Pitch Oct-Nov 2012 Issue by Adsert Web Solutions

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

INSIDE COVER STORY

Pitch Volume X, Issue-1 & 2 October-November 2012 Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Annurag Batra Editor & Director Amit Agnihotri Director Nawal Ahuja

EDITORIAL TEAM

Consulting Editors

Vinod Behl Noor Fathima Warsia

Deputy Editor

Dhaleta Surender Kumar

Assistant Editor

Ruchika Kumar

Principal Correspondent

Pallavi Srivastava

Correspondents

Abhinav Mohapatra Aditi Malhotra Arshiya Khullar

Art Director

Jasper Levi

Graphic Designer

Joby Mathew

Photographers

Vilas Kalgutkar (Mumbai) Suresh Gola (Noida)

AD SALES

Rohit Sardana Abdulla M Mazumder Varnikaa jain Sneha Walke

9811377592 9871609348 9769153087 9845541143

0FFICES

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

DIGITAL Story

Digital is growing at a fast pace and mobile will be a major contributor to it in the coming years. How does the digital ad pie look like? And how are marketers and the players looking at the space?

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

CIRCULATION/DISTRIBUTION

Dharmender Singh (Noida) Circulation & Distribution Head - 9999419197 dsingh@exchange4media.com Anandan Nair (Mumbai) - 9819445200 anair@exchange4media.com On News-stands ` 75 www.pitchonnet.com Printed and published by Annurag Batra on behalf of Adsert Web Solutions Pvt Ltd B-20, I-Floor, Sector-57, Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201301 Printed at All Time Offset Printers, E-53, Sector-7 Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201301

WHO’S doing what ONLINE? Who’re online? What are they doing online? Where are they going online?

An exchange4media Publication

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

A SMART Act What’s driving marketers to use mobile as a great marketing tool? And do marketers really understand the medium enough?

Rising bars

Mobile will command almost 10% share in digital ad pie by the end of 2013

`242.67 Crore

`167.36 Crore

`121.2 Crore

45%

38%

2011 2012 2013 (E)

WHAT’S the

PLAN?

While marketers are still trying to understand digital as an advertising medium, specialised agencies and ad-networks have mushroomed at a fast pace. How are they looking to educate the marketer?

A full

CART

Almost everyday, there’s an announcement of a new e-commerce website being launched in India. Where’s the industry headed?

OFFLINE to

ONLINE?

How are broadcatsers or other offline media brands leveraging online? Do they find the cusp a revenue churner?

‘NET’ worthy BOLLYWOOD!

Cinema is no more confined to the big screen. It’s using the smallest screen too to woo the audience. Why and how?

Pitch Youth Marketing Summit & Awards 2012 POWERED BY

CORRIGENDUM In the August 2012 issue of Pitch, in the ‘RimZim’ story, on Page: 35, designations of Ms Poornima Burte & Mr Santosh Desai, under their pictures, were inadvertently credited as officers from Coca-Cola India. While the correct designation of Ms Burte should read as ‘Director, Design Orb’; Mr Desai’s correct designation is ‘MD & CEO, Futurebrands Ltd’. The error is regretted.

