Pitch june issue 1

Volume XII | Issue 1 | June 2015

` 75

Marketing visionaries dissect the

FUTURE of

MARKETING How will the role of a marketer evolve to encompass the skill sets of the future?

Marketing visionaries Anisha Motwani and Raja Rajamannar share their views

When McDonald’s became conscious about health Pg.06

The big deal about

How Bajaj Allianz creates brand awareness

Pg.36

Pg.38

Retargeting

#MediaAceAwards

Keynote Speaker

and

PRESENT

~24 t h JULY 2015~ ~MUMBAI~

Dr. Mukund Rajan

Brand Custodian and Member, Group Executive Council, Tata Sons Ltd.

www.e4mevents.com/media-ace-awards-2015 For enquiries regarding registration, please contact: Aman Tyagi (Delhi) +919582221622 aman.tyagi@exchange4media.com Suparnaa Chadda (Event Curator) suparnaa.chadda@exchange4media.com For sponsorship opportunities, please contact: Rajat Thareja (Delhi) +91 9810134435 rajat.thareja@exchange4media.com Sohini Ghosh (Mumbai) +91 9930811744 sohini.ghosh@exchange4media.com Sneha Walke (Bengaluru) +91 9845541143 sneha@exchange4media.com ASSOCIATE PARTNERS

BRANDING PARTNER

COVER STORY Volume XII, Issue-1 June 2015

Experts predict and dissect the

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

FUTURE OF MARKETING

EDITORIAL TEAM

Deputy Editor

Rashi Bisaria

DESIGN TEAM

Art Director

Shivaji Sengupta

Senior Graphic Designer

Joby Mathew

Photographers

Vilas Kalgutkar (Mumbai) Suresh Gola (Noida)

AD SALES

Rajat Thareja Prashant Kulkarni Sneha Walke

9810134435 9886138249 9845541143

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MARKETING WILL BECOME A GENERAL MANAGEMENT FUNCTION

A STRONGHOLD ON ANALYTICS AND BIG DATA ARE THE NEW SKILLS IN DEMAND

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 CIRCULATION/DISTRIBUTION

Vinod Sharma (Delhi) - 9999447209 vinod@exchange4media.com Anandan Nair (Mumbai) - 9819445200 anair@exchange4media.com On News-stands ` 75

20

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

INTERVIEW

“Breakfast has become a sweet spot for the QSR segment”

Printed at All Time Offset Printers, E-53, Sector-7 Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201301 An exchange4media Publication

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Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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Ranjit Paliath, Vice President, Business Operations, McDonald’s India

32

“Being visible on video streaming channels opens your brand up to new audiences” Akhil Kakroo, VP, Content Services, TO THE NEW Digital

CONTENTS Where did Nestlé go wrong in online reputation management with the MAGGI CRISIS?

COLUMN

Analytics for Travel Marketing Manmeet Ahluwalia

Marketing Head-Expedia India

10

Augmented reality today Powerful tool or misconception?

Arnav Ghosh

Regional Director, Blippar India

14

The key to creating consistent brand experiences across platforms Prateek N Kumar

CEO & Managing Director, NeoNiche

12

7 things around us just waiting to die!

Avik Chattopadhyay

Independent brand and Strategy Consultant

Brands are gravitating to video across all screens, especially mobile

Co- Founder-Director, Ideosphere Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

42

Deconstructing Tata DoComo’s winning campaign 30

50

Retargeting

36

Tete-A-Tete with

How Bajaj Allianz creates brand awareness Ranjan Dutt,, Associate Vice President, Marketing, Bajaj Allianz

46

Turbulence in Analytics

Ajay Kelkar

COO, Hansa Cequity

In the last issue, in the write-up on Pallavi Singh, the name of Anoop Prakash , MD, Harley Davidson India was misprinted as Somesh Chandra. The misprint is regretted.

44

When Storytelling Becomes Serious!

Minal D’Rozario

Corrigendum

34

OTHERS 38

Ankur Warikoo CEO, Groupon India

52

News of the Month

53

Column: Annurag Batra

60

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INTERVIEW

Breakfast has become a sweet spot for the QSR segment As consumers all over the world become more health conscious, fast food restaurants are trying to integrate healthy food options in their menu. McDonald’s has also been trying to woo customers with healthy food, the latest being ‘Build your burger’ which offers a choice of buns. The restaurant chain has also been focusing on its breakfast offerings to position itself as a healthy alternative for those on-the-go. Rashi Bisaria spoke to Ranjit Paliath,VP, Business Operations, McDonald’s, India to know about the brand’s take on health and its plans for the future.

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Rashi Bisaria: What made

McDonald’s focus on the breakfast menu in India?

Was there a study that was conducted about breakfast habits? Please elaborate.

Ranjit Paliath: Despite breakfast being considered as the most important meal of the day, most people tend to skip this meal. A survey conducted

by Research Centre, College of Home Science, Nirmala Niketan shows only 3 per cent regard breakfast as an essential meal; 72 per cent do not have adequate breakfast daily; and one in four skips it. Breakfast skipping is common across cities, more so across Mumbai (34%) and Chennai (37%).

Statistics revealed a clear need to address the issue of people skipping breakfast and it was in response to this trend that McDonald’s launched its wholesome breakfast menu in 2010. McDonald’s was the �irst QSR chain in India to offer a dedicated breakfast menu for customers. Iconic menu items include Egg McMuf�in and choices like the Sausage McMuf�in with Egg and the Egg and Cheese McMuf�in for the non-vegetarians.

The Veg McMuf�in and Veg Supreme offer nutritious breakfast options for the vegetarians. The menu provides customers with a wide range of grilled wholesome breakfast options across 121 restaurants in West and South region.

The Breakfast category is a signi�icant business for McDonald’s.

We know the convenience of a hot McMuf�in on-the-go makes breakfast so much more accessible for people who are often caught up in the morning rush. We believe that there is a growing market for Out-Of-Home (OOH) breakfast. This is a re�lection of an evolving lifestyle, characterized by nuclear families, rising young and working population coupled with growing disposable income and increasing distances and commute times.

Is focus on breakfast an Indian phenomenon or is the brand taking it seriously in other locations as well?

As changing lifestyles see people being increasingly rushed for time, Breakfast is fast becoming a sweet spot for the QSR segment and for McDonald’s not just in India but across the world. We have been a leader in branded OOH breakfast category globally but we believe there’s still room to grow. McDonald’s was the �irst QSR brand to make full-scale deployment on brand extensions and formats such as McDelivery, Drive-Thru’s, Breakfast, Dessert Kiosks and McCafé®, focusing on providing customer convenient and wholesome meal options during different parts of the day.

At McDonald’s in particular, Breakfast is an important part of the business model and in 2013, McDonald’s initiated a focused breakfast movement by launching “National Breakfast Day” to emphasize the importance of breakfast – and to give customers an easier start to the day with wholesome, convenient breakfast solutions. This program is part of McDonald’s commitment not only to grow the breakfast category but also encourage Indians to eat breakfast. Since the inception of National Breakfast Day, McDonald’s has distributed over one

lakh free McMuf�ins (Veg/Egg) to our customers across west & south India.

How have Indian tastes and preferences changed over time?

Indian consumers have de�initely become experimental and savvy in their taste and choice when it comes to dining out. Apart from expecting better quality and hygiene. People are eating out more (from 3 times a month a few years back to 7 times a month now). Annual spending of middle class homes on eating out increased in the last two years – especially across India’s tier-II and III cities where it has increased by Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,200.

Also, nearly 61 per cent of all adolescents eat out once a week on average; whereas 90 per cent eating out is a more than once a week activity. This high frequency is attributed to increase in the number of occasions celebrated with friends and family and also more pocket money. Approximately 30 per cent of this Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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INTERVIEW group eats out more than twice a week.

The frequency of eating out is similar in metros, mini metros as well as Tier I cities. However, consumers from Tier I cities spend relatively higher amounts on unorganized formats.

Customer needs are always evolving and McDonald’s keeps its ears on the ground, observing trends and constantly innovating our menu offerings accordingly. Today, McDonald’s India is widely recognized for having successfully transitioned from being just another international brand to being seen as caring enough to cater to local tastes and cultural ethos, without having to tinker with core brand values.

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How is McDonald’s uniquely prepared to adapt to these changes?

To keep on par with changing consumer lifestyle and trends, it is imperative to evolve our offerings and create modern menu choices that are preferred by our customers. Constantly updating and creating variations in our menu also helps in staying relevant to our customers in an increasingly competitive QSR space, especially with new brands entering the Indian market.

McDonald’s is diligently focused on menu expansion and innovation, as well as creating customized products for the Indian market. We have successfully adopted the ‘Think Global, act Local policy’ and created a ‘Glocal’ menu for local customers. The iconic McAloo Tikki™ was initially developed for the Indian market speci�ically, but was also widely appreciated in the Middle East & Singapore as an LTO Additionally, we have rolled out successful products such as McVeggie™, Pizza McPuff™ and the Masala Grill Burgers, as well as the favourite Piri-Piri Masala. We introduced Paneer and Aloo as the prime ingredient in a range of burgers and wraps such as the McSpicy Paneer™, Big Spicy Paneer Wrap and McAloo Wrap with Chipotle Sauce. While we already serve salad wraps in most of our restaurants, we also have several exciting products in the pipeline. We are continually focused on evolving our Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

offerings as per customer needs in order to stay relevant as a brand.

More recently we have taken measures to reduce oil content in our mayo sauces and sodium content across products to enable wholesome and healthy eating. While doing so, we have closely worked with our suppliers to make sure that our products do not compromise on their taste. Our products have always been well-received across markets and our endeavours in this regard have been appreciated by customers.

How are the McCafé doing in the country and what is the plan for their all India rollout? How many are there at present?

The café market in India has seen aggressive expansion driven by evolving consumer lifestyles. These have made cafés popular hangouts catering to audiences that enjoy experimenting and are open to the concept of trying different coffees, tea and smoothies.

According to Technopak Advisors, the organized café market in India is $230 million & is set to grow at 13-14 per cent annually over the next 5 years.

McCafé® is a key driver in optimizing the use of our restaurants during operational hours thereby providing higher pro�it margins. McCafé® is an in-house coffee style chain format which allows a faster roll-out in a more cost ef�icient manner (with a capital investments of about Rs.30-35 lakhs per McCafé®). Currently there are 37 McCafés across 6 cities and we are con�ident on our stated goal of establishing 75-150 McCafés in the next 3-5 and expanding our restaurant footprint to 175-250 in the next 3-5 years in West and South India.

McDonalds has been going through a low phase with sales having dipped globally and some controversies surrounding it in different countries.

How is the brand tackling these issues?

From 2003 – 2004 until 2013 the QSR sector saw a phenomenal growth with players announcing comparable sales growth of 18-22 per cent year on year.

During this period, GDP was growing between 6-9 per cent, leading to increase in purchasing power – footfalls went up and players grew businesses. When GDP growth dropped to 4.5 per cent, consumption took a beating and discretionary spends were affected.

However, in spite of the economic slowdown, McDonald’s opened over 27

CUSTOMER NEEDS ARE ALWAYS EVOLVING AND McDONALD’S KEEPS ITS EARS ON THE GROUND, OBSERVING TRENDS AND INNOVATING

INTERVIEW restaurants last year alone, with an addition of seven new restaurants in the last few months. We are innovating and evolving our menu and increasing brand accessibility apart from reimagining our restaurants to stay relevant to consumers.

We are the �irst QSR brand to launch Drive-Thru’s, Breakfast and McCafé®, with a focus to provide customers convenience and wholesome meal options during different parts of the day.

McDonald’s drive–thru strategy is part of our efforts at broadening accessibility and modernizing customer experience especially since customers today are demanding greater convenience.

Approximately 25 per cent of our restaurant portfolio are Drive-Thrus (DT).

Some of the new markets that we opened in the last two years were Rajkot, Nadiad, Hubli, Thrissur, Palakkad and Kochi.

We ensure that customers can reach us through multiple platforms –visit the restaurant or choose to order their favourite menu items through our call center or by ordering online or our Mobile App. Online delivery has been extremely successful with over 30 per cent of revenues coming from online and web ordering. We launched web ordering in 2013 and the Mobile app was launched in 2014. We have optimized our delivery business through operational ef�iciencies with the launch of 29 minute delivery guarantee. We also provide free WI-FI services to customers across all our restaurants.

