands the challenge of examinations for children today and has developed 4 original soundtracks on examinations with the help of budding musicians across India, to help them face exams more con�idently.

How is this campaign being received, and what has the response been like?

The response to Mission Exams (school contact programme) has been extremely encouraging. Over the last 3 months we have reached out to 360 schools across 8 cities, engaging over 60,000 students from classes 5 -10.

Another highlight of the campaign has been the Exam anthems through which we have reached out to more than 3500 musicians, and received hundreds of submissions from budding talent across India. As mentioned above, the top 4 were made into videos and are being promoted on our social channels.

The Exam Time anthems have received over 1mn views on YouTube and Facebook till now What are the different kinds of innovation that Horlicks is looking

The brand has evolved with 9 sub-brands and extensions, each of them fulfilling different needs of different members of the family at in the near future to renew its presence in the market?

Since a large number of consumers are spending time on social and online platforms, we are engaging with them through relevant and innovative initiatives. The entire process, including call for anthem entries, engagement around it and the �inal grati�ication was designed leveraging our digital assets.

With this, Horlicks has made its debut in the user-generated content space.

In addition to this, Horlicks, on the occasion of Women’s Day launched a digital video dedicated to mothers across the country. It captures how a mother is one’s ultimate pillar of support and celebrates the unique bond between a mother and her daughter.

Called ‘Love You Maa’, the video has received over 1.1mn views on YouTube with over 100mn impressions in all.

With the success of these initiatives, we will look at tapping the digital and social space more actively.

Our upcoming campaigns will be a combination of new elements.

You have been handling brand Horlicks since 2008. How has it evolved?

It has been an extremely memorable journey so far. From creating a new segment with the launch of Women’s Horlicks in 2008 to the latest Exam Time campaign, each step has been gratifying. The brand has evolved with 9 sub-brands and extensions, each of them ful�illing different needs of different members of the family. Over the years I have collaborated with various teams within GSK, as well as with agency partners, to develop ideas that have built brand love, driven innovation and helped maintain leadership in the category.

How has your recent promotion changed your responsibilities and how are you adapting to this new role?

I am excited about this new challenge and hope to build the business ahead with category leading brands and with the support of a very capable team here. The team here is a young and energetic lot, very competent and full of ideas. I am looking forward to this journey.

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APURVA CHAMARIA Head, Global Brand & Digital Front Office at HCLTechnologies

apurva.chamaria@gmail.com

@a1purva

The Periodic Table of

Digital Marketing – Part 2

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his month, we relook at the periodic table looking at Automation Tools that work like the levers and elevators for Digital Marketers.

We also take a look at Sales and Marketing Systems that exist making the twin processes seamless and ef�icient.

SRM is the bed rock of all social media initiatives making digital marketing a well-rounded exercise for any organization 52

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Automation Tools Automation gives us the ability to make technology work smartly for us. Therefore automation tools that let us schedule, give insights on sales pipelines and customer insights, online display advertising, bring in swiftness and latent streams of leads and revenue for the brand.

HootSuite is a social media management system for brand management. Imagine having to keep a tab on your Twitter handle, Facebook page, LinkedIn page and Google + pro�ile! Imagine engaging with the multiple communities that you have built across platforms. Imagine spending a whole day jumping from one site to another! Social media management is a time consuming affair, but who says technology cannot make it a breeze? Created in 2008, the user interface looks like a dashboard that supports social

network integration of sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, MySpace, WordPress, Foursqaure, Mixi and Trendspottr. With a common dashboard that connects all social media channels, on HootSuite it is as simple as a push of a button to get your message across all platforms.

Why HootSuite Is Important • Easily customized – You have control over who sees which parts of your content. You can schedule posts very effectively • Monitoring of your content was never easier!

• HootSuite is available across platforms, through Internet, BlackBerry, iPad and apps

• HootSuite comes with a free version and a paid version allowing you to choose that which suits your business Oracle SRMis a product that has amalgamated the bestin-class Social Relationship Management components in one nifty tool. SRM is the bed rock of all social media initiatives making digital marketing a well-rounded exercise for any organization.