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

The growing digits The issue in your hands is very very special. If you haven’t noticed it already, let me guide you back to the cover or to the tombstone, which proudly refers to this edition as Volume X, Issue 1 & 2. Pitch just completed nine years. While, we will celebrate our anniversary in course of time, it’s no small feat for a niche magazine to have come so long and be a referral point for marketers, media agency planners and media owners. Many of the top CMOs today in India have made their projects and Case Studies referring to Pitch, during their B-School days. For the magnanimity of this edition, we have clubbed the October & November issues together. While our templates for our indepth analytical stories more or less have been guided by Philip Kotler’s theories, in these nine years, Kotler’s famous 4Ps of marketing have often been questioned – if they are still relevant? The question arises from the fact that much has changed over the years, and marketing as an art and science too has evolved. And amongst the 4Ps, it’s ‘Promotion’ that has evolved the most. Marketers have another media platform to take care of – the digital, and most of the marketers in the country are throwing their hands and arms around, trying to learn to swim in the fast flowing digital river. It’s only apt that our Special issue – the Pitch-Mindshare Digital Report 2012, has coincided with Volume X, Issue 1. There are marketers who adopted digital quite early on, and there’s another set, which wanted the storm to calm down to figure out if it makes sense for them to fish out in the waters. This set has been on the shores still, while digital found new homes on the tablets and mobile phones. While, early adopters did learn to swim, they found new channels to scale – and unlearn and learn again. While there’re rule-books and metrics in place, these are being rewritten everyday. So where’s digital headed in India? And are marketers taking the plunge? The digital pie is roughly about Rs 2,000 crore, and expected to add another Rs 500 crore or so my the end of next year. And nearly 10 per cent of it is expected to come from the mobile space. Who’s fuelling digital? The youth. And we just honoured the spirit of youth through the Pitch Youth Marketing Summit & Awards, held in New Delhi. With the kind of entries we received – it’s not fair that we had to pick one or two winners in each category – trust me the Indian youth marketers are doing a stupendous job, and they know exactly what the youth wants, without taking them for granted. Also, the Summit saw industry players presenting their cases on how they are targeting the youth. The issue has an exhaustive coverage of the same. Without giving away too much, I’ll let you dive in, and crunch the numbers, but not before thanking Mindshare, for providing us with such an exhaustive data; and thanking all our jury members for the Awards and our Speakers at the Summit. Happy reading. And wishing all marketers a happy festive season. For sure, the outcome of the season will determine, how much our predictions – media spends across all verticals, including digital – are on track. The season will set the tone for 2013. Amit Agnihotri

amit@pitchonnet.com

A big THANK YOU to all our Jury Members

JURY

JURY CHAIRPERSON

Arun Mehra CEO, Talenthouse India

Bedraj Tripathy

Senior General Manager, Marketing, Godrej Interio

Harneet Singh Rajpal

Jamal Shaikh

Vice President, Marketing, Domino's India

Editorial Director, Men's Health and Robb Report

Dheeraj Sinha

Chief Strategy Officer, South & South-East Asia, Grey Worldwide

Navroze Dhondy CEO, Creatigies Communications

Associate Sponsor

6 10

Neeraj Sanan CMO, ABP News

Rana Basu Thakur

Sanjay Modi

Chief Mentor, Just Lateral ThinkInk (JLT)

Managing Director, Monster.com

Sanjeev Kapur

Shailendra Katyal

Shikhar Mohan

Chief Marketing Officer, India, Citibank

Marketing Director, Lenovo India

Head - Brand, HCL Infosystems

Knowledge Partner - Summit

Print Partner

Social Media Partner

Youth Partner

| September | Oct-Nov 2012 Pitch Pitch

YOUR DIGITAL ROI

IS OUR KRA

No, we are not asking you to start taking digital seriously, we know you already are. We are just nudging you to harness the power of digital, the way you do business. And we are working hard to enable brands do exactly that. Like helping Tata DOCOMO enhance recharges through Twittcom - the world’s first Twitter commerce platform. Helping Bajaj Finserv take its loan sanctioning process completely online. Deploying PowerPortal, our end-to-end ecommerce platform to enable Croma Retail go online. Guiding brick and mortar companies like Morphy Richards and Bajaj Electricals to setup systems and processes for optimum e-tailing. Or for that matter, partnering with P&G to make Thank You Mom an internationally acclaimed digital campaign. With 39 Awards to our credit in 3 years, today we are working with over 50 of India’s leading brands to redefine their digital strategy. And oh, by the way, we also do everything that your current digital agency does. But if you are wondering what’s possible beyond status updates, pinboards, media campaigns, engagement rates, fan counts and the like, we’d love to take up the challenge. Call us at 9820043242 Or shoot us an email at enquiry@interface.co.in Pitch||September Oct-Nov 2012 Pitch 2012

interface 117

http://www.interface.co.in/

INTRODUCTION DIGITAL

DIGITAL Story Digital is growing at a fast pace and mobile will be a major contributor to it in the coming years. How does the digital ad pie look like? And how are marketers and the players looking at the space? 6