With competition heating up in India in this category, how is

looking at doubling our restaurant base WE ARE THE – Hence, 80 per cent of our capital is going to get deployed into building more FIRST QSR BRAND TO restaurants.

McDonald’s gains a further edge LAUNCH DRIVE-THRU’S, over competition by laying emphasis customer satisfaction. We diligently BREAKFAST AND MCCAFÉ®, on review our menu options and focus on accelerating growth across all parts of WITH A FOCUS TO the day by delivering on affordability, integration of locally-relevant menu PROVIDE CUSTOMERS items, expanded conveniences and opening new restaurants. We are able to CONVENIENCE offer consumers great value for money McDonalds strengthening its stand in the Indian market?

The organized QSR segment is growing at a rapid rate in India on account of market expansion by existing players and entry of new players. As the market heats up and sees more competition, McDonald’s stays relevant for consumers by offering continuous menu innovations, various meal options that can be savored during different day parts and introducing new formats – such as recently launched McCafé®. The aim has been to establish the restaurant as an ‘all-day family destination’ Additionally, we plan to aggressively increase our retail footprint to fortify our presence in the existing market and enter new markets. Since 2010 we have moved into the Accelerate Phase of growth, during which we are opening new restaurants and establishing new formats such as Drive – Thru, Dessert Kiosks and McCafé® as we extend our reach across west and south India. Currently we are

due to our supply chain ef�iciencies & backward integration at the farm level, where we follow fair trade practices.

What are the plans for 2015 in India?

At present, Westlife Development operates 209 McDonald’s restaurants through HRPL (West and South India).

We plan to aggressively increase our retail footprint to fortify our presence in the existing market and enter newer markets. We will invest Rs 700 to 750 crores in the next 3-5 years as we expand our presence in South and West India.

As part of our development plans we will open 60-70 per cent of our restaurants in the existing cities and the balance 30-40 per cent will be in new markets. McDonald’s is also looking at expanding in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets.

In smaller cities, consumers have the aspiration to visit a McDonald’s, but don’t have a restaurant close by. So we do plan to enter Tier II and II markets in a planned manner.

How many outlets are there in the country today?

In the last 19 years McDonald’s has been able to build a phenomenal foundation – serving almost 325 million customers across over 375 restaurants every single day across India.

HRPL operates 209 restaurants in South and West India across 26 cities in 7 states. We have been able to create a strong brand connect through our menu and brand extensions like McCafé® which have worked well for us.

Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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COLUMN MANMEET AHLUWALIA

Marketing Head-Expedia India

Analytics for Travel

Marketers today are moving fast to employ tools to collect, manage and analyse a tremendous volume, variety, velocity and accuracy of data 10 Pitch | June 2015

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M

illennials, one of the largest generations in history, are ready to move into their prime spending years. This phenomenon is bringing about a complete change in the way we buy and sell. Millennials have witnessed and survived a time of rapid change, giving them a set of priorities and expectations sharply different from previous generations. They are poised to reshape the economy with the new thought process and their unique experiences.

Millennials are the �irst generation of digital citizens, and their allure for technology is constantly shaping their shopping behaviour. They are turning to brands that can offer maximum convenience at the lowest cost. With instant access to a vast pool of data across multiple platforms from

price comparisons to product information and peer/user reviews, they are revamping the retail space.

Spoilt with a wide variety of choices across multiple channels like phone, tablet, web, kiosk, counter, helpline; consumers are constantly engaging with brands and leaving data and their digital footprint behind. They are looking for a personalised experience and ways in which retailers can make their life and choices easier. A key tool

that comes to rescue here is Big Data Analytics that helps businesses to overcome these challenges in the industry.

Marketers today are moving fast to employ tools to collect, manage and analyse a tremendous volume, variety, velocity and accuracy of data. Big data and predictive analytics can help companies build a very accurate picture of their customers, allowing them to deliver highly targeted, relevant offers. This

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is catapulting into a key aspect that is helping organizations differentiate from competitors, gain market share and increase revenue and pro�its with innovative new services.

The customer should be at the center of all Big Data efforts. Organizations can

leverage high volumes and variety of customer information from all customer points of interaction - with your brands (on web or mobile), with your competition and from customer-generated social media in order to increase sales, loyalty participation and use contextual data to execute more personalized offers and promotions and deliver more compelling customer interactions and experiences.

Successfully harnessing big data can help achieve three critical objectives for travel ecommerce players• Engage customers in a better and relevant manner and enhance their overall shopping experience • Empower business to manage customer engagement across all channels • Perfect the delivery to give customers exactly what they want, where and when they want it

•

Accelerate time to value on the industry leading commerce platform Analytical insights can be bene�icial to multiple functional areas such as call centre, operations, marketing and

to make smart, informed travel decisions. With 31million customers worldwide and the global travel technology leader, we have access to huge amounts of data and analytics

sales. More importantly, rapid insight enables these parts of the business to address customer problems or respond to the opportunities far more quickly than previously possible. For instance, through analytics we saw that customers typically search for a �light online at an average of 48 times before booking a trip.

Expedia launched Scratchpad feature that neatly stores and organizes a customer’s search queries for easy retrieval with fresh pricing display.

In addition, customers can also access their searches on Expedia.com mobile app for viewing on desktop. The feature saves travellers time because they don’t have to start their search from scratch each time, and it helps save money by sending customized emails to them when prices change – allowing customers

is a key strength to predict and answer consumer needs before competition.

Today analytics is becoming a crucial tool for travel marketers.

It not only helps in predicting consumer needs and buying patterns, but is also key to delivering a great customer experience. Consumer-friendly features, intelligent integration of products, genuine reviews or suggestions of products relevant to your consumer provide convenience and are the key to conversion. It is increasingly helping OTAs to provide their customers with a personalized, seamless research and booking experience, whether they interact with any brand via the web, mobile & tablet devices, social media or call centres.

Analytics is poised to become an indispensable technology for brands in the future.

The customer should be at the center of all Big Data efforts

Successfully harnessing big data can help achieve critical objectives for travel ecommerce players Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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FEATURE

Where did Nestlé go wrong in online reputation management with the MAGGI CRISIS?

By Abhinn Shreshtha

N

estlé India and its instant noodle brand—Maggi, have been in the eye of the storm for the past few

weeks.

The incident has created quite a stir on social media with reactions ranging from disbelief to outright outrage.

Simplify360 has been tracking the conversations around the subject and found out that nearly 28 per cent of the more than 4.43 lakh mentions were looking from an assurance from the company.

Surprisingly enough, Nestlé took a long time to come out with a proper response despite nearly 19,000 mentions since the controversy broke.

Even then, the reply came across as tame and far from convincing.

“It is just not a problem with Nestlé.

Most of the brands lack a proper ORM (Online Reputation Management) strategy unlike the West where every possible crisis is considered and a response pre-decided between the management, the PR and the social media team,” opines Gautam Mehra, Business Head (Social Media) at iProspect Communicate2. According to him, the company committed a number of errors by trying to sweep it under the carpet, replying late, getting defensive and only then �inally apologizing. “You have to be prompt, transparent and forthcoming, otherwise you will never be trusted,” he added.

“In today’s fast-paced digital world, where conversations happen every

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In their zeal to close controversies as soon as they spring, brands might resort to any means possible

second, speed really matters. The fact that Maggi didn’t interact with its consumers on social media for two weeks since the controversy sparked off, only added to more speculations,” says Suveer Bajaj, Co-founder and Director (Media Operations) of Foxymoron.

The head of another social media agency, speaking on the condition of anonymity, agreed that ORM in times

FEATURE

of crisis is dif�icult for all brands.

According to him, the most important thing for Nestlé was how it would respond now. “They will need to build back the trust they have lost with customers. This has to be their primary objective,” he said.

As pointed out earlier, Indian brands have rarely shown a knack for handling these “social media crises” and there have been a few over the years. The normal reaction is to adopt the “Ostrich” strategy.

On the �lipside, when, last year, Amul found itself with a consumer complaint, it created a different kind of social controversy. Post the complaint, which was posted on Facebook, Amul behaved as a conscientious brand should and investigated the issue and posted a lengthy (and, perhaps, somewhat high-handed) explanation on Facebook. The company received plaudits from the online community,

but the issue got murky when the consumer alleged that Amul had not been entirely honest in their explanation and might have actually tampered with screenshots which they had posted.

If it is true, then this shows a different side of the matter; that in their zeal to close controversies as soon as they spring, brands might resort to any means possible. Barring a few cases, social media management, which

has become such an integral part of the ORM process is still something that Indian brands struggle with and this was apparent in Nestlé’s case too.

The reasons for this are myriad. At times, it does become dif�icult to respond immediately as there might be legal aspects that need to be thought about �irst. However,

Indian brands have rarely shown a knack for handling these “social media crises” and there have been a few over the years. The normal reaction is to adopt the “Ostrich” strategy

this does not account for the almost lackadaisical attitude that we have seen in some recent cases. Chetan Asher, Founder and CEO of Tonic Media also feels Nestlé should have been more nimble in responding to comments on social media.

“A little more proactivity in sending out the right messages would have helped them. Perhaps they could have made a video explaining their side of the story. The important thing in such cases

is to be quick in putting across your point of view and then trying to amplify it (on social media) before the issue gains too much momentum,” he says.

On the CRM side, we have seen a number of brands make efforts to improve response time and customer conversation but this is still a rarity when it comes to crisis management.

Asher believes that the way to solve it is by sensitizing the different internal teams (legal, PR, etc.) on the importance of responding quickly on social media.

This is something social media professionals we spoke to agreed with. For example, Bajaj was of the opinion that in such cases, an active approach from the brand is crucial.

“Acknowledging the issue and being as transparent as possible, really helps in safeguarding consumer trust.

Taking ownership and ensuring a corrective action can even turn the upset consumers into brand loyalists,” he added.

Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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COLUMN ARNAV GHOSH

Regional Director, Blippar India

Augmented reality today

Powerful tool or misconception?

AR cannot evolve if its sold as a tech magic wand. It needs to be fed with simple but effective ideas 14 Pitch | June 2015

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uite possibly one of the most exciting aspects of 2015 is that it’s Back to the Future Part II year.

What seemed so far-fetched 30 years ago is . . . well, still mostly far-fetched, although we do have i-Pads, wearable technology, remote-controlled drones, and ’80s puffy vests that have come back in style.

But nothing seems futuristic more than the progression of augmented reality (AR). So what is augmented reality and why should content creators have their �inger on its pulse?

Augmented reality (AR), if simply put ,is augmenting a real world experience marrying the physical with the digital world.

And globally it is increasingly becoming the “real world visual

content channel”.

In India we have seen AR in different forms and shapes but ultimately it hasn’t set the stage on �ire because the meaning and relevance of AR has gotten lost in translation. AR cannot evolve if its sold as a tech magic wand. It needs to be fed with simple but effective ideas

which will enable it to create compelling and immersive engagement.

AR can be a very powerful tool but the real deal is how do we integrate it in consumer purchase funnel backed by a simple yet relevant idea.

Beyond using AR to build interactive content, the goal

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should be to use it as a content marketing channel. There is nothing more compelling and powerful when your product becomes your most potent media/content channel.

AR can be both , your physical as well as your visual browser, allowing you to connect real world with the digital world.

The sweet-spot is �inding that elusive powerful idea that will not only make youraudience wake up but also drive meaningful engagement .

AR has the potential to be the next mass media in Indiawith burgeoning penetration of smartphones ,increasing data bandwidth and mobile �irst digital ecosystem. But there is a dearth of imaginative content creators!

Brands will only see value in AR when smart ideas can create magic backed by great analytics.

It needs to be channelized into a behavioral platform much like when you tweet and search .

At Blippar we have had success globally because our relentless focus is to drive a behavior of “Blipping” versus

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restrict ourselves to just a AR platform. The fundamental pillar of creating a behavior is great content ideas . We turned a Coke can into a Juke box , created a always on demand recipe for Heinz , turned 2 billion pepsi cans into gaming cans, to name a few pathbreaking campaigns which have created global benchmarks. In India we are already creating waves with India’s �irst Interactive children’s comic book with Tinkle.

We have raised the bar globally by being the �irst platform to be on wearables (glass) and expanding AR to visual search (making real world objects like banana interactive) Nothing can be more valuable for a marketer when a consumer shares a piece of content from their interactive product with their digital world.

The share is more valuable then a mere like in the social world.