Oracle SRM, as a cloud based

service includes the critical components of social listening, social engagement, social publishing, social content and apps and social analytics.

Why Oracle SRM Is Important • Oracle SRM integrates existing Oracle products with Vitrue, Collective Intellect and Involver platforms. This integration allows users to perform social marketing, engagement and monitoring tasks besides analyse data, which they further use to develop meaningful content • Oracle SRM allows multiple users and teams make better use of the tool such that now one user creates a post and it automatically allows another to approve it • Oracle SRM also offers outof-the-box integration with Oracle applications including Oracle Eloqua, Oracle RightNow Cloud Service, Oracle Fusion CRM and Oracle CRM • Oracle SRM expands support to 29 languages

True In�luence calls itself the world’s most accurate and the fastest-growing online lead generation company. True In�luence allows B2B decision makers and sales and marketing professionals to generate the right leads at the right time in the right volume. Leveraging data, technology and content to drive high-impact marketing campaigns, True In�luence shares detailed data insights to win new businesses.

Java Script is a programming language that makes web pages interactive. It runs on the vistor’s computer and therefore does not require constant downloads from your website. A website designed using Java however, makes for an attractive destination for a potential visitor. Javascript is executed on the user’s processor instead of the web server thus saving bandwidth and strain on the web server. The Javascript language is relatively easy to learn and comprises of syntax that is close to English AdSense is a Google product that allows publishers in the Google Network of content sites to serve automatic advertisements that are targeted to site content and audience. The program is designed for website publishers who want to display targeted text, video or image advertisements on website pages and earn money when site visitors view or click the ads. The ads are monitored by Google generating revenue either per-click basis or per-impression basis. AdSense supports several types and formats, ensuring there is a range for marketers to use. Ranging from AdSense for Content, Feeds, Search, Mobile Content, Domains and Video one can literally choose where he wants his ad to run and how Sales & Marketing Systems These are tools and resources that augment the digital marketing practices by converting into quali�ied sales and marketing opportunities. Tools like Salesforce and Oracle SRM bring in the functionalities of customer relationship management and social relationship management to play. Similarly, Bizo is a marketing platform that enables B2B marketers to identify, reach and engage

their target audiences online.

Digital Marketing is never an isolated function. Effective and ef�icient practices ensure that sales and marketing endeavors combine to give uni�ied results that help a brand do better business.

Demandbase is a leading B2B company specializing in targeting and personalization. With the buzzword being ‘big data insights for sales people’, Demandbase delivers a B2B marketing product that targets web personalization and enables marketers to connect campaigns directly to revenue. Demandbase therefore enables its customers to deliver personalized advertisements targeting speci�ic businesses.

Why Demandbase Is Important • Targeting and having relevant conversations with buyers • Allows to reach out to speci�ic accounts with relevant messages • Allows personalization of the web experience • Allows segmentation, analysis and prioritizing companies • Allows you to open dialogues with target accounts Bizo is not yet another company that offers technology and products to B2B marketers to target prospects within professional segments and nurture them at every stage of the sales and marketing funnel. Armed with data management and targeting technology, the platform enables precise and measurable multichannel marketing programs. Bizo was acquired by LinkedIn on July 22, 2014.

LinkedIn plans to incorporate Bizo’s Media Solutions and Multi-Channel Nurturing products into their portfolio, but doesn’t plan to carry over their Data

Solutions business. Bizo will honor their existing contracts, but LinkedIn data won’t be made available to their grandfathered customers.

Why Bizo Is Important • B2B solutions with content marketing products, now who wouldn’t want that!

• Let’s you target new audiences via business demographic-targeted display, social and video advertising • Allows you to nurture existing audiences through CRM retargeting and

website retargeting • Allows users to measure the impact by accessing social advertising strategies through Full-Funnel Analytics Salesforce began as a traditional developer of customer relationship management tools and has now expanded with acquisitions into social networking applications. It has products like Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Force.com, Chatter and Work.com.