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

By Arshiya Khullar

he galloping growth of technology, rising number of smartphone users and high internet penetration has resulted in digital marketing assuming significant relevance in the marketing blueprint of companies. But underneath this optimism lies a stark dichotomy. While people are consuming content across platforms and spending considerable time online, marketers, on the other hand, still havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t embraced this medium fully. The percentage of funds out of the overall marketing budget that is allocated to digital is still in single digits. According to Pitch-Mindshare Digital Report 2012, the digital spends in the next two months could touch Rs 2,000 crore, a growth of about 30 per cent, over Rs 1,514 crore in 2011. The growth is expected to remain bullish in 2013 too, and digital spends could touch Rs 2,558 crore. While search still commands the largest share of 46 per cent in the ad pie, followed by display, which has a 41 per cent share, mobile and social (eight per cent and five per cent share respectively in 2011), which are growing anything between 80-100 per cent are for sure going to bring down the share of these two. Gulshan Verma, VP and Country Head, Komli Media Network, India and North America, feels that while digital advertising in India, which is about 4-5 per cent of the entire ad pie, is one of the fastest growing digital advertising markets in the world, but has a long way to go as compared to the other countries. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Two years ago, in the UK, digital advertising overtook television advertising. Last year, in the US, digital advertising overtook print based advertising. Digital is now making more than 20 per cent share of overall ATL advertising spends,â&#x20AC;? he says.

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

Speed Check

How does the pie split

Digital is grow at a healthy and steady pace of 30% ` Crore (` Crore) 3000

While search still commands a larger share in the ad pie, display too is growing 6.4% 8.5%

` 2558 2500

` 1968

2000 1500

5.3% 8% 40.4%

2011 40.4%

30%

` 1514

47.7%

46.4%

30%

1000

2012

500 0

37.4%

2011

2012

2013

Display

Social

Mobile

Ad Spends Dispersion (Category wise) The services sector commands the largest share in the ad pie, and the share is only likely to grow

183

` Crore % share

125

10% 146 153 12% 10% 45 10% 3% 2% 4% 60 8% 117 2% 40% 2%

2011

603

Telecom Services Retail

229 176

2012 41%

27 23

Real Estate IT/ITES FMCG

169

12%

814

Education Consumer Durables BFSI

183

3% 45 2% 4%81 8%

152

2% 1%

34 27

Auto Others

COVER STORY DIGITAL AD SPENDS Top 10 Digital Advertisers

(In Impressions)

Advertisers

Impressions (in Mn) 7100

11.5%

Bharatmatrimony.com (Online Services - Matrimony)

3431

5.5%

Zovi.com (Online Services - Shopping)

2416

3.9%

Samsung Mobile (Mobile & Telecom - Handsets)

1991

3.2%

Shaadi.com (Online Services - Matrimony)

1864

3.0%

Jabong.com (Online Services - Shopping)

1849

3.0%

Bagittoday.com (Online Services – Shopping)

1328

2.1%

Google Crome (Toolbars & downloads)

1269

2.0%

Bestylish.com (Online Services – Shopping)

1006

1.6%

Makemytrip.com (Online Services - Travel)

961

1.6%

Yahoo! (Online Services – Portal & Entertainment)

SoV (%)

Market – All India; Source – Adview vizisense; Period –Jan-Jun 2012 Adview is a monitoring tool for online media (display advertising); tracks the top 600 advertisers & top 1000 publishers; Gathers impressions served at home, office, cybercafe, schools/colleges; Relative share represents share within the category

Why internet? Marketers are looking at digital as an alternative to doing a TVC because of money constraints. VD Wadhwa, Managing Director and CEO, Timex Group India says that the digital platform in general terms is growing. More and more brands that are trying to connect to the consumers through digital as it is relatively cheaper. There is targeted marketing as well as engagement, because majority of the marketing is done using the social media sites. “Digital is a measurable medium. If the brand can keep the consumers engaged, the consumer will keep coming back, hence, it builds a relationship. Whereas, traditional marketing through TV and Print is not creating any dialogue for the consumers. In TV there is only an ad for

20 to 30 seconds. There is no connect with the consumer, whereas, if a brand has a product launch projecting it on Youtube or its website, the consumer can give the brand an instant feedback,” he says. Digital is no more another platform. It cannot be ignored, and no brand can afford to stay off it. Christian Saffer, Director Marketing, BMW India says, “Internet has become a core part of the brand strategy as the digital platform has become an essential part of office life, and plays a key role in many homes. The number of people and the time spent online is growing at a fast rate among the population in high end demographics.” In the same vein, Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director (Marketing), Toyota Kirloskar Motors, says,

Top Advertising Categories (In Impressions) Around 671 advertisers across 30 categories were active in Jan-June 2012 Category