Brands will not buy technology but powerful enablers, which drives compelling measurable

engagement. The curve for AR remains the same, keep it simple, don’t do the obvious (no body will attach huge value to using AR APP to scan and watch a video) And possibly the big challenge of downloads remains the �inal frontier for any mobile led platform but I �irmly believe strong content hooks circumvent the download conundrum.

In India we have a long way to go – but the opportunity is huge .

Hence If you don’t have the technical chops, why not partner with a brilliant technological mind? The idea is that we, as content creators, have the chance to bring wonder and amazement back to content delivery through AR. This represents the �irst time since the dawn of moving pictures that we’ve been able to do so. Back to the Future Part II may not have been so far off after all. With companies like Blippar leading the way, suddenly Marty McFly’s future seems so antiquated.

Brands will only see value in AR when smart ideas can create magic backed by great analytics

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COVER STORY

Experts predict and dissect the FUTURE OF

MARKETING

18 Pitch | June 2015

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By Rashi Bisaria

T

he most important asset of any business today is the customer and the marketer is responsible for creating and maintaining a long lasting relationship with the customer through different innovative means. In a world that is increasingly going online, the role of the marketer has not only become more critical but also more challenging. The expectations have also increased manifold. The world for a marketing professional has changed drastically in the last ten years and the next ten years will determine how much the role needs to evolve. A young marketer will need to be intuitive about the future to know how to shape his career. New skills will need to be learnt. What worked in the past may not be suf�icient for the competitive times ahead. Agility and versatility will be highly valued qualities as the marketer dons new roles and performs different functions.

Pitch spoke to two key thought leaders to understand their perception about the changing marketing landscape. Chief Marketing Of�icer for MasterCard, Worldwide Raja Rajamannar comes with a rich, global perspective. With an

AGILITY AND VERSATILITY WILL BE HIGHLY VALUED QUALITIES AS THE MARKETER DONS NEW ROLES AND PERFORMS DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS extensive background in the payments industry, and proven global marketing expertise he has a bird’s eye view of the �ield. Before joining MasterCard Rajamannar served as Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation Of�icer at WellPoint Inc. His insights and predictions about the future have a grip on reality. They emerge from the standpoint of a person who has a diverse, multi-cultural experience.

Anisha Motwani, Chief Marketing Of�icer, Max Life Insurance is a strategic thinker and problem solver. She is known to be very customer-centric in her approach. She has a keen interest in consumer behaviour, consumer trends and insights. She has a diversi�ied experience across advertising, automobile and �inancial services industries. In addition to her career milestones, she has also founded marketingbuzzar.com, a community of passionate professionals in the marketing �ield which aims at solving complex business problems. Her real world experience and unique knack for problem solving give her the wherewithal to paint a realistic picture of the future of marketing.

Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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COVER STORY

Raja Rajamannar CMO, MasterCard

“Marketers will need to be data- driven in their decision making”

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COVER STORY

MARKETING WILL BECOME A GENERAL MANAGEMENT FUNCTION What is the marketing landscape going to look like five years from now?

The next �ive years will be absolutely transformational for the marketing landscape, as it has been for the last �ive years to seven years when social media and the digital revolution happened.

Some of the very big things I see on the horizon are: a. The Internet of Everything – whether it is the refrigerator or your washing machine or any device in your home or your car , they will all be connected to the internet. This creates extraordinary possibility, but also presents a challenge for marketers to see how they can connect to consumers and engage them. b. Wearables- Wearables will become, if you were to apply the parlance of the Darwinian theory of evolution, the next evolution of mankind where now they have electronic gadgetry permanently �itted to them. For example, if

c.

you’re looking for the connected watches that are being launched as we speak by some of the top brands, these are to be worn day and night. So at night they measure certain things about you. During the day, they measure other things about you. The kind of information that is going to be available about consumers – their habits and their behavior; the kind of opportunity one will have to interact with the consumer is absolutely awesome.

The potential of Data- The Internet of Everything and the wearables together will create a huge amount of data that can give valuable insights. These insights will make a difference to the consumer by giving them the stuff they truly

care about, that matters to them; and at the same time, those are the things which will be viable and appropriate for a business or a marketer to engage with. I think that’s a huge new realm of possibility.

How do marketers leverage technology without becoming creepy or overstepping boundaries?

That’s a �ine balance to strike. It can pose a huge challenge especially when consumers are putting so much of their personal data into the public domain or at least a domain outside of themselves. As a marketer, you not only have unbelievable level of access to insights about consumers’ behavior and everything about them, you also

THE INTERNET OF EVERYTHING AND THE WEARABLES TOGETHER WILL CREATE A HUGE AMOUNT OF DATA THAT CAN GIVE VALUABLE INSIGHTS Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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COVER STORY have this incredible responsibility that is put on you as a marketer to make sure you are accessing only the data that the consumer wants you to access; use it in the way he has given you permission to use and make sure, from a greater perspective, that you are not overstepping or compromising consumers’ privacy.

It’s a very delicate balance and some parts of the world ike Europe, are much more advanced in looking at this.

Other countries are just sort of coming up the curve. But the reality is, a few years down the line, data security and consumer privacy are going to be really delicate and sensitive areas which have to be managed extremely prudently, cautiously and responsibly.

Do you think the CMO’s prominence and importance will continue to grow over the next five years?

I believe that the CMO’s role will become more critical. If you look at the landscape of corporations, the amount of competition that is out there and the way it is ramping up even further for consumers’ business and their attention, is incredible. It’s

WE ARE LOOKING AT MARKETERS WHO UNDERSTAND DATA AND ARE HEAVILY DATA DRIVEN IN THEIR DECISION MAKING

literally brutal. So CEOs of companies are really trying to stay ahead of the game. They’re accountable to their stockholders or stakeholders, and staying ahead of the game with the consumers and generating pro�its is going to be very critical. Marketing, increasingly,will be the function if it’s not already.

Marketing is already way ahead of the game, and marketers are the drivers of the business – but that’s not really prevalent in other parts of the ecosystem or in other industries.

But that I think is going to change

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dramatically. I already see that in the last few years that shift has happened pretty dramatically when quarter after quarter the CEO has had to deliver to the street or the stakeholders – and the marketers are really the ones who will be able to show and make that happen for the CEO. The other aspect is that as far as the CMO role is concerned – the accountability of the CMO to demonstrate the value that is being generated, is very much there. That’s going to be increasingly demanded by the rest of the company or the

corporation – the CEO or CFO. So marketing ROI will be in focus and marketing will be more about business building than brand building.

These are some of the concepts which will start taking deeper root if they have not done so already, across the entire spectrum of companies.

What kind of professionals will be required in the marketing team?

The pro�ile of marketers has already started to change. In the good old days, till about �ive years back, you would look for people who were classically trained in marketing. But increasingly what you are looking for are marketers who are much more like general managers. You are looking at professionals who understand �inance, technology and business quite well. They are contemporary marketers , which

COVER STORY

AUTHENTICITY AND TRUTH ARE ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL means they are heavily into and have a complete grasp of social marketing; digital marketing; customer experience design. They leverage the digital and other capabilities available now.

We are looking at marketers who understand data and are heavily data driven in their decision making. We are looking at professionals who have these multi-lateral talents .Marketing, going forward, will be much more a general management function as opposed to just a subject matter function.

Can you define customer engagement? How important is that for you?

In a B to B or B to C marketing scenario, the end user typically is

a human being and therefore, the necessity for companies to engage with people, will be of increasing prominence as we move forward.

There are many things that are competing for the attention of consumers and therefore it becomes very critical to �irst, draw their attention and then to engage them effectively . One needs to in�luence them so that they purchase your product and �inally, to stay with your product, your brand and become an advocate for your brand.

If you look at the entire consumer lifecycle this is how it’s going to look and it’s imperative for corporations or for brands to engage with consumers across all these stages. The key point will be to have a signi�icant level of engagement with the consumer at

any of these stages, and not let the chain of connection break between the consumer and the brand. That could be disastrous for the brand. So consumer engagement will be very critical.

Here we are not talking about the traditional CRM which was much more about a contact management tool . This is much more intimate, much more regular, much more continuous and across different life stages of the consumer experience. This will be very critical.

How important will truth be for a marketer?

If you look at marketers as snake oil salesmen, then of course you’re talking about a different kind of scenario. This is not the age or time for you to peddle snake oil. Authenticity and truth are absolutely critical.

I look at truth in two different ways.

One is, having a deep understanding of the truth behind human behavior.

What is the truth that is unique, that is inside people, that is actionable in the context of your brand that you’re offering to the consumer? Unless you tap into the truth you aren’t going to connect with the consumer.

On the other hand, truth is as follows: As a brand, are you authentic, are you truthful or are you putting on a façade and consumers suspect that you are there to take advantage of them or you are peddling something they don’t need. That’s so ancient. That’s not a concept you can survive on today. And from that point , if you interpret truth as authenticity, both these are mission critical for the success of any brand.

Brands which have been thriving for decades are essentially authentic brands with a clear identity. In the minds of consumers, they have created the right kind of image, tonality and personality , and established that longstanding connection with them.

Affection for the brand has been created. Without truth on either side –on the brand authenticity side or on the consumers’ side, their behavior and the truths that are deeply embedded in Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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COVER STORY

THE FUTURE MARKETER WOULD BE A GENERAL MANAGER WHO IS MULTI-TALENTED, MULTI-FACETED AND HIGHLY VERSATILE their psyche – you will never be able to succeed. It forms the basis for the relationship. It forms the basis for the engagement.

What new skill will the marketer of tomorrow need?

What do you look for?

Given that there is a signi�icant con�luence between marketing and communications, between marketing and technology, between marketing and data, between marketing and sales, marketing and innovation, what you require are multi-talented and versatile people.

They would need to understand marketing in the classical sense, but they would also have to be adaptable in the contemporary and futuristic environment where digital, data, social media, behavioral economics are evolving within and around marketing. Secondly, they would need to understand �inance.

They would need to understand the business because CEOs are demanding marketing to justify the investment and to prove that the investment that’s being made is actually going to pay off. They need to make sure the business is being driven by marketing and contributing

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to its growth. So marketers need to understand the levers of the business.

Then there is technology to be taken into account. There are many CMOs whose technology budget is actually more than the technology budget of many CEOs of those same organizations. Do the marketers understand what kind of technological advancements are happening? What kind of intricacies are involved and the investments being made in technology. How do technology and marketing interface and interact?

I would say that the future marketer would be much more a general manager who is multi-talented, multifaceted and highly versatile. He should look at himself or herself primarily as a business manager operating from a vantage point of marketing as opposed to a marketing person who is specialized only in that area.

They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. In your view, is that also true for marketing? What will not change and why?

I’ll answer with an example of The Priceless campaign we created 18 years back. When it was created, the world was a different place. There

was no social. There was no sign of a digital revolution. Now everything has changed. Consumer behaviors have changed, the channels and the media consumption habits have changed but Priceless has more or less retained its core values. The expression might have evolved. But marketing and the whole campaign itself has been resonating brilliantly with consumers for 18 years.

Now why is that happening? That’s because the core principles remain the same, and that’s where human behavior comes in. The cultural context may change. The nuances of how they manifest might change but the core remains the same. That’s the beauty of it. If you understand the core, the real truth in terms of the consumers psyche, then it’s a question of adapting it to suit everything else in the ecosystem that’s changing. Priceless is a classic example. At that time, we had created quite a revolutionary way of thinking.

The whole campaign was very counterintuitive and we stood apart from everything else. Today, we have evolved Priceless into a much more holistic marketing platform than just an advertising platform. What we have done is that we have adapted it to the current scenario. We asked ourselves, if ‘Pricelessness’ can be infused into all the four pillars of marketing how would that actually manifest itself?

How would we make it attainable?

From celebrating Priceless moments in the past we have moved to creating and enabling Priceless experiences for consumers. The digital capabilities today allow you to do it at scale and in an economically viable fashion. We have Priceless Surprises, Priceless Causes, Priceless Cities. Each one of these platforms brings Priceless to life in a unique manner to consumers.

The point being that the truth and the core principles have been the same, the manifestation changes depending on how the environment is changing .

MasterCard is a classic example.

Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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COVER STORY

Anisha Motwani

Chief Marketing Officer, Max Life Insurance

“Marketers will have to work harder to retain customers as loyalty takes a nosedive”

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A STRONGHOLD ON ANALYTICS AND BIG DATA ARE THE NEW SKILLS IN DEMAND

COVER STORY

What is the marketing landscape going to look like five years from now?