Marketing Cloud for instance comes with a host of marketing related functions that gives the digital marketer an Integrating Digital Marketing platform.

Why Salesforce Is Important • Marketing Cloud comes with functions like Journey Builder, Email Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Web Personalisation, Ads, Predictive Intelligence, Content and Messaging and Customer Data Platform In the next part of the series, we will look at Content Dissemination closely and go over the elements that go into the Periodic Table of Digital Marketing.

Pitch | April - May 2015 53 www.pitchonnet.com

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HITESH CHAWLA

Co-Founder & CEO, SilverPush

Why TV continues to be a powerful medium in the digital age

I

The constant demand for TV ads is because the big-screen makes the ad experience better 54

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t is arguable whether one really needs two jackets in October, but on the 6th of that month, that’s exactly what the country’s top English daily had on. It had nothing to do with cold, and everything to do with the hottest sector in Indian business today – ecommerce.

When Flipkart’s ‘Big Billion Sale’ jacket competed with a Snapdeal retort on the very next page, the result was the e-commerce version of a Shastri quote - “In the end, TOI was the real winner.”

Over on television, Snapdeal’s Diwali blitzkrieg apparently consisted of �ifty commercials, many featuring television personalities.

Smartphone subscribers and mobile Internet users are increasing at an eye-popping rate in countries like India.

The data consumption in mobile has also changed a lot in the last 5 years; leading to speculation that advertising spends on mobile

will overtake TV. In spite of all these factors, the growth of Internetinfrastructure to support this double-digit growth of smartphone users is not visible. 4G and similar fast interest services will take a years to penetrate across the tier 2 and 3 cities of India. The traditional media will stay highly important until there is an upshift in the Internetdelivery infrastructure.

TV works better than any other form of traditional advertising because of the highest absolute volumes of sales and the ROI. A PWC study showed that TV delivered the highest sales returns of any medium and has the highest correlation between brand equity and ad dollar spend.

Another important factor limiting the reach of digital is lack of popularity of

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social networking and mobile games among the elder generation. But, the TV viewing time increases steadily as people get older. As per stats, an average 18-24 year old watches 117 hours a week and a person aged 50-64 watches 195 hours a week. A Nielsen report also suggests that our media habits have remained fairly steady over the last few years. Changing the viewing behavior of the elder generation and majority non-urban population is a laborious task. A large proportion of India’s audience comes in the latter.

Thus TV holds high signi�icance and remains the fastest medium to build interest in a product.

The constant demand for TV ads is because the big-screen makes the ad experience better. Digital video and new interactive forms of smartphone ads like the interstitial ads won’t be able to deliver the same experience, that it has been delivering in developed markets because of lack of high speed internet.

Data from eMarketer suggests that, although growth in the advertising revenue of digital (all channels combined) is outpacing the growth of TV, TV is growing at a steady pace.

Important thing to note is that the Indian TV ad market is expected to grow 74 percent between 2011 and 2017.

•

ad should appear. Thus they can protect the brand getting linked with sensitive content.

TV is the most talked about medium: People love talking about TV on online and of�line.

Many people among the younger generation have a second screen that enables them to give live, online reactions to TV via Twitter,

Why advertisers rely on TV •

•

Reach and Scale: On TV, the brands would be able to reach a massive scale of audience at peak times . The chances of getting noticed by the audience get high as the number of ad slots increases.

Freedom to select the context: Advertisers has the say in selecting the context where their

TV works better than any other form of traditional advertising because of the highest absolute volumes of sales and the ROI

•

YouTube and Facebook.

Reaches a broader demographic audience: TV reaches a wider target audience of all age groups nationally. Being the most common leisure activity, audiences are funneled into larger segments of people who will see the advertiser’s ad.

How technology is improving TV advertising

Intelligent TV buying: Mobile is assisting TV broadcasters in gaining more details about their audience with which they can show targeted content and ads based on a person’s behavior and user intent. Real-time engagement on TV ads and viewership will measurable because of this.

Second Screen advertisements: 58 per cent of people, while watching TV, use their mobile devices. Marketers can capitalize on this opportunity by showing ads on the second screen to create engagement for their TV audience.