# AdverBanner tisers Impressions (in Mn) OS-Shopping 78 16,894 OS-Portals & Entt 24 8,380 OS-Matrimony 7 5,555 M&T-Handsets 10 2,688 OS-Travel 20 2,679 Automotive 29 2,660 OS-Others 56 2,235 FMCG 31 1,953 BFSI - Banking Services 27 1,414 M&T-Operator Services 12 1,371 BFSI - Insurance 22 1,336 E&T-Hardware 19 1,281 Toolbars and downloads 4 1,280 OS-Real Estate 12 1,233 E&T-Software 13 1,159 Education 45 1,093 E&T-Consumer Durables 30 1,061 BFSI - Stocks & MFs 21 1,003 Travel - Tourism 19 886 Retail - Brands 17 784 Media & Entt 42 685 Travel - Hospitality 16 648 OS-Jobs 6 641 Others 35 641 OS-Gaming 6 641 Travel - Airlines 20 580 Health & Pharma 8 444 Real Estate 27 408 OS-Social Networks 5 185 Retail - Stores 13 150

SoV (%) 27% 14% 9% 4% 4% 4% 4% 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 0% 0%

Market – All India; Source – Adview vizisense; Period –Jan-Jun 2012 Adview is a monitoring tool for online media (display advertising); tracks the top 600 advertisers & top 1000 publishers; Gathers impressions served at home, office, cybercafe, schools/colleges; Impressions include promotions on own site for players like Yahoo, Microsoft, Google

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Top Online Services – Shopping Advertisers (In Impressions)

Top Mobile & Telecom - Handsets Advertisers (In Impressions)

Zovi.com is the No 1 advertiser in the category

Samsung is the leader in the category in Jan-June 2012

Advertisers Zovi.com Jabong.com Bagittoday.com Bestylish.com Inkfruit.com Firstcry.com Seventymm Movie Rental Online service Homeshop18.com Snapdeal.com Rediff Shopping Others Retail - Brands Overall

Banner Impressions (in Mn) 2,416 1,849 1,328 1,006 927 871

Relative Share (%)

SoV (%)

14.3 10.9 7.9 6.0 5.5 5.2

3.9 3.0 2.1 1.6 1.5 1.4

843 808 782 747 5,317 16,894 61,969

5.0 4.8 4.6 4.4 31.5

1.4 1.3 1.3 1.2 8.6

Top Auto Advertisers (In Impressions)

Mahindra & Mahindra is the No 1 advertiser in the category with 15.6% relative share Advertisers Mahindra & Mahindra General Motors India Ltd Maruti Udyog Ltd Hyundai Motor India Ltd Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd Fiat India Automobiles Ltd Tata Motors Ltd KTM Nissan Motor Co Ltd Volkswagen Others Automotive Overall

Banner Impressions (in Mn) 414 274 246 225 198 190 175 131 128 106 573 2,660 61,969

Relative Share (%)

SoV (%)

15.6 10.3 9.2 8.5 7.4 7.1 6.6 4.9 4.8 4.0 21.6

0.7 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.9

Advertisers

Banner Impressions (in Mn) Samsung Mobile 1991 Nokia Corporation 461 Huawei Mobile 57 Lava Mobiles 44 Blackberry 41 XOLO 33 HTC 27 Micromax 19 Sony Ericsson 10 Karbonn Mobiles 6 Mobile & Telecom - Handsets 2,688 Overall 61,969

Relative Share (%)

SoV (%)

74.1 17.2 2.1 1.6 1.5 1.2 1.0 0.7 0.4 0.2

3.2 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Top 10 FMCG Advertisers (In Impressions)

P&G with 38.7% & HUL with 20.8% relative share are the top advertisers in the category in Jan-June 2012 period Advertisers P&G HUL PEPSI L Oreal India ITC Colgate Palmolive India Ltd Tata Tea Marico Industries Ltd Kelloggs DS Group Others FMCG Overall

Banner Impressions (in Mn) 755 407 205 90 77 62 33 33 28 27 236 1,953 61,969

Relative Share (%)

SoV (%)

38.7 20.8 10.5 4.6 3.9 3.2 1.7 1.7 1.4 1.4 12.1

1.2 0.7 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.4

Market – All India; Source – Adview vizisense; Period –Jan-Jun 2012 ; Adview is a monitoring tool for online media (display advertising); tracks the top 600 advertisers & top 1000 publishers; Gathers impressions served at home, office, cybercafe, schools/colleges Relative share represents share within the category