The Marketing output will become more perishable �ive years hence as product life cycles shrink, consumer preferences change faster and consumers get bored sooner.

Marketers will have to work much harder to bring out new products and services, faster to market. The annual marketing calendar will be far more full and bursting with activity.

Campaigns will become shorter...both in time taken to produce and in their shelf life. Marketers will also have to work harder to retain customers as loyalty in most categories takes a nosedive. The in�luence of digital innovation already has and will have a much stronger in�luence on marketing initiatives.

Do you think the CMO’s importance will continue to grow over the next five years?

As more and more product and service categories become available online, the ecommerce platform creates a more neutral �ield for many players. However, the adverse consequence of it is that companies have more competition from more unexpected places and will have to �ight harder than ever, to get preferred and picked from the large platter.

The CMO’s role in shaping brands that stand out and have features and bene�its that make consumers opt for them, will be more imperative than ever.

On the other hand, in some organisations, the CMO’s role could become less prominent as every employee becomes a touchpoint and an experience generator for consumers on the Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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COVER STORY brand. In these cases, every employee is a marketer, and instead of the CMO, the CEO could act as a shepherd, leading and guiding them all, on the way they should come across to customers and prospects.

What kind of professionals will be required in the marketing team?

People who are skilled in multi-screen marketing will be needed. Those who dabble in marketing automation and programmatic as easily as consumer research and media planning will be in demand. To handle consumers who will be mobile natives and digital natives, professionals who are well versed to create strong hooks in these channels, will be very much required. However some skills from the old marketing world would still be very much in demand. Such as the ability to translate ideas into great communication, the ability to anticipate the tipping point of a trend, the ability to decode all the inhouse product and process complexity and distill it down to simple bene�its for the consumer. And last but not the least, the ability to effectively manage costs and budgets to pull off the targets set for the year.

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How important will truth be for a marketer?

It is very important now, more than ever. With lies and shallow practices getting exposed and quickly escalating into national and global negative publicity for brands, it is imperative that marketing drives the truth. Not only to customers, but �irst within the company. When we talk about life insurance, we as a brand, �ind truth so relevant to our category, that we have made it part of our company’s mission statement - to be an honest life insurance company. We are a brand that seeks to be truthful and transparent to customers through our products, services and processes.

Can you define customer engagement? How important is that for you?

What new skill will the marketer of tomorrow need? What do you look for?

I would de�ine it as the ability to create genuine and fruitful interactions with customers, in order to offer them something of value. In our company, we engage with customers through various channelsdigital, mobile, on-ground, our own branches, banks and oneon-one with customers, in order to raise their understanding about various aspects of life insuranceWhy they need, how should they go about choosing one, what is the best �it with their life stage, how should they manage the policy once bought, how to know when it’s time to re-assess their �inancial needs and how we can help

A stronghold on analytics and big data are the new skills we are looking for. We need someone who is well versed and keen to use customer data to identify new opportunities to delight customers and help us increase loyalty and sales.

WE, AS A BRAND, FIND TRUTH SO RELEVANT TO OUR CATEGORY, THAT WE HAVE MADE IT PART OF OUR COMPANY’S MISSION STATEMENT 28 Pitch | June 2015

them in times of claim or maturity of their policy. At Max Life, we also go beyond life insurance to offer �inancial scholarships and skill nurturing opportunities to talented children via our i-genius programme.

They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. In your view, is that also true for marketing? What will not change and why?

The next 2-3 decades will be very different for marketing, as compared to the past, for all the reasons listed above. However certain ground rules will remain sacrosanct, such as the ability of a marketer to �ind the right consumer insight, the power of emotions in lifting and building brands in categories where the same is relevant or the ability of marketing and companies to offer solutions that genuinely plug a gap in consumers’ lives.

COVER STORY

If You Did Real Marketing in Real Estate Digital Marketing campaign of the year

Advertising Agency of the year PR Firm of the Year for Real Estate

Innovative Marketing Concept of the Year

Consumer Connect Initiative

OOH Marketing campaign of the year

Television campaign of the year Print campaign of the year For Mumbai entries, please contact: Aditya Raina: (West) | +91 7710841752 | aditya.raina@exchange4media.com

For Delhi entries, please contact: Priyanka Sood: (West) | +91 9920273996 | priyanka.sood@exchange4media.com

For Bangalore entries please contact:

Prashant Kulkarni | +91 9886166349 | prashant.kulkarni@exchange4media.com

Kitchen Partner

Radio campaign of the year For Sponsorship please contact: MUMBAI & KOLKATA: Tripti Kedia | 9820010226 | tripti@exchange4media.com Navin. V | 9975092516 | navin.v@exchange4media.com NEW DELHI: Partha Ganguly | 9873859916 | partha.ganguly@exchange4media.com Varun Verma | 9818769850 | varun.verma@exchange4media.com BANGALORE: Sneha Walke | 9845541143 | sneha@exchange4media.com Prashant Kulkarni | +91 9886166349 | prashant.kulkarni@exchange4media.com

Magazine Partners

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http://www.realtyplusmag.com or http://rp-awards.com

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Pushkar Jain

Head-Brand Marketing, TATA, Teleservices Ltd.

Deconstructing Tata DoComo’s winning campaign Tata Docomo has made a habit of creating humorous and entertaining advertisements that make an instant connect with audiences. The ‘Bhalai Ki Supply’ campaign, launched last year has not only earned the brand consumer mindshare but also the biggest haul of metals at the Goa Festival.

It won five awards at the Abbys this year. The ad films showcase Tata Docomo’s voice and data plans, driving home the point in a witty manner. Pushkar Jain, Head-Brand Marketing, Tata Teleservices Ltd spoke to Rashi Bisaria to deconstruct the campaign. He explains what makes the campaign tick and how it appeals to the millennials.

Rashi Bisaria: Give us a brief overview

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of your campaign ‘Bhalai ki Supply Pushkar Jain: As social media and chat platforms explode, internet as a medium of sharing or communicating is becoming more important especially for today’s youth. The ‘Bhalai Ki Supply’ campaign was simply our way of recognizing the importance of this life reality and offer products that enable the youth to carry on doing the good thing.

Creatively, the campaign dialled up this social drama into an interesting visual and oral landscape. There are �ive TVCs, while one of the ads shows the cries for attention for a sel�ie queen, the other reveals the dance of slavery by a boardroom executive.

The third one shows the agony of an MBA graduate forced to endure the sti�ling angst of running his family’s monotonous business. The fourth

CUTTING EDGE

one tags the act of clicking a sel�ie and keeping to one-self without sharing as an almost-criminal act of ‘sel�ie-shness’. The �ifth one almost summarizes the campaign saying sharing and spreading the goodness is a full-time job and one should not stop at anything.

Coupled with this was the bid to evolve the oral landscape of the brand - a fundamentally new creative tone captures the syllables in which the ‘youth’ of today talks. This voice has a distinct ‘earthiness’ to it. It is colloquial, yet trendy and fashionable.

It is an amalgamation of the wit of the brand delivered in the times we live in. Phrases like “atmake armpits tak tapakta pasina”, “ek like toh de do baba” – brought lingering smiles and a unique brand language as an asset.

What was the idea behind launching the campaign?

The ‘Bhalai ki Supply’ campaign is built on the idea that sharing either through Data or Voice is not just an act of passing something on: its end impact is much larger than the sender could have envisioned. For example, a simple ‘Like’ can boost the selfesteem of someone who has posted a sel�ie on facebook. A nonsensical, gossip-�illed call can provide a window of respite to someone stuck in a mundane job.

The campaign puts forward this simple truth in a mock-altruistic tone and drives home the point that this seemingly innocuous behavior of sharing jokes, videos and memes on internet is an act of greater good (Bhalai). And with TATA Docomo’s generous data and voice plans, there’s no reason why one should hesitate to ‘Open up’ and ‘Keep doing the good thing’ (Chaloo rakho Bhalai Ki Supply).

The ad campaign derives insights from a recent research which suggests that 60 per cent of India’s Gen Y population subconsciously or compulsively checks their

smartphones for emails, texts or social media updates .

Who were your target audience and what was their reaction to the campaign?

As Tata Docomo has established itself as a youth-centric brand, the ‘Bhalai ki Supply’ campaign was primarily targeted at the millennials of our country. They have been the key consumers of mobile data and the TVCs precisely capture their outlook and attitude through different, exaggerated but real-life common situations.

Our Facebook/Youtube pages are

THE ‘BHALAI KI SUPPLY’ CAMPAIGN IS BUILT ON THE IDEA THAT SHARING EITHER THROUGH DATA OR VOICE IS NOT JUST AN ACT OF PASSING SOMETHING ON, ITS END IMPACT IS MUCH LARGER

�looded with positive comments and appreciation from the millennials. They adore the TVCs as they can relate to them to a large extent. They are absolutely in love with the new lingo of the brand and the idea of ‘Bhalai ki supply’. The lingo of “insaan hi insaan ke kaam aata hai”, “ppt ki seeti par chamchamm naach raha hai”, “sel�ie kheechi aur share nahi ki – kitne sel�ieesh hain aaap”,has struck the right chord with them, to the extent that the phrase “chalu rakhho Bhalai ki Supply” has become a part of their daily coffee table conversations.

What was the brief given to the creative agency?

Backed by a set of innovative products with generous loading of

data, our creative agency partner Contract Advertising, was briefed to come up with a sharp, yet relevant life expression that �its in �luently with the product offer. The �inal creative expression is riding on multiple cultural trends and a core human insight. At one end is the ‘colloquial, cool’ lingo and at the other end it is picking up a variety of insights on the extended online lives of the youth today. But the list does not stop there, the campaign also builds on the core and eternal human insight of how a joke, a poke, a message from another fellow human being can be a source of joy, happiness, smiles.

What kind of an overall response did the campaign receive?

The campaign was not only loved by the audience it was targeted at, but it has gained traction with older audiences too. What gives me most satisfaction is the phrase ‘chalu rakho bhalai ki supply’ gaining organic traction on social media, becoming a short hand for online sharing.

The ad series was ampli�ied through outdoor media and point of sale merchandise where we received much appreciation. It also received positive feedback in the digital space amongst Tata Docomo’s 14 million-strong online community.

The ad series has been highly successful and much loved since the �irst ad was aired, till date.

How has it helped to enhance mindshare of the brand?

Six months into the campaign all brand and business KPIs have shown tremendous impact. The campaign has really worked well and within such a short span of time it is becoming a part of popular culture. The new lingo brings a smile and con�irms the notion that advertising doesn’t always mirror how people are acting but how they’re dreaming. The external recognition has just started �lowing in with the ad being rated as one of the top 10 ads for 2014 by Brand Equity and 5 awards at the ABBYs. Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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INTERVIEW

Being visible on video streaming channels opens your brand up to new audiences

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Video has become a large part of content marketing today but are marketers making the most of the opportunity? How has the consumer evolved and how have his habits changed over time? TO THE NEW Digital, an internet products and solutions company has been handling clients like Viacom 18, Sony among others and catering to their content needs.

Rashi Bisaria spoke to Akhil Kakroo, VP, Content Services, To The New Digital, to know more about how marketers can exploit the full potential of online videos and what must be kept in mind while doing so. Edited excerpts:

INTERVIEW

Rashi Bisaria: What is the current

scenario of video content used by brands? Do you think brands are exploiting the full potential of video?

Akhil Kakroo: Video content is growing rapidly, but it is still at a nascent stage. Although, brands have started analyzing the potential of video content in context to ROI, they are still not exploiting the full potential of videos. Today, the online consumer is transitioning from reading text to clicking online videos. With minimal efforts, videos are being consumed more quickly by the end consumer.

With this evolution, marketers have started using it as a new age communication tool.

What is the best way to use video in your marketing strategy?

In the contemporary digital landscape, videos emerge as a very crucial component of a brand’s marketing strategy. To make optimal use of the videos, these simple practices can be followed: 1. Create videos that engage 2. Follow cross channel promotion 3. Promote videos on YouTube 4. Market videos on Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms

Can you share some of the ways (examples) in which you used video for your clients?

Categorization of Video Content to increase traf�ic on the Website (BoxTV) BoxTV engaged TO THE NEW to upload video content with proper metadata that helped in organizing the content and provided easy discoverability by new audiences.

We created time coded metadata to provide �lexibility to create chapters and scenes without having to edit the video. We helped BoxTV improve categorization and search ability using better tags and keywords insertion thereby increasing website traf�ic.