Integrated TV ad campaigns: TV is being increasingly watched via online streaming on desktops as well as on apps on mobile devices while on the move.

Using Cross-device tracking, marketers are now able to identify the personal digital devices, monitor the online activities of their target audience and deliver ads on multiple devices to reinforce their brand.

To summarize, TV will not lose its signi�icance for marketers in the foreseeable future, and will remain an important channel for advertisers to deliver brand communications.

In the digital age, a blend of digital interactivity and TV’s big-screen will power the advertising experience for the global brands.

Pitch | April - May 2015 55 www.pitchonnet.com

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HEMAL PANCHAMIA

Marketing Head, Fastrack

Engaging the youth through usergenerated content

T While building the ‘right’ engagement platform, the focus has shifted from who the brand knows to what the brand knows about them 56

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oday’s on-demand economy spells out how brands are being driven by their consumers. Brands and consumers are interacting in different ways across multiple touch points in today’s digitally enabled interactive environment. In an era of a hyper-connected population, social media has emerged as a primary channel for customer engagement. Brands across sectors are �inding new ways not just to inform, entertain and inspire their audience, but to stimulate dialogue with them and develop relationships. Today, one of the most compelling online marketing scenarios for weaving together content, search and social media is user-generated content.

Crowdsourcing and usergenerated content go beyond

being just a production tool for companies. They don’t only function as a source of funding or an opportunity to dip into a pool of untapped talent to solve real time problems.

They are, in fact, very effective marketing tools.

Brands across the board are leveraging them as methods to generate

content, drive campaign virality and conduct costeffective market research.

The emergence of user generated content stems from the large number of people who are constantly voicing their opinion and engaging with brands and people on social media. Today, the consumer segment that is inextricably linked to this interactive digital

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space is the youth. They make up the most, demanding, dynamic and unpredictable consumer segment yet. When it comes to them, at a fundamental level, brands must do one of two things; make their lives easier or more exciting.

So, how does a brand stand out in the overrun competitive battle�ield, break through the clutter and earn a customer’s loyalty? The key here is for brands to not be passive, but take an active stand to connect with this audience.

It is important for marketers to go beyond the digital basics and recognize social media’s potential for customer interaction and retention.

While building the ‘right’ engagement platform, the focus has shifted from who the brand knows to what the brand knows about them. Marketers need to use the digital landscape to actively listen, engage and respond to their customers. They need to take stock of everything that effects their audience digitally, socially and environmentally in order to effectively engage with them.

This generation expects products and services on demand and they want choice - they are beginning a new journey as independent consumers and are de�ining themselves through the brands they choose. If their expectations aren’t met, they’ll move on quickly. Also, this is a generation with an incessant need to share their experiences with their peers via social media. Brands need to

leverage this very characteristic and use engagement to harness their customers’ potential as in�luential brand advocates. Engaged customers have the potential to authentically endorse a brand to thousands of people instantly.

Through user-generated content, brands can seamlessly participate in relevant consumer conversations.

They should aim to nurture their customers as individuals with their own stories, rather than conduct anonymous transactions. Usergenerated content is sharable, creates conversations, brings together onand of�line realities, harnesses creativity and is credible to a brand’s target market.

We at Fastrack have conducted many such campaigns with an aim to tap into the youth’s natural desire to create and share, thus resulting in increased engagement levels, content created speci�ically for the brand, and an increased number of brand advocates. Campaigns of this nature allow our audience to become an active and direct part of our brand story. Harnessing real time brand

Develop a recipe for inclusion of your consumers in your brand story, and you are on the right track.

users and turning them into digital brand ambassadors is also key to creating aspirational appeal.

Our latest campaign for sunglasses, Springers invites our audience to be a part of a crowd sourced look book which will be available on the campaign microsite (www.fastrack. in/springers). With this, we aim to engage our audience and allow them to experience the product �irst hand, while increasing foot falls to our stores.