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COVER STORY DIGITAL AD SPENDS “Digital media is becoming the lead media for consumers looking out for a car. In fact, number of people who search for a car on-line in India is higher than US & UK market. All major auto brands are increasingly using this media to reach out the current and future customers and spends are bound to grow as internet penetration grows.” Who’s advertising online? According to the Pitch-Mindshare Digital Report 2012, online services is fast emerging as the biggest advertising category

online. Online shopping alone has 27 per cent share of voice, with 16,894 million banner impressions between January and June 2012. Matrimony is another big spender online, with a share of voice of nine per cent and 5,555 million banner impressions during the same period. Meanwhile, when it comes to brands, Yahoo, Bharatmatrimony.com and Zovi. com have emerged as the top three advertisers online. While Yahoo itself is one of the biggest advertiser, which are the categories that are advertising on Yahoo portals? Accord-

Top BFSI - Insurance Advertisers

Top Mobile & Telecom – Operator Services Advertisers (In Impressions)

(In Impressions)

Life Insurance Corp of India, the #1 advertiser in the category with 34.7% relative share Advertisers

Banner Relative Impressions Share (%) (in Mn)

ing to Vishal Maheshwari, Senior Director and Head of Sales, Yahoo! India, “At an industry level, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), and the Retail industry have been the big spenders in digital advertising in 2011. Other industries such as Education, Telecommunication, Travel and Auto are clearly coming on board and gradually increasing their play in digital. At Yahoo! we have seen a wide set of diverse advertisers namely FMCG players like P&G and HUL, Banking brands like SBI, Kotak Mahindra, auto

Bharti Airtel leads the category with 24.1% relative share SoV (%)

Advertisers

Banner Relative Impressions Share (%) (in Mn)

SoV (%)

Life Insurance Corp Of India

464

34.7

0.7

Bharti Airtel Ltd

331

24.1

0.5

Apollo Munich

213

15.9

0.3

Vodafone Essar Ltd

287

20.9

0.5

HDFC Standard Life Insurance

118

8.8

0.2

Idea Cellular Ltd

262

19.1

0.4

ICICI Lombard + ICICI Prudential Ins

132

9.9

0.2

Tata DoCoMo + Tata Teleservices

200

14.6

0.3

Max New York Life Insurance

5.6

0.1

Bharti Axa

4.4

0.1

Reliance Communications Ltd

121

8.8

0.2

Aegon Religare

4.2

0.1

Aircel Ltd

113

8.2

0.2

IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited

MTS India

1.8

0.0

3.4

0.1

Loop Mobile

1.2

0.0

Kotak Insurance

3.2

0.1

MTNL

0.8

0.0

Aviva Life Insurance Co India

2.7

0.1

Others

0.3

0.01

Others

7.1

0.2

BFSI - Insurance

1,336

Mobile & Telecom - Operator Services

1,371

Overall

61,969

Overall

61,969

Market – All India; Source – Adview vizisense; Period –Jan-Jun 2012; Adview is a monitoring tool for online media (display advertising); tracks the top 600 advertisers & top 1000 publishers; Gathers impressions served at home, office, cybercafe, schools/colleges; Relative share represents share within the category

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Top BFSI – Stocks & Mutual Funds Advertisers (In Impressions)

Top BFSI – Banking Services Advertisers (In Impressions)

iForex, the No 1 advertiser in the category with 54.6% relative share

Citibank is the No 1 advertiser in the category with 17.7% relative share

Advertisers

iForex

Banner Relative Impressions Share (%) (in Mn) 548

54.6

SoV (%)

Advertisers

Banner Relative Impressions Share (%) (in Mn)

SoV (%)

0.9

Citibank

250

17.7

0.4

134

9.5

0.2

Sharekhan

228

22.7

0.4

Kotak Mahindra Bank

ICICI Direct

8.0

0.1

HDFC Bank

106

7.5

0.2

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund

2.2

0.04

HSBC

105

7.4

0.2

7.0

0.2

CapitalVia

2.1

0.03

Punjab National Bank

Aditya Birla Money

1.8

0.03

Union Bank of India

6.9

0.2

Larsen and Toubro

1.2

0.02

Axis Bank

6.8

0.2

Morgan Stanley

1.0

0.02

ICICI Bank Limited

6.1

0.1

5.8

0.1

5.1

0.1

20.2

0.5

Kotak Securities

0.9

0.01

MasterCard

Motilal Oswal Securities

0.8

0.01

DHFL Housing Finance

Others

4.7

0.1

Others

285 1,414 61,969

BFSI - Stocks & MFs

1,003

BFSI - Banking Services

Overall

61,969

Overall

Market – All India; Source – Adview vizisense; Period –Jan-Jun 2012 Adview is a monitoring tool for online media (display advertising); tracks the top 600 advertisers & top 1000 publishers; Gathers impressions served at home, office, cybercafe, schools/colleges Relative share represents share within the category