IN THE CONTEMPORARY DIGITAL LANDSCAPE, VIDEOS EMERGE AS A VERY CRUCIAL COMPONENT OF A BRAND’S MARKETING STRATEGY.

It introduced categorization by creating time-coded metadata that would facilitate chapter and scene creation with video editing. Box TV also wanted to increase website traf�ic by uploading videos, creating and managing relevant metadata.

Sony Entertainment Television engaged TO THE NEW to provide an end-to-end solution to publish their Hindi shows on YouTube with an aim to increase audience reach and viewership/subscribers, simultaneously increasing its organic YouTube search performance. Within a period of 3 months, 1500 hrs of content was processed. TO THE NEW helped Sony create and maintain their YouTube Channel along with customer support. TO THE NEW also provided better user engagement through compilation packages such as best moments of stand-up comics and weekly cut-downs of daily soaps.

What should marketers keep in mind when using video in their

content marketing strategy?

Before incorporating videos in the content strategies, marketers should clearly de�ine target audience, target markets, platforms, video metrics and ROI expected from video campaigns.

Marketers must stress on creating custom SEO videos by embedding best-in-class search and discovery tools (including metadata, keywords, tags and transcripts).

There must be a meticulously planned video distribution strategy, ensuring a seamless distribution of video content to relevant target audience via various social media channels. Videos should also be embedded with social sharing functionalities and customized call to actions in the form of overlays, annotations, linear messaging or branding features.

Finally, distributed video content must be monitored and measured against de�ined goals and video metrics, thus implementing the learnings in real time. To help marketers effectively implement video marketing strategies, there are various digital video marketing agencies at play. They specialize in end-to-end digital video supply chain management with de�ined success parameters which will guide marketers to achieve desired goals.

Whatever be the case, video is the new “IN” thing and marketers can’t afford to lose this opportunity.

What kind of videos do well with audiences?

Entertainment, humorous, educational and self-help videos are most popular among audiences.

These types of videos are engaging the mass audience as there is a two way communication between the viewers and the video publisher. Moreover, these days missing any episode of your favorite show is no more a disappointment, as one can watch that particular episode online.

Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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COLUMN PRATEEK N KUMAR

CEO & Managing Director, NeoNiche

The key to creating consistent brand experiences across platforms

Brands have started looking for a more robust marketing mix, one which will interact with consumers in unbelievable ways at various touch points 34 Pitch | June 2015

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I

looked through my Flight’s Window to the melee below, restless as I had nothing better to do before I landed in Mumbai and resumed my life that I am accustomed to. The sky was clear from the top and I could see a panorama which is not visible from the Mumbai skyline due to the ever clinging smog. I was �lying down from Bangalore after a vague prospective client meeting earlier in the day. The brief was still ringing in my head and my mood was not of jubilation but one of despair. I had taken the early morning “Red Eye” �light to be briefed that the company had some extra marketing dollar left and we were to do “Something in Social Media and digital front.”

Most of us are like that gentleman for whom marketing and creation

COLUMN

of brand experience is more of an afterthought than a strategy.

The 80s and 90s were the decades when my generation was growing up attuned to song requests made on AIR by people from a nondescript town called “Jhumri Tilaya” and Lalitaji’s pearls of wisdom on which washing powder made our clothes look whiter or how a particular Scooter brand was creating stronger images of stronger India as it was hard to miss on Sunday morning television along with “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata”. We kept trying to save a particular character’s girlfriend in the name of Video games. Digital camera was still a distant dream to the ubiquitous Camera Rolls, X-Boxes and PlayStation were unheard of and life was about scarcity and limited choices.

But two decades later

Internet, Smart devices and Technology have created a world in which our generation and ones that followed saw a whole new world where globalization and technology advancement shaped the way we perceived and saw things like never before. This gave rise to a whole new breed of consumers. Consumption was no longer about available choices but getting what you wanted on your terms.

Brands have started looking for a more robust marketing mix, one which will interact with consumers in unbelievable ways at various touch points and across various media, allowing brands to come alive for the TG by creating connections between brand and consumer, in their personal world.

These connections should be formed by experiences that are personally unique but relevant to the consumer, it should be memorable for them, it should be interactive, and it should invoke emotion and lead to recall in a non-intrusive way.

New technologies have radically changed how the brand engages with consumers via multiple touch points such as websites, mobile apps, ads, social networks and various services. While this has created multiple channels for brands, what we overlook sometimes is that customers have high expectations of marketers to deliver experiences that are consistent on all platforms, and to complicate it further customers are more demanding than ever and expect to be able to choose freely when and how they interact with products and services.

The Omni-channel consumer looks for information across different sources simultaneously, whether it’s a mobile app or a website. It is critical that each part of the brand ecosystem should speak a similar language, delivering a consistent brand experience on a 24/7 basis across many touch points. Living the brand promise consistently, every day, across multiple markets and product lines is another challenge.

Adding more touch points to make the experience unique poses a great challenge because you need to integrate those points into the total experience and this poses a great challenge: Every time you add a touch point you raise expectations and increase areas where you may potentially fail to deliver.

Sometimes it’s better to be selective about the medium you chose. The brand needs to ask who am I talking to?, what “language” do they speak?, what platforms do they prefer?, what motivates them?

And what am I going to say?

As companies and organizations design for the larger user experience, it’s important to consider consistency across all channels.

Consistent experiences help users build trust with the organization. Each interaction is part of the overall user experience with a company.

If the user experience isn’t consistent across channels, users will question the organization’s credibility.

Remember that brand creation happens over time not overnight ……On that note, happy landing.

As companies and organisations design for the larger user experience, it’s important to consider consistency across all channels

Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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Retargeting The online advertising space is abuzz with the term ‘retargeting’.

It has become an integral part of the digital marketing strategies of brands. Finding people who have previously visited your site has become easier with advancements in advertising technology. Finding the right audiences has become more convenient. Not only are e-commerce brands taking to this trend in a big way but other retailers too are making the most of the opportunity.

FACTS ABOUT RETARGETING 1. Right ad at the right time delivered to the right person, is key 2. To identify the right audience, a large amount of data is necessary 3. The three types of Retargeting are Creative retargeting, Site retargeting and Search retargeting

FACTS ABOUT CRITEO • It maintains a direct relationship with clients • Criteo’s ad network reaches 1.1 billion users, second only to Google (Comscore data) • It’s value proposition is to drive ROI • It offers a cross-device system that can be used across publishers • Criteo makes ROI transparent and easy to measure

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INTERVIEW: YUKO SAITO

Managing Director, Criteo, Southeast Asia

How sophisticated predictive technology meets demands of advertisers Rashi Bisaria: Put simply, what does Criteo do?

Yuko Saito: We specialise in dynamic retargeting. This is synchronised retargeting. We are a huge data company that collects lots of information about users and their online behaviour. Based on predictive analysis we create personalised ads. This means we target users with information they are looking for.

Rashi: What is the kind of technology you use?

Yuko: We have the Recommendation engine and a Prediction engine. Through the Prediction engine we are able to track user behaviour and since we work with multiple publishers, we know which users are likely to convert and their preferences for products. Based on all this information, the engine decides and cherry picks the best users and best placements to deliver the best performance. Then there is the Dynamic Creative. Once the engine determines which users to show the banners to and what message to show on the banner,

it is dynamically rated on the �ly, in a second. The beauty of it is that by taking in as much data as possible, the engine decides what is best by itself. As it learns over time, the recommendations and decisions by the engine get better.

Based on these three combinations we are able to deliver better and achieve better conversion.

Rashi: Can you share what kind of clients you have?

Yuko Saito: Aigle, a globally wellknown outdoor wear company is one of our clients. After we started working together, Aigle’s client base has risen by 25 per cent. We also have Acommerce, a Thailand-based end-to-end ecommerce enabler, providing a wide range of services from performance marketing, advertising, email marketing, websites and IT systems, logistics, and customer services. We helped them achieve an 84 per cent drop in their Cost per Acquisition (CPA). They also saw an increase in revenue by eight times.

Most of our clients are from the e-commerce sector especially e-tailers, online travel or classi�ieds.

Rashi : In India, how many brands are you working with and what kind

Browsing an ecommerc e site has become a na tional pastime but 98 in India leave the site per cent of the visitors without making a transa ction. This phenomen of concepts such as Re on has led to the rise targeting or Performan ce Display which are to be effective in bring catching on fast, provin ing customers back. Cri g teo, the performance that has its roots in Fra advertising organisatio nce has been perfecti n ng its cost-per-click mo transparent and easy del, making ROI to measure since its inc eption in 2005. It me on post-click sales. So asures value purely phisticated predictive technology which pro of rich purchase-inten cesses a vast amount t data in real time he lps the company delive personalised ads. On r dynamically-created one of her visits to Ind ia, the Managing Direct Asia, Yuko Saito, spo or of Criteo, Southeas ke to Rashi Bisaria ab t out how Criteo meets advertisers, making its the needs of demand results do the talking. ing Edited excerpts:

of penetration have you had till now?

Yuko: India is still a relatively new market for us but we do have about twenty clients currently and we do work with some of the leading companies. Traditionally, we have been dealing with travel because India’s travel market is on a surer footing than ecommerce. We are working with some international clients like Expedia. Travel sites have been very important clients for us. Within travel there can be many streams. It could be an online travel agency focusing on �lights or hotels. We also work with airline, railways, cruise packages which are all very different and unique.

Different categories within travel also have different information that is important to users. We have a wide ranging experience and make sure that all aspects are covered.

Rashi: Can you name some of the publishers you are working with?

Yuko: We are working with players like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Adnexus by Microsoft, etc. which have huge ad platforms. It’s almost like trading stock exchange, but in this case it is trading advertising

inventory. The different publishers have many pages and the top page matters the most for companies to put up their advertising. Top media players attach more value to this. Media has a lot of remnant inventory.

The inventory, which they cannot sell or is not top page worthy, is usually thrown into the net exchange and is put up for bidding, where the highest bidder gets the information. Criteo is one of the largest writers of the different Ad exchanges.

We also work with local, dedicated people who develop a direct relationship with local publishers. We are currently working with a set of publishers to get direct access and priority before they send it to ad exchanges. This way we get a little more priority and deliver better quality.

Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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INTERVIEW

How Bajaj Allianz creates brand awareness As a leading Non-Bank promoted Private Life Insurance brand, with substantially high consumer awareness scores and consideration scores, Bajaj Allianz has found a place of its own among the numerous insurance players in the market. As per the Annual Brand Track Research, they have maintained their position among private players by having a brand awareness of 79%, while consideration is highest amongst Non-Bank promoted Private Life Insurance brands. Rashi Bisaria caught up with Ranjan Dutt, Associate Vice President, Marketing, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance to find out how the company had earned the confidence of consumers and about its plans for the future. Edited excerpts: 38 Pitch | June 2015

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Rashi Bisaria: You are one of India’s top

5 insurance companies. Where do you want to go from here? What are the brand’s aspirations?

Ranjan Dutt: We saw exponential growth in the �irst decade of insurance industry liberalization. Backed by innovative products and aggressive expansion of distribution, the life insurance industry grew at jet speed. However, this frenzied growth also brought in its wake, issues related to product design, market conduct, complaints of management and the necessity to make course correction for the long term health of the industry.

Regulatory changes were introduced during the past two years and life insurance companies adopted many new customer-centric practices in this period. Product-related changes, �irst in ULIPs (Unit Linked Insurance Plans) in September 2011 and now in traditional

products, have had a big impact on the industry. It is time to re-commit to customer-centric behaviour, product solutions based on consumer needs, ethical market conduct, transparency and governance. Our Company Vision is “to the best Life Insurance Company to buy from, work for and invest in”.

Behind the Bajaj Allianz brand stands a company that represents strong �inancial performances, sound investments, digital innovation, quality products, tailored services, and an employer of choice.

These are the cornerstones on which the success of the company has been built.

Our brand is a re�lection of that success and a testament of its dedication to its customers and employees.

What is the company’s vision?

Please elaborate.

Bajaj Allianz Life’s vision is to be the

INTERVIEW

best company to buy from, work for and invest in.