User-generated content allows customers to have a sense of continued interaction with a brand thereby making the brand more approachable, its campaigns more authentic and its consumers more loyal. When usergenerated content strategies hit the nail on the head, they are much more powerful than traditional advertising in terms of brand relevance, resonance and top of mind recall. Develop a recipe for inclusion of your consumers in your brand story, and you are on the right track.

However, a key challenge that emerges within the youth market is that as soon as something becomes mainstream, it has already moved on. It is imperative that marketers have their �inger on the pulse of this dynamic segment, and constantly evolve to remain relevant to them. By investing effort, time and money to build a meaningful relationship with this segment, brands can gain new customers for life. That being said, sometimes all it takes is a hashtag.

Pitch | April - May 2015 57 www.pitchonnet.com

FEATURE

Kinetic Worldwide’s David Payne advocates ‘smart OOH for a smart world’

BY RASHI BISARIA

W

ith a wealth of experience and expertise in OOH media planning and buying solutions behind him, David Payne’s keynote address at the OOH conference was �illed with insights and key examples from Kinetic’s own body of work in this �ield.

In a world where the consumer was getting smarter by the minute and was connected to his smart devices, media consumption was happening all the time and on the go. Consumers were becoming media snackers and enjoyed content in short spurts, creating a huge opportunity for brands to build upon, he said. Payne said it was up to the brands to give them content that was sticky and stayed with them.

Expressing his vision for the OOH industry , Payne stressed on how OOH should be at the centre of every marketer’s media mix, “We are heading towards a smarter world where media silos are breaking down. The media mix is also changing . OOH should be at the centre of this mix. An eco-system will soon emerge where smart objects will start speaking to each other. That will bring about a revolution and that is the kind of world we are moving towards. The Internet of Things is fast becoming a reality.”

Although the stress was on creating smart solutions for the smart world, Payne insisted that audiences always came �irst. The medium was becoming dynamic and engaging and needed to address the needs

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of the consumer. He peppered his talk with examples of some key digital OOH campaigns executed by Kinetic. Citing the work done by its innovations department , Kinetic Active, Payne spoke about how Unilever and Kinetic partnered to create a one-day experiential campaign for Dove at London’s Waterloo station. The campaign gave the ladies a chance to have their photos clicked professionally at the station. Images were then live-streamed to the digital screen at Waterloo. The photographs were also shared on Dove’s Facebook page. It was an experiential campaign to expose consumers to Dove’s dry invisible deodorant and celebrate ‘color con�idence’. It was the perfect example of an experiential campaign that used technology to involve the consumer.

When asked about the next key steps the OOH industry needed to take to get to the next level, Payne replied, “The OOH media has always been very hard to quantify and measure. Therefore, investment in audience measurement is crucial. It is also important to invest in inventory and talent. There are new opportunities waiting to be explored in this medium. Integration of data, technology, media and content was necessary for the medium to be successful.”

WPP’s OOH network Kinetic Worldwide underwent major restructuring last year, as part of a plan to move OOH to the centre of strategic media planning. David Payne was speaking at exchange4media‘s OOH Conference 2015 presented by Posterscope in association with Laqshya Media Group.

Q&A

Tete-A-Tete with SUNIL KATARIA Business Head, India & SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products

Q&A When you are not spearheading marketing campaigns, you are....... enjoying the latest Bollywood releases, reading and doing lots of fun things with my kids - and all parallely The best way to know your consumer is..... by just being with them as human beings and not as brand managers If you were not a marketer, you would be....... a teacher and a very good one at that !

The marketer you admire the most.... no one in particular. Sorry to disappoint here If you were a brand, what would your tagline be?

Never say Die Something about you that nobody knows..

Should remain this way only - some things are best kept secret !!

The brand you like the best other than Godrej is........ Indigo airlines - love their quirky way and how they are true to their brand essence in every piece of consumer interaction When a strategy fails, what do you do?

Have a small drink to get back to neutral and go back to the consumer !

The motto you live by : don‛t sweat the small stuff ..,, and it‛s all small stuff !

You owe your success to...

2/3 to my passion and 1/3 to the hand of God !