companies like Maruti and Volkswagen, telecom players like Samsung and LG amongst others.” Website such as Gaadi.com offers branded advertising solutions across verticals. Audience on the website are there for car research and buying are likely to interact better with car related branded advertising.”However, FMCG and FMCD also has a huge presence in terms of branded advertising as an average consumer will be consuming those products and services as well,” says Umang Kumar, CEO and Co-Founder, Gaadi.com.

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

How does the money split? When it comes to allocating budgets, marketers and digital planners alike feel that there is no standard formula and it all depends on the brand’s objectives, the campaign, the geographies being targeted and the performance criterion. Greater spends would go to SEM (Search Engine Marketing) when the objective is to target a consumer with an intent to purchase, while display advertising would be the key to establish wider reach. Similarly, to drive engagement and interaction for the brand/product, SMM

(Social Media Marketing) is the prime focus, and email marketing assumes importance when a brand is trying to reconnect with users and for CRM activities. “It would totally depend on the campaign. But ideally, 30 per cent should be on Search, 50 per cent on Display (10-15 per cent on innovation) and 20 per cent on networks,” says Carlton D’Silva, Chief Creative Officer, Hungama Digital Media. Getting social “The key pillars to all the changes in the digital scenario will be social and e-commerce.

COVER STORY DIGITAL AD SPENDS They will drive marketing,” feels Vincent Digonnet, President, Asia Pacific, Digitas. With brand exposure best being served by social media, marketers are increasingly thronging this platform to reach and expand their target audience in a cost-effective way. Until now being dominated by social networking sites like Facebook , Twitter, and Linkedin, this space is seeing a surge of players like Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram, to name a few. However, the specific platform on social media that a brand chooses depends on the intended target audience that a brand is looking to serve or in case of a B2B or B2C client, the SEC. Zafar Rais,

Founder and CEO - MindShift Interactive goes on to add. “Sometimes a brand may require minimum outreach on smaller platforms and higher impact. In that case we can use Facebook or Blogs as the core platform and other smaller platforms like Instagram or Twitter. These, in fact, serve as a key influencer for many of our brands like e-commerce players.” Does social really count? However, does the inherent nature of social media result in generation of a large number of frivolous fans for a brand instead of loyal, consistent buyers? Is the number of ‘Likes’ on a Facebook page

Top Media & Entertainment Advertisers (In Impressions)

Top Electronics & Tech – Consumer Durables Advertisers (In Impressions)

Star TV Network, the No 1 advertiser in the category with 32.1% relative share Advertisers

Banner Relative Impressions Share (%) (in Mn)

truly representative of brands’ popularity? For Yashraj Vakil, Chief Executive Officer, Red Digital, it all depends on a brands’ objective behind its social media presence. “Some categories like e-commerce try to generate sales through social media. For others, like FMCG, their social media objective is not to spur sales but to increase top of mind recall.” He goes on to add. “People say it is not about the number of likes you get. It is about engagement. But if you don’t have enough number of people on your page, what engagement will you talk of?” Vakil goes ahead to add that in terms of specific categories, telecom, electronics,

Samsung, the No 1 advertiser in the category with 21.3% relative share SoV (%)

Advertisers

Banner Relative Impressions Share (%) (in Mn)

SoV (%)

Samsung

226

21.3

0.4

0.5

Dish TV

126

11.9

0.2

7.2

0.1

USHA

117

11.0

0.2

4.4

0.05

Nikon India Pvt Ltd

8.5

0.1

Cartoon Network

3.7

0.04

Sony India Ltd

5.3

0.1

The Times Of India

3.3

0.04

Canon India Ltd

5.2

0.1

Reliance Big Pictures

2.7

0.03

Tata Sky

4.8

0.1

IBN7

2.6

0.03

Tata Enterprise

4.5

0.1

4.0

0.1

Star TV Network +Channel V + Movies Ok

312

45.5

Zee TV

Movies

NDTV Good Times

2.4

0.03

LG Electronics India Ltd

Others

193

28.1

0.3

3.9

0.1

Media & Entertainment

685

Others

209

19.7

0.3

Overall

61,969

Electronics & Tech Consumer Durables

1,061

Overall

61,969

Market – All India; Source – Adview vizisense; Period –Jan-Jun 2012 Adview is a monitoring tool for online media (display advertising); tracks the top 600 advertisers & top 1000 publishers; Gathers impressions served at home, office, cybercafe, schools/colleges Relative share represents share within the category