Some relevant aspects of the company strategy this year, in support of this overall aspiration are as under: a) Work towards making our Agency channel best in class – This year, we are working on increasing our agent and Sales Manager recruitment, popularize use of Digital Agency through our ‘Wave’ mobile application & strengthening Agency in metros and other cities with lower market share b) Developing new business procurement channels for growth besides Web sales, Broking and Direct Marketing channels to develop more

3.9 percent in India, as against world average of 6.3 percent. The level of insurance penetration depends on a large number of factors like the level of economic development of the country, extent of household savings in �inancial instruments and the size and reach of the insurance sector. The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has taken various steps to ensure an increase in penetration which include bringing in more transparency in the industry through monitoring of consumer-related aspects, such as market conduct, consumer education and creation of an integrated platform for redressal of customer grievances.

Simple and affordable products will play an important role in increasing penetration.”

‘family protection and future’. These 2 statements remain true even to date.

With a functional tagline message and saving tax as a focal point, Bajaj Allianz Life used mass media advertising to speak to its universe of users/non users. In 2003, the logo saw a shift, from Allianz Bajaj to Bajaj Allianz. In 2005, the Brand’s �irst tagline came into existence and communication - ‘Jaisi Zaroorat Waisa Insurance’. This functional message continued for a couple of years in communication. Introducing its brand mascot ‘Super Agent’ around the year 2007 and marketing him in communication for close to 5 years, the brand helped create a valuable brand recall asset. This animated brand mascot represented an honest, knowledgeable, helpful agent of the Company and till

BAJAJ ALLIANZ LIFE’S VISION IS TO BE THE BEST COMPANY TO BUY FROM, WORK FOR AND INVEST IN retail distribution capability c) Working towards Best in class Quality of business i.e. improve persistence, reduce number of complaints and early claims ratio d) Build a portfolio of best in class products – by launching different products based on targeted customer segments & channels, launch marketing campaigns to enhance customer awareness, Market insight based product development & different product combinations to enhance agents’ earnings and activity

Why is insurance penetration in India so low?

Insurance penetration is de�ined as the ratio of premium underwritten in a given year to gross domestic product (GDP). The penetration for the insurance sector as a whole in the year 2013 was

Every brand wants to be called different. How would you differentiate your offerings?

Our tagline is “Jiyo Be�ikar” and we strive to ensure that our customers can live a worry free life. Trust is at our core. Trusted Partner is our positioning.

Our values guide us to create the best system which enables us to deliver on our promises and be the trusted partner when it comes to Life Insurance and investments.

How has marketing helped the brand over the years?

In our formative years, Marketing was essential, to educate the masses of the Brand’s portfolio and how its offering was adding value to a customer’s life.

Life Insurance was eating into the same consumer-wallet and yes, there was a need to create a wallet-share towards

date he remains one of our most recalled brand elements. The LI category evolved from basic function messaging to building an emotional connect … the same was seen with Bajaj Allianz Life launching its new tagline … “Jiyo Be�ikar” brand campaign of 2009. Our core positioning today is to be a brand that enables worry free living. This concept could only be driven through marketing activities, partnering and associating with high ticket, high impact properties. Over the years and with category challenges, it is the face of a brand that has become most relevant, boosted by activation events and relevant sponsorship platforms the Brand reached out to its users/ prospects.

How are your marketing spends distributed across the media ?

Of the Total Life Insurance Category spends (including LIC) from April 2011

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39

INTERVIEW

to January 2015, Bajaj Allianz Life’s spends contribution was 6.6% of the total category spends of INR 17,736 Mn. Our average spends on TV for this 4 year period are close to 49%, followed by Print which is 31% and then Outdoor which is close to 20%.

TV is the dominant media used for communication in life insurance category. Over the years this medium has seen a dip in spends. However the market has seen brands exploring newer mediums of advertising (like Activation, Cable TV/Direct to Home TV, Digital, Mobile and Cinema). At Bajaj Allianz Life, we too have consciously tried to adapt these newer mediums and are also looking at Radio in the coming years. Print is well accepted by category players as it enables leisure and longer reading time.

Bajaj Allianz Life’s print usage leans towards use of regional language newspapers that reach Semi-Metro, Tier 1, 2 & 3 markets. 70 per cent of Bajaj Allianz Life print is spread across 10 regional languages. Radio Spends have been negligible for us in the last few years but we may explore that option going forward.

How important is digital for a category like Insurance? How have you used digital especially social media marketing?

There are 243 million internet users in India and the total number of users is expected to increase to 500 million by 2018. According to a study

by AC Nielsen and AbsolutData, nearly 40 million Indians use online reviews to tell others about their purchase decisions. Further, 67 per cent Indians who are on the web read online reviews before big purchases. One fourth of India’s online consumers are aware of brands and companies having a digital presence. Today’s consumer has the freedom to post his or her grievance

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THERE IS A WORRYING TREND OF LARGER PORTIONS OF HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS GETTING INTO NON-PRODUCTIVE PHYSICAL ASSETS SUCH AS REAL ESTATE AND GOLD.

on social media, online forums or blogs. Companies that are concerned about their brand image will track their customer’s comments. The reason is simple. A satis�ied customer will spread positive words about its products/ services, in�luencing others, while an unhappy customer can damage its brand by criticising it publicly. We use Digital as a medium for creating Insurance Awareness, spreading �inancial literacy, also listen to our customer’s feedback about our products and services, share advantages about our products and also engage prospects in a fun and entertaining manner.

How has the consumer evolved?

Several economists have shown that consumers tend to mobilize personal perceptions and ideas when they are in the purchase decision phase.

Across products, a majority of the potential customers are entering the market for the �irst time. This is great news for marketers, since it signi�ies an expanding market, which will get even bigger as current owners replace or upgrade what they have. Buying behaviour of Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) consumers who have an average household income below Rs.1 lac a year has also changed thanks to the impact of government schemes.

The segment, however, still remains largely untapped, and local in�luencers seem to determine the purchasing habits when it comes to the BoP segment in small cities.

Who is your target audience in 2015?

In India, the problem lies in household savings lying idle or getting invested in saving instruments that do not help them achieve their life stage goals.

There is a worrying trend of larger portions of household savings getting into non-productive physical assets such as real estate and gold. Life insurance is a big savings vehicle along with banking in our country. Our target audience would largely remain the same, largely male centric, Rurban (Rural + Urban), aged 25 – 45, income bracket 1.5 lac p.a. onwards.

What are your plans for 2015?

We plan to strengthen our communication around the tagline “Jiyo Be�ikar” and besides the customary product related marketing, look at engaging our customers and prospects with messaging that is common across all platforms - on ground, ATL as well as digital.

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41

FEATURE

Brands are gravitating to video across all screens, especially mobile

By Ankur Singh

A

cross the globe, people are using mobile devices and adopting visual language to communicate.

As a result, video consumption is skyrocketing, particularly in high-growth regions.

People everywhere are embracing visual communication formats, like video, at a staggering rate. More than 50 per cent of people on Facebook in the UK, Brazil, South Korea, Singapore, Israel and the UAE watch a video every day. According to the social networking site, in Asia-Paci�ic people are spending more time creating and consuming videos, including ads. In fact, in just one year, the number of video posts created

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per person on Facebook increased 75 per cent globally, 52 per cent in Australia, 36 per cent in South Korea and 138 per cent in the United Arab Emirates. People in the Middle East now consume more video per person than any other region in the world.

No boundaries Commenting on the growth of video, Kirthiga Reddy, MD, Facebook India, said, “We are extremely optimistic about video and that is a sentiment that cuts across teams and geographies.

It’s pretty simple: people love video.

People have like to tell stories and video is a great way to do that. Brands are

also telling stories with sight, sound, and motion and naturally gravitating to video across all screens, especially mobile.”

As storytelling on Facebook has become more visual for both people and brands, the social networking site is continuing to invest in products that help photos and videos load quickly, play smoothly and require little bandwidth.

When asked what difference she sees in the usage and impact of video between India and other countries, she said, “In some ways, video usage is similar no matter where in the world you are and in some ways it’s

FEATURE

different. Because most video viewing on Facebook happens on mobile, �irst you have to look at the device landscape – the US and western Europe are smartphone led and in most areas people are well served in terms of 4G and connectivity. In countries like India, there’s a broader range of devices and connection types, plus data sensitivity – how expensive is it to get online and consume data.

While these are challenges they are not barriers, people everywhere will gravitate to video, whether they watch them in traf�ic or while waiting in line at a store. We are working to make the experience better across all devices so that videos load faster.”

Way to go for advertisers “Overall we see that many people across the world actually value add on Facebook, and discover new information or see them as forms of entertainment. This makes sense intuitively to us as well, if you are in a country like India and are buying a type of product for the �irst time, ads with product specs or information about that offering would be useful to making an informed and important buying decision,” said Reddy.

According to her, for advertisers, it is important that they understand where people are spending the most time (which is more and more mobile every day) and what type of information they want, whether it is to be informed, to be entertained, to gain information about how to improve their homes or produce a healthy meal for their families.

“The Kissanpur campaign by Hindustan Unilever Ltd was a digital-only launch of a four-minute video targeted

you go. And then for people on feature phones, consider visual ads like images or links that provide a compelling brand story,” she said.

IN SOME WAYS, VIDEO USAGE IS SIMILAR NO MATTER WHERE IN THE WORLD YOU ARE AND IN SOME WAYS IT’S DIFFERENT Kirthiga Reddy | MD, Facebook India

at modern parents. Facebook helped drive awareness by reaching over 22 million people in a matter of 24 hours,” she pointed out.

“From there, it is important to deliver the most well-designed ad based on that mobile device and the bandwidth. And the best part is you can tell your story across all devices.

“We encourage publishers and advertisers to upload native videos to Facebook as they can take advantage of two bene�its a) Videos will play automatically in News Feed b) Video’s will have view counts.

“For the people on a smartphone on 3G or 4G, provide an engaging, short video (to ensure the smoothest load time and to deliver a message quickly) – ideally one made for digital. The more you can customize the video the better, but also know that one truly great ad that you and your agency feel proud of can appeal to a broad audience – for instance, one for men and one for women. Of course, make sure you test and optimize as

‘Accelerated’ growth Through the Creative Accelerator program, announced earlier this year, Facebook is also working with brands and their agency partners in India, Indonesia, South Africa, Kenya and Turkey to create visual brand stories for every mobile device and connection type. The results of the program have been promising so far, said a company statement.

In Kenya, Coca-Cola launched a photo ad campaign designed to spread a locally relevant message of happiness.

Compared to similar campaigns, ad recall increased by 18 per cent, said the statement.

Nestle Everyday’s Theatre in a Cup campaign connected with people in rural and metro areas in India using photo or video ads, depending on the person’s device and connection speed.

Compared to similar campaigns in the region, the campaign increased brand awareness by 9 per cent and purchase intent by 5 per cent.

Lifebouy used photos and videos showing its soap’s effectiveness on germs to talk to moms in Indonesia about how washing hands helps keep families healthy. After the campaign, 9.4 per cent more moms in the area associated the brand with the statement “protects effectively from germs.”

With promising global numbers, Reddy said, “We are very optimistic about the future of video, and personally I am excited about how we can change the way video is received in global markets – making it accessible (faster, better, and more useful) to more people in more countries. With a platform that serves 1.4 billion people, we have great teams in place working to address a diverse set of regions and needs. We’re only at the beginning and excited to advance the experience.”

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43

COLUMN AVIK CHATTOPADHYAY Independent brand and Strategy Consultant avikchatto@hotmail.com

7 things around us just waiting to die!

“If death ever crosses my path, just in case…it shall stare me in the eye and say, you still have lives to cheer up, so stay!”

– Antidoto

T Brands suddenly seem closer to death when their very core offering loses relevance 44 Pitch | June 2015

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he biggest fear for a human being is the realisation that one is living beyond ones purpose and relevance. And for a brand, the fear gets compounded as there is a business, jobs and livelihoods at stake. Along with fear comes embarrassment and feeling of emptiness…a complete loss of bearing and reason to exist.

But death is de�inite.

Whatever is born, shall perish.

That is the law of nature and nothing can change it. Not even for the seemingly most powerful products, services and brands.

The name may be the same for last century or two, but the business offering in terms of the product or service or customer bene�it would have certainly changed. Peugeot started 200 years back making salt and pepper mills…today they are tackling the next challenge in mobility.

Brands suddenly seem closer to death when their very core offering loses relevance.

Remember Motorola and pagers. Or Kodak and �ilms. Also IBM and hardware! Unless they can see the ‘end-of-life’ of what they offer and act accordingly, like IBM did, they perish, or at least get a haemorrhage when their core offering perishes. The bigger the success, the greater the brand is a victim of its own device and more painful is the process.