Pitch | April - May 2015 59 www.pitchonnet.com

Q&A

BOOKS

“A Brand that resonates slices through clutter” World’s leading brand experts have come together to contribute to ‘The Brand Challenge: Adapting Branding to Sectorial Imperatives’, the latest anthology on branding from brand analyst Kartikeya Kompella. Kartikeya who has authored books like ‘Applying the Branding Iron’ and ‘Building Brands building Meaning’ has aimed to present the application of branding across multiple sectors. As editor, he has put together original contributions from experts in each sector to make the tome as comprehensive as possible.

This is his second outing as editor, reflecting his respect for different viewpoints, encouraging companies to do the same. Rashi Bisaria of Pitch caught up with the editor to find out more about the book and the knowledge gaps it hopes to fill. Edited excerpts:

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Pitch | April - May 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

THE BRAND CHALLENGE Adapting branding to sectorial imperatives

Published By Kogan Page Pages : 360 Price : $ 55.00

Rashi Bisaria: What was the motivation to come up with another collection of writing on branding?

What was the thought behind it?

Kartikeya Kompella: I felt that the �ield of branding needs relevant literature and even though there are over 5000 books on branding, there are many gaps in knowledge still to be �illed.

There was no book that addressed multiple sectors. There were books that focused on a sector like pharma branding or books that looked at branding models and how it could be applied to various sectors. I thought it would be useful to have a book that looks at different sectors to give readers

BOOKS

a sense of what’s similar and different across sectors.

One of my pet peeves is that many companies look at more of the same.

You want everyone in your team to have similar kinds of experiences, you want an ad agency with same category experience and so on.

How often does an FMCG company hire someone from the the fashion industry or vice-versa. If you don’t have different viewpoints then how do you hope to have freshness in your thinking and innovation in your brand?

It must have been dif�icult to choose sectors? What made you select some and reject some?

I wanted a mix of the everyday and the esoteric. When I started looking at categories I realised that even if I had 50 sectors I may not provide adequate representation of all categories so I chose a set which I thought would cover as diverse a set of sectors as possible. I wasn’t able to get all the sectors I wanted – political parties was an interesting one I missed out on.

Who are your target readers for the book?

Professionals who handle multiple categories – communication professionals and brand consultants will bene�it from a book that covers multiple sectors. Brand managers who want to use best practices from different sectors and build innovation into their offerings will learn how to take interesting concepts from one sector and use it in another.

How easy or dif�icult was it to get the sector experts to write?

I think with any edited collection the challenge is to crack a concept that authors want to be a part of.

Sector experts are known in their �ield and don’t need the publicity. Writing 6000 words is a big demand and busy professionals need to feel they are part of something special to make them want to dedicate the time.

Purpose, relevance and differentiation are especially critical in today’s highly crowded market more than before because if you don’t resonate with the consumer he will move on and never look back.

What is the single-biggest challenge brands are facing today and what can be done to overcome it?

In an attention de�icient world, attention is currency. Most brands are uninteresting and lack innovation as a result of which they fail to grab or retain the consumers’ interest. Why is it that we keep using Nike, Apple, Google, Coke, Starbucks, Harley and a few other brands as constant references ? The number of brands that are really doing pathbreaking work are only a fraction of all the brands we know.

What were some of the problems you faced as an editor while putting together the book?

The research required to identify good writers was quite tough.

Project management for a book is as complicated as any other project and you can’t afford to relax at any point of time. At times one needs to remind some of the busier authors of the common goal that we set out to achieve.

I was lucky to have a very professional and understanding set of authors who made the process relatively easy.

According to you, which brand in the current context has evolved and delivered in innovative ways, having adapted to changing times?

Amazon has come a long way from being the best ecommerce company in the world to … well, staying the best ecommerce company in the world.

Amazon Fire and Dash Button are brilliant innovations that help Amazon stay connected to its mission to be the world’s most customer centric company. Remember, in today’s world a 21 year old digital company is as good as a 100 year old traditional company.

Staying ahead of the race for that long is really something.