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Top Electronics & Tech – Hardware

Top Electronics & Tech – Software

Advertisers (In Impressions)

Dell Computer Corp, the #1 advertiser in the category with 25.7% relative share

Microsoft Corp, the #1 advertiser in the category with 60% relative share

Advertisers

Banner Relative Impressions Share (%) (in Mn)

SoV (%)

Advertisers

Banner Relative Impressions Share (%) (in Mn)

SoV (%)

Dell Computer Corp

329

25.7

0.5

Microsoft Corp

695

60.0

1.1

Hewlett Packard India Ltd

255

19.9

0.4

Accenture

255

22.0

0.4

Samsung Electronics

254

19.8

0.4

Oracle

152

13.1

0.2

HCL Infosystems Ltd

151

11.8

0.2

CtrlS

2.1

0.0

Intel Corp

6.1

0.1

IBM Corp

1.1

0.0

Lenovo

5.9

0.1

Capgemini India

0.9

0.0

IBM

5.5

0.1

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

0.2

0.0

Sony India

1.1

0.0

SAP India

0.2

0.0

Epson

1.1

0.0

Wipro

0.1

0.0

Cisco Systems

0.8

0.0

Trend Micro

0.1

0.0

Others

2.4

0.0

Others

0.2

0.0

Electronics & Tech – Hardware

1,281

Electronics & Tech – Software

1,159

Overall

61,969

Overall

61,969

Market – All India; Source – Adview vizisense; Period –Jan-Jun 2012 Adview is a monitoring tool for online media (display advertising); tracks the top 600 advertisers & top 1000 publishers; Gathers impressions served at home, office, cybercafe, schools/colleges ; Relative share represents share within the category

mobile phones, FMCG, and e-commerce are using this space well. What Clicks? Shamsuddin Jasani, Managing Director Isobar India, a digital agency, says, a significant extension of social is ORM (Online Reputation Management). Other trend that will redefine digital marketing, he feels is augmented reality. “Augmented reality has now become mainstream. NFC will become more popular and video will continue to gain prominence. Emerging social platforms like Pinterest will be explored and

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

will become part of social mix. In the creative space, HTML5 would become norm and creatives will seamlessly appeal across screens (Laptop, Tablet, and Mobile).” However, it is the mobile platform that is slated to become the future of advertising. From the time of SMS and voice-based marketing and advertising a multitude of mobile marketing options like Video and Apps are now coming into play. Offline versus Online There are other challenges that this medium poses as well. Due to the multiplicity

of platforms on digital that can be leveraged for marketing, getting a perspective on the clients’ end objective for the digital activity is a tough task. “The biggest challenge is to ensure that we use the medium for its advantages- interactivity. Creative and media go hand in hand here and both need to understand the more interactive you get with your consumer the better the results,” says Atul Hegde, Chief Executive Officer at Ignitee. However, the biggest hurdle that most agencies face is that digital is pursued as a standalone marketing tool rather than

COVER STORY DIGITAL AD SPENDS Top Travel - Airlines Advertisers

Top Retail - Brands

Lufthansa, the #1 advertiser in the Travel-Airlines category with 33.3% relative share

Sher Singh, the #1 advertiser in the category with 30% relative share.

Advertisers (In Impressions)

(In Impressions)

Advertisers

Banner Relative Impressions Share (%) (in Mn)

SoV (%)

Advertisers

Banner Relative Impressions Share (%) (in Mn)

SoV (%)