There are 7 such products and services around us that, according to me, are on their path of perish…just waiting to die. Brands that have been built on these seven had better decide what they would do in the next 10 years, as death is staring them in the face right now.

I am not a soothsayer, but I am a keen observer �irst and an active consumer second,

to make this prediction. Here are the seven, in alphabetical order, for my powers are not acute enough to place them in chronological order of their demise.

Automobile showroom

People need to know about the choice within their budget in terms of reviews and endorsements. That can be done on their devices. People need an experience of feeling and driving the automobile before they make the �inal choice. That can be done at their doorstep.

People need hassle-free documentation, warranties and deals. Again at their doorstep.

So, where is the need of a brick and mortar showroom anymore? It is a waste of money, prime real estate and the time of the customer. What will be needed is the service centre or workshop. No more these boring glass and steel structures

COLUMN

that automakers force upon customers and actually make them pay for these edi�ices through the cost of the product.

Automakers that really want to be remain connected with tomorrow’s customer, needs to focus and invest in experiences and not showrooms. Those that are still in the stupor of opening new channels and chains are wasting time and resources.

Simple.

Compact camera

You either take photographs to be further used in social networking, or you take photographs as it is your profession or passion. For the former you have the integrated phone device or a ‘phablet’ and for the latter you have high-end professional cameras. If you are stuck in the middle, still making compact cameras, somebody needs to click you and hang you on the nearest wall, for posterity.

Dedicated music device

Gone are the days when you had one device set aside for storing and playing music. Now you just need to play music, as the cloud can store it. And if you are a bit nervy about cloud-bursts, you just need to have a device that stores and plays music along with a lot more stuff it does. MP3 players anyone?

Gaming device

Just like the music devices, dedicated gaming devices will be gone. Poof! Kids will not have to queue up any more for their new Xbox or Nintendo.

They will have to only pay online for the new games, on the go, and they are ready for

combat. No more hardware for games…only soft skills.

Unconnected cars

I pay a lot for a car and then I need to invest more in getting it fully connected?! That will be a thing of the past. Cars need to work as the ‘enabler’ for the driver or passenger to be connected to the outside world, be it navigation, music, news, traf�ic updates, vehicle monitoring, sur�ing or ‘platooning’ [where clusters of cars are interconnected on the highway to perform better, safer and more ef�iciently]. The user shall choose his / her own device[s] that are common to all uses…at home, of�ice and travel. The car salesperson shall no longer proudly show the range of audio systems or a new Bluetooth device to a new car buyer. That will be seen in news reels of the years gone by.

Not the years to come…

will wear devices on their wrists…and they will converge a lot of activities on that little one square inch piece of engineering, along with telling time. Dedicated wristwatches will cater to either the bottom end of the pyramid [where people will not earn enough to buy a device] or right at the top where they will become pieces of jewellery and decoration, rather than any function.

Brands that right now cater to the large middle segment like a Tissot, Titan and Timex need to decide what to do. A

Tomorrow’s generation will not like carrying wire-loads in their backpacks as they traverse the earth

Wired electronics

What a waste…wires! When we could link up devices through sensors. One big hub in the electrical socket and multiple USB-driven sensors that carry electricity and information.

Life becomes much simpler and sustainable. Use wires only where critically needed for uninterrupted supply, but otherwise go completely wireless. Tomorrow’s generation will not like carrying wire-loads in their backpacks as they traverse the earth.

Never!

Wristwatches

A dedicated accessory just to tell you the time!! Pretty luxurious, is what tomorrow’s generation will say. People

G-shock should evolve into a full-�ledged device as it already is multi-functional. A TAG could transform into digital timing and measurement devices.

In their present form, they would be quite anachronistic… literally!

I shall be keenly waiting for 2025. To see how many I got right. Will you?

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45

COLUMN MINAL D’ROZARIO

Co- Founder-Director, Ideosphere Consulting Private Limited

When Storytelling Becomes Serious!

The marketing fraternity is constantly in a race to tell the most engaging stories to build long lasting impact

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S

tories are the core of our development as human beings. Ever since we are born, we learn and understand the world through stories.

Stories help developing minds decode the world much easier.

There is validated research to show that humans remember and recall information told in story form better than any other form of communication.

This is no secret! Brands have been using stories to create brand connect for ages. Even our most common soap opera came from the desire to tell stories and to sell brands.

The marketing fraternity is constantly in a race to tell the most engaging stories to build long lasting impact. They

use interesting and innovative characters, engaging plots, and poetic narratives, all in a simple effort to increase brand awareness and recall. The cool part about story telling is that we can exaggerate, create imaginary scenarios and tie the most unrelated stories to a brand with literary

last year to work on such a story: Kimaya. This product application, developed by Josh Software in association with KEM Hospital (Pune), was developed to curb the neonatal mortality rate in the country. In the past, doctors working in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) of hospitals

ease. But every once in while, communication consultancies get to work on a story that can change lives. Stories that can make miracles come true. This is where you cannot exaggerate nor create imaginary situations.

This is where storytelling gets serious.

We had an opportunity

would manually calculate the right nutritional mix for premature infants; this calculation would then be passed on to the dietician to create the nutritional mix for intravenous therapy for the neonate. This process had much room for error, and the Kimaya innovation looked to make the

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process precise. Creating a story for this brand was more serious than brand recall, but the opportunity to change lives!

Apart from merely an engaging narrative, various other aspects of the story need to be considered. For starters, a story has to be told at the right time. A place that can ensure the story is connected with and shared again and again to create a maximum impact. This story was �irst told at the country’s largest medical conference held in Patna each year: NeoCon. Sharing the story here ensured it was heard by the right people, and more importantly, retold to the right audience, the NICUs across India. This story had a strong consumer connect, and apart from only sharing it with hospitals, it was important the society knew about this.

The Kimaya story was evolved to one, which gives hope for a miracle. By understanding the mindset of parents with a premature infant, it was narrated through the media to create a pull factor for this application being used across the country.

A story is not enough. The medium, through which the story is told, and the storyteller are as important to the impact.

We wanted the best storytellers to tell this story so apart from the consumers and doctors, we shared this story with some of the most renowned medical organizations in the world, namely UNICEF, WHO, Indian Academy of Pediatricians, & the Neonatal National Forum (NNF). Opening a dialogue with these associations and having them help us spread the story accelerated its penetration, and in part, its impact. We

told the story through written word, video, and instigated conversations on social media platforms to ensure the story can be told from 140 characters to 1000 words to 5400 frames to 1 graphic.

But merely sharing the story at the right time, through the right mediums, and by the right people wasn’t enough. This is where the worth of the story came into action. A strong narrative can only be effective if it is relevant to us, and going back to our childhood, it can only create impact if it helps us understand things, �ind solutions, or gives us hope. This was the Kimaya story’s biggest

achievement! It gave doctors a solution and parents a hope for a better tomorrow. The emotion of hope triggered the success of this story. The story of Kimaya.

The best stories help to start dialogue and debate. If a brand story can create a strong and relevant connect with its listener, it is sure to start a conversation. It turns listeners into storytellers. It was not the number of media impressions of the campaign, the hits on the website for registrations, or even the 22 hospitals around the country that signed up for this application that satis�ied, but the one reader who wrote back to the editor after seeing the story with an emotional account of her own premature birth and how applications like this de�initely change lives.

Since its launch, the premature deaths have reduced by over 45%, just at KEM hospital, one of the largest NICUs in SE Asia, partly due to solutions such as this. This is what makes story telling truly worth it. A serious story with a serious impact!

If a brand story can create a strong and relevant connect with its listener, it is sure to start a conversation Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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INSIGHT MOBILE BROADBAND

creates new behaviors among URBAN INDIAN SMARTPHONE USERS Ericsson’s ConsumerLab, in its report titled, “The Changing Mobile Broadband Landscape”, highlights the evolving trends of mobile broadband adoption and usage in urban India. The study reveals diverse behavior and needs of different mobile broadband users and the need for service providers to offer personalisation. Users’ needs are evolving as usage of services and applications on smartphones is becoming a way of life.

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COLUMN AJAY KELKAR

COO, Hansa Cequity

Turbulence in Analytics A

The simpler the analysis, the lesser is the barrier in implementing the call for action that emanates from it 50 Pitch | June 2015

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nalytics and Big Data are two words that have become very popular now. Black gold and Texas Tea are few of the words used to describe the riches that can be attained from data. In fact, data scientist has been quoted as one of the sexiest career titles of the 21st century, and yet it is hard to �ind a superman or woman who is the ’god of all things for analytics’. But is analytics over hyped? Is there more talk and less action on the ground?

If once, the most valuable secret formula in American

business was Coca-Cola, today it is Google’s master algorithm. Thanks to the hype generated by Big Data, organizations have bought into the concept; but many are still unsure how to ’make it happen’ for them.

If you are a company thinking about either starting out in Analytics or scaling up your analytics practices, it may be a good time to think and plan. I have often come

across organisations which believe that investing in topend statistical resources and buying high-end technology is enough to extract value from analytics. The truth is vastly different.

It takes time to build analytical maturity in a company. And it takes a certain unique mix of people

to drive the desired results.

While Banking has attained greater maturity in the use of analytics, FMCG companies are yet to make great strides.

My experience across retail and banking sectors has taught me that it is best to start small; very small!

A lot of analytics can be done on an excel sheet and does not require a PhD in statistics. The simpler the analysis, the lesser is the barrier in implementing the call for action that emanates from it. What is needed is that companies must choose areas where their analytics work and can have maximum impact.

So what should be a CXO’s Analytics agenda for 2015?

Bring analytics into the mainstream board discussions: Information can be a strategic advantage for companies. But how many Board members are actually asking these questions? As they say: You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Customer data is a valuable asset. Why not treat it that way? The value is not in rewarding regular purchases but in capturing information from every purchase, which builds a proprietary customer pro�ile.

As companies look at analytics to give them a competitive edge, they need to make key changes in their information technology, their structure, their processes, and their culture. Culture is absolutely critical to analytics adoption. Although, you don’t often hear about a close partnership with the human resource department for analytics adoption, it is

critical for culture change to start. Some companies have the existing culture to support this, but for many others it has to be built ground-up.

Create a career ladder for analysts: Companies often neglect to career ladder the analytics group. They are often seen as specialist support function. That automatically limits their career growth possibilities.

Companies need to overcome this neglect and churn the most out of this critical workforce.

Analytics needs social support: Analytics doesn’t need you to solve a technical problem but a social one.

Therefore, it’s imperative to simplify analytics for business users. Embed analytics into the fabric of the company.

Start with a decision in mind and work backwards — and not with the data in mind and working forward. Remember, stories are the best way to in�luence.

Change management: By 2017, the CMO will spend more on IT than the CIO. Build a core competency in driving change management across structure, systems and processes. Consider creating a new role within marketing called the Chief Marketing Technology Of�icer (CMTO) to drive this change.

Forge a partnership ecosystem: The single largest reason why you should consider taking on an analytics partner is actually ‘speed to market’ and ‘speed to impact’. Companies,

however, should be careful about the kind of partner they choose. Do they just want to outsource a process or are they keen to bring in consulting experience for the change management?

Link analytics to the last mile: Analytics is not a planning tool as much as it is an execution tool.

Analytics should not be expected to deliver an ‘Aha moment’. Instead, it is a factory approach to improved decisions.

Analytics practitioners have a role to play as “change agents”, if they want Analytics to still exist as a profession a decade from now. They cannot sit back as passive observers watching the slow pace of analytics adoption in companies.

Otherwise you may have a case of the �ictional Cybernetic revolt or robot uprising — a scenario in which an arti�icial intelligence decides that analysts are a threat (either to the machines or to themselves), are inferior, or are oppressors and try to destroy or enslave them, potentially leading to machine rule! I believe analysts have better sense than to let this happen!

Analytics should not be expected to deliver an ‘Aha moment’.

Instead, it is a factory approach to improved decisions

Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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Tete-A-Tete with Ankur Warikoo | CEO, Groupon India When you are not spearheading marketing campaigns, you are

reading about other brands‛ experiences with their marketing campaigns

The best way to know your consumer is by making yourself immensely accessible to all customers If you were not a marketer, you would be a photographer The brand you like the best other than Groupon Uber The marketer you admire the most Steve Jobs When a strategy fails, what do you do revisit and shoot again!