Do you think it has become more dif�icult to construct brands in the digital age? Why or why not?

I don’t think the digital age makes it tougher. Either the brand resonates with you or not!

Brands with a purpose tend to resonate with customers and once the connection is established then the rest is a matter of detail.

Purpose, relevance and differentiation are especially critical in today’s highly crowded market more than before because if you don’t resonate with the consumer he will move on and never look back. All your advertising dollars will buy you very little share of heart.

On the other hand, a brand that resonates, slices right through the clutter and grows superfast like Airbnb. All the different media that marketers struggle to monitor will be abuzz with consumers singing praises of your brand.

How much time did you take to �inish this book?

A year from start to �inish. I think the experience of having done one book made me more ef�icient.

How soon can we expect another book from you?

2016!

Are you planning to pen a book on branding?

De�initely. I started work on a book but had to put it on hold as I was busy with other projects. I think it’s time to simplify branding, throw out the complex models and stop making it so esoteric. Branding needs to be more spontaneous and creative.

Pitch | April - May 2015 61 www.pitchonnet.com

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Young, Promising and raring to go!

Annurag Batra

Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Pitch Magazine abatra@exchange4media.com @anuragbatrayo www.facebook.com/anuragbatrayo

C

reativity, imagination, ambition and youth can be a winning combination in any sphere and in marketing, these qualities are as highly valued as in any other profession. Our cover story this time talks about 2015’s promising, young marketers who are likely to make an impact in the coming years on the basis of some outstanding qualities. The chosen marketers are 35 years or below and have already changed the rules of the game. They are reinventing the marketing world right now and are raring to go. They are digitally savvy, innovative and dynamic. They are fine leaders and exceptional brand builders.

The names chosen this year with the help of our knowledge partners Traverse Research n’ Consulting are those of trailblazing, intrepid marketers. They are not afraid to try out new tactics and strategies, and are not afraid of failure. They are driven by their own ambition and passion for the brand.

Most of them live and breathe the brand they represent. In other words, they embody the brand.

Our chosen 10 marketers may come from brands as diverse as Puma and Big Bazaar, but they possess the same winning qualities of a successful marketer. They are clued into the latest techniques, technology and the business vision of the organisation. They are able to communicate this vision across verticals and come up with innovative business solutions.

The pace at which this field is changing is breathtaking. Customer experience

The new age marketers are not afraid to try out new tactics and strategies, and are not afraid of failure. They are driven by their own ambition and passion for the brand 62

Pitch | April - May 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

needs to be the top priority for marketers and this involves not just satisfying their needs but also sustaining a dialogue with them, leading to long terms relationships and loyalty. Customers need to be at the heart of everything the brand does. The number of marketing and communication channels has exploded with digital having disrupted established rules. Research released by Adobe along with CMO Council has revealed that Indian marketers have the highest level of confidence in their digital marketing capabilities in the Asia Pacific region. The study also says that Indian marketers give top priority to customers. Digital marketing proficiency can take marketing to the next level making organisations more customer centric.

The difference between the ordinary and extraordinary could be how well each can integrate their digital marketing strategy, choosing the best technology solutions and understanding insights and analytics.

Customer insights will emerge as the strength of the marketer. The new age marketer has to make the most of the digital era and create smarter experiences.

The Top 10 Promising Young Marketers stand at the forefront of this change. They have adapted to the changing times , giving their brand a boost even during a state of flux. They are the real ‘heroes’ who are moving at a breakneck speed in their bid to stay ahead in the race. They have derived the best value from customer insights and used it to their advantage. They have woven the right brand narrative and are exceptional storytellers with their finger on the pulse of the customers. It will be interesting to follow their career growth from here, as they move from one milestone to the next.

#Top50Brands

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Founder and Chairman, SKA Advisors Former Managing Director & CEO, Britannia Industries Ltd For more details, visit: www.brands50.pitchonnet.com For further assistance, contact: Sonia Mehndiratta: sonia@exchange4media.com or +91 9899966264 Suparnaa Chadda (Event Curator): suparnaa.chadda@exchange4media.com

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