Lufthansa

193

33.3

0.3

Sher Singh

235

30.0

0.4

Emirates

130

22.4

0.2

Titan Industries Ltd

178

22.7

0.3

British Airways

8.4

0.1

Parx

11.1

0.1

Boeing

6.1

0.1

Puma

7.0

0.1

Spicejet Ltd

5.5

0.1

Nike

6.8

0.1

Air France

4.3

0.0

Pepe Jeans

5.1

0.1

Qatar Airways

4.2

0.0

Essilor

4.3

0.1

Jet Airways

3.7

0.0

Park Avenue

3.3

0.04

Air Arabia

3.2

0.0

Monte Carlo

3.0

0.04

Qantas

2.8

0.0

U.S. Polo

2.2

0.03

Others

6.2

0.1

Others

4.6

0.1

Travels - Airlines

580

Retail - Brands

784

Overall

61,969

Overall

61,969

Market – All India; Source – Adview vizisense; Period –Jan-Jun 2012 Adview is a monitoring tool for online media (display advertising); tracks the top 600 advertisers & top 1000 publishers; Gathers impressions served at home, office, cybercafe, schools/colleges Relative share represents share within the category

being part of the overall media mix. While the media mix and the priority given to digital may vary depending on the objectives of the client, it is imperative that digital needs to be part of the overall strategy and not a separate proposition. It has to be in sync with all other media, even while the digital idea or approach will be different and unique from how traditional media is pursued. V Achuthan Kutty, Director Digital, Madison Communications, says, “Look at what the audience does – they flit in and out of digital seamlessly – to them it is just another channel. It is us in media who try and enforce this divide. The basic

tenet should be for digital to inject that multiplier to the overall marketing/media plan that will help the brand stand out not just digitally, but overall as well.” According to Digonnet, one of the biggest mistakes has been that online media has been developed on the principles of traditional media. Digital marketing is often an afterthought but when it comes to designing creatives for this platform, most marketers adapt and tweak the same creatives used in traditional media. Merely replicating a television commercial on digital is considered digital marketing by many. There is, however, a need for separate

creatives. Campaigns designed for digital media need to drive interactivity and engagement whereas traditional media is more about breaking the mould. According to Jasani, the inherent nature of offline and online media is different. “In the true sense of traditional media most of it is broadcast and one way communication. The biggest difference is that digital is a two way street. The medium also offers you great deal of flexibility the technology allows you to do a lot more and connect with users in a much deeper way than broadcast,” he says. The key to a successful online campaign, according to most agencies, is

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COVER STORY DIGITAL AD SPENDS differentiated content. In digital, asset is worth nothing and intelligence, monitoring, tracking and creating content is where the money is. Digonnet goes on to add, “Traditionally, the right to put 30 seconds of a TV spot is a lot of money, whereas the right to put anything on internet or in mobile is nothing. All those people who try to monetise from just mere asset sell will be wiped out because it is now audience on demand.” Learning and Unlearning Do marketers really understand digital or is there disconnect between their perception of this medium and what it actually is? Chandrakanth BN, the Co-Founder and Managing Director, Theorem, a global technology company, thinks that the value of digital is not well understood by the marketers as of now in the country. He cites an example of the US, when Theorem started its business, display and email marketing was the main area of focus. “In the second or third year, campaigns started to pick up with Google after which social media and mobile took over. The way people consumed content changed drastically in the western and more mature markets. Earlier, the pie of digital marketing spends was about seven to eight per cent in the US. Now it is looking at a 14 to 15 per cent share and the projections show that it will go up to 20 to 21 per cent in the next couple of years. He explains that during the financial crisis of 2008-09 there was a slump in the usual marketing but there was an increase in the digital marketing at that time because it is a lot more cost effective and people could show a better ROI. A lot of this also has to do with the profile of the marketers at the helm of affairs. Seasoned marketers, with years of experience behind them have worked with the

HARSH REALITIES

traditional media and will take time to fully understand the complexities of the digital medium. “At the moment we are in this transient position. Young ones understand digital but the ones who know marketing and business do not really understand digital. There needs to be connect between them,” says Digonnet. Another key reason to this disconnect, according to Kanika Mathur, President, Digitas is that most people using digital understand it more from the point of view of advertising rather than from a marketing and business transformation standpoint. For most companies, it is also about herd mentality. A marketer will hop on to the digital platform because his competitors are doing the same. To alter this thinking and encourage greater spends on digital which will enhance innovation and experimentation and create a ripple effect on sales, agencies need to educate marketers about

By Harsh Maheshwari

the opportunities in digital. Mindshift, for instance, recently held Pinterest training with the Big CBS Team. The industry is taking pains to educate marketers about the benefits of online advertising. Maheshwari of Yahoo, says, “To educate the marketers, we conduct sessions like Fresh Fridays, which is designed to interact with advertisers and agencies. Over a day’s session, Yahoo shares with agencies and