If you were a brand, what would your tagline be Life never fails The best way to know your consumer is by making yourself immensely accessible to all customers The motto you live by DO EPIC SHIT Something about you that nobody knows my gmail password is ihatejustinbieber You owe your success to... the team I work with 52 Pitch | June 2015

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NEWS Tata Housing secures India’s biggest online transaction for Rs. 5.5 crore

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ata Housing, India’s real estate developer and pioneer of online home buying in India, has set a new milestone through its biggest online transaction to date. The company, recently became the �irst real estate developer to have sold a villa worth INR 5.5 crores, through its own ecommerce portal http://www.tatahousing.in/. The company has managed to sell more than 30 units with a price tag of over INR 1 crore, post introducing the concept in India.

An NRI customer has purchased a house at Tata Housing’s luxury project Myst, India’s �irst residential development designed using biophilic architecture in Kasauli worth INR 5.5 crores while another customer from Mumbai has purchased Tata Housing’s luxury project at The Promont, Bangalore for INR 4.5 crores. The Promont is a crest of 4 majestic towers spread across 14 acres, atop Bengaluru’s exclusive hill.

LINE’s free group calling app Popcorn Buzz comes to iOS!

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INE, the leading life platform, has announced the of�icial iOS launch of Popcorn Buzz, a freegroup calling app that supports up to 200 people.

The use of Popcorn Buzz is not con�ined to just personal chat, but also very compatible for business conference calls, all for free.

By simply choosing a username and uploading a pro�ile picture, anyone can instantly get started with Popcorn Buzz. Existing LINE users can log on to Popcorn Buzz with their LINE accounts to immediately synchronize their friends’ list and start making group calls with their LINE friends.

During group calls, users can see all the other call members’ icons, and identify who is speaking by seeing the green dots lighting up on the lower right-hand corner of users’ icons.

of the

month

IndiaMART’s new campaign focuses on the success of its mobile platform

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ith IndiaMART mobile app crossing 2 million downloads, IndiaMART is looking to ful�il requirements of buyers through its mobile platform. It has announced the next phase of its brand campaign on an integrated platform including TV, online display and social media.

The TVC showcases Brand Ambassador Irrfan Khan specifying the unique requirements of a buyer which are grati�ied at IndiaMART. The ad claims that IndiaMART answers every buyer’s need of sourcing a variety of products across multiple categories ranging from Furnishings, Handicrafts, Jewellery, Fashion Accessories, Sports goods, etc.

Catch launches 3 new products

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&B brand Catch from the D S Group launched three new products - Catch Paani Poori Masala, Catch Tea Masala and Catch Tandoori Masala.

The new offerings are a combination of various fresh, aromatic spices, perfectly blended and packaged to give the right taste. These will be launched in phases starting with North India followed by the rest of India.

Catch PaniPoori Masalais is targeted at those who love to eat spicy and tangy Indian snacks with an assurance of hygiene, at home.

Catch Tea Masala is an easy, ready to use, blend of spices that makes a perfect exotic cup of tea, in just a few minutes. This instant masala shortens the tedious process of grinding and mixing masalas. .

Catch Tandoori Masala makes a perfect marinating mix for all tandoori snacks right from Paneer Tikka to delicious Tandoori Chicken.

Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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NEWS of the

month

OLX grabs viewer attention with a slew of TVCs

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he marketplace for used goods OLX.in, launched four advertisements in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada, each featuring a celebrity superstar. All TVCs revolve around a common theme– ‘Let the Old Make Way for the New’ or ‘Purana Jayega Toh Naya Ayega’.

The ads that hit TV screens on May

Cadbury Dairy Milk TVC Brings Humour and Love to the Dinner Table

30, 2015, comprise four different �ilms featuring leading stand-up comedian Kapil Sharma, Tamil movie sensation Dhanush, Kannada hit-maker Sudeep, and Telugu star Allu Arjun.

United Spirits Limited India appoints new Business Head for Luxury and Corporate Relations

U

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nited Spirits Limited (USL), one of the major spirits company in India, and a subsidiary of Diageo plc, appointed Abanti Sankaranarayanan who has been the Managing Director of Diageo India since July 2012, as Business Head for Luxury and Corporate Relations in India. With this move, Abanti joins the Executive Committee of USL. Abanti will also lead the new Corporate Relations function.

N

o meal is truly complete without a dessert. Mondelez captures this sentiment in its new TVC for Cadbury Dairy Milk, featuring veteran Bollywood actress Waheeda Rehman.

While everyone cites a reason to deserve the last piece, Ms. Rehman playing the grandmother casually claims the chocolate and quips at the family that she rightfully deserves it since she may not be around to eat too many in the future. At this, the family stays silent for a bit and as Ms. Rehman smiles the family gets comfortable and laughs out loud.

Swedish brand Blueair launches in India

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lueair, one of the world’s well-known air puri�ier brands from Sweden, of�icially launched its operations throughout India. Their headquarters and warehouse would be in Delhi.

With whisper silent technology, high capacity performance along with top class designs and high energy capacity, Blueair aims to create a market for puri�iers in the country.

NEWS of the

Gap aunches in India

month

Heineken announces association with Blippar

A

s part of its UEFA Champions League Campaign 2015, Heineken, the premium lager beer brand announced its association with Image recognition and augmented reality

A

rvind Lifestyle Brands has partnered with the iconic international brand Gap, to launch the �irst chain of GAP stores in India. The �irst GAP store opened in New Delhi offering a wide range of clothing and accessories from GAP, GAP Kids and baby GAP Summer 2015 collections. This will be the �irst of several stores to open within the �irst year.

Samar singh Shekhawat

Google to provide funding

for child safety campaigns

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oogle announced support to three non-pro�it organizations in India, with nearly 500,000 dollars in grants to promote child safety campaigns.With the grant, Google aims to support non-pro�it organizations with technology, and help scale initiatives aimed towards child safety programs and campaigns in India. Grants through Google. org will be used to scale existing initiatives to help reach more children and create awareness about the need to protect their future.

platform app, Blippar for bringing alive its limited edition UEFA Champions League Trophy bottles and cans.

Customers were able to “blipp” their Heineken limited-edition trophy bottle and the phone screen would activate a unique digital experience. They could then choose between entering a lucky draw to win a trip to Ibiza for the Heineken Ibiza Final or to play a fun football game.

ICICI bank launches new biometric authentication for customers.

I

CICI Bank announced the launch of a voice recognition service.

This will authenticate customers based on their speech patterns and will allow them to execute banking transactions through the Bank’s call center in a quick, secure and convenient manner. Becoming the �irst bank in the country to start this service, it will be available to over 33 million customers. Their voice will now act as the password for banking transactions.

Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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NEWS of the

month

Lenovo launches two new smartphones L

enovo introduced two new smartphones in India, Lenovo P70 and A5000 . Lenovo has brought these devices to the Indian market keeping in mind the consumer’s preference for phones with enhanced battery life.These models are packed with features like best-in class battery and are designed as multi-tasking gadgets that are meant to be used on the go, anytime and anywhere.

Philips India launches new range of Depilation Solutions

RAY-BAN kicks off #Campaign4change

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uxottica Group - the global leader in premium eyewear and owner of iconic sunglasses brand Ray-Ban announced the latest in the brand’s Never Hide communications platform - Never Hide #Campaign4change.

The campaign features a series of eight unique creative shots by the photographer and videographer Cheryl Dunn and showcases the ‘Never Hide’ spirit that lies at the heart of the Ray-Ban brand, bringing to life inspirational individuals as pioneers, trailblazers and rule breakers in their everyday lives, ready for a change.

Users are invited to visit ray-ban. com, join the Order of Never Hide - Ray-Ban “secret but not secret”

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P community , create and share their #campaign4change stories. Winners will be celebrated at an exclusive Ray-Ban party in New York in October and their #campaign4change will be projected at Time Square on the same day.

hilips India, one of the leading lifestyle brands for male and female grooming gadgets today introduced a new campaign for its Beauty business, #BeReadyEveryday, with its brand ambassador actor Alia Bhatt.

The latest campaign #BeReadyEveryday introduces a new range of epilators – Philips Satinelle range in the market.

Following this, the company will also run an extensive 360 degree marketing campaign with Alia Bhatt to introduce this depilation range.

The campaign will start with a TVC featuring Alia that is already on air.

NEWS of the

month

Starbucks introduces all new Funventures range to beat the heat S tarbucks introduced its range of ‘funventures’ which includes three new Frappuccino �lavors – Alphonso Mango, Dark Mocha and Mocha Caramel Crunch along with a long list of activities for the customers available in the Starbucks stores. Activities include striking a chord with a Starbucks partner through your favorite song or playing the bean-straw game or making new friends by buying a Frappuccino for someone unknown at Starbucks!

Tanishq banks on the mother-daughter relationship for new campaign

Idea launches another social media campaign, ‘The Great Social Quest’

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anishq has always been at the forefront of progressive thinking and with its latest campaign, the brand has yet again been very innovative. In its �irst television commercial with celebrity Deepika Padukone, the brand tells a strong story and narrates the emotional bond that Deepika shares with her mother. Tanishq celebrates the relationship of the mother-daughter duo and brings to life the dynamics of their relationship. The advertisement is bold, emotional and has a strong message for the audience.

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iven the rise in penetration of smartphones, people use social media to share their experiences with friends and family.

Bringing an interesting twist to this, Idea will now reward these users for doing so with The Great Social Quest (#tgsq).

Centred on the theme ‘Experience the World’, the contest starts from June 20, and will require contestants to complete innovative and exciting tasks. The 15 days’ long Quest on Facebook and Twitter, will require participants to complete 15 exciting tasks, each related to 15 different countries. Participants will have 48 hours to complete the task and upload their performance on their Facebook and Twitter accounts. The more the number of likes, retweets, shares and favourites from friends and followers, the more points one will gain.

Pitch | June 2015 www.pitchonnet.com

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COLUMN COLUMN

Young, Promising Lessons for the and raring to go!

New Age Marketer Annurag Batra Batra Annurag

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

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he recent controversy that has consumed Maggi and given Nestle employees sleepless nights, has set brand experts thinking. Suggestions about how Maggi could have tackled the issue are flying back and forth and everyone seems to have become an expert advising Nestle about their next move. What could Nestle have done better? How should it defend itself?

What were the steps needed to salvage a situation that had gone completely out of hand? These are some of the questions being mulled over by marketing and communication experts. The Maggi story has many lessons for brands, the food regulator, consumers and Marketers. It can serve as a wake-up call for all these stakeholders. Indian consumers need to become more aware of what goes into their packaged food items. Marketers need to learn to react proactively, make strong and timely public statements, come up with effective communication plans and take corrective action.

This brings me back to the discourse on the role of a marketer. The definition of the role has undergone changes and in the digital media environment we live in, the marketing function is in a state of flux. The influence of a marketer in any organisation is expanding. Data, analytics, mobile and social are just some of the areas marketers need to oversee and optimise to get the best results. In the years to come, those professionals who can harness these different and challenging aspects will

The new influence of a marketer in any organisation The age marketers are not afraid to try out is expanding. analytics, and mobile social of are just new tactics Data, and strategies, areand not afraid some ofThey the are areas marketers need oversee and failure. driven by their owntoambition and optimise to get the best results passion for the brand Pitch||June June 2015 2015 58 Pitch 58

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be sought after by companies. Gone are the days when the marketer was involved only in the last leg of the journey. It’s evident now that they have to become involved right at the start.

They have to build lasting and genuine relationships with consumers and not just get involved at the time of a campaign or product launch. Therefore, their responsibility has increased manifold. But this does not mean that the traditional role must be abandoned.

On the contrary, new ways and means should be devised to encompass both the traditional and the new methods of working.

Our cover story tries to explore what the future holds for a marketer.

We chose two of the most experienced thought leaders to help us understand what could be in store for this dynamic function. Coming from diverse backgrounds, their insights have a richness, maturity and authority as they see this evolving role through their individual lens. Each has a significant point of view and invaluable suggestions that cannot be overlooked.

The future seems exciting for all those poised to take a leap into this field. The times could not be better for experimenting, trying out new things to build a brand. The new age of marketing opens up new opportunities for customer engagement and one has to make the most of them. Mass marketing is passé now. It is the time to personalise your message and connect with your customer.

It is time to be available to the customer all the time. It is time to take charge, own up , be authentic and meaningful. It’s time to become a master communicator.

It’s time to know your customer like you know your best friend.

rni regn.no.:deleng/03/11/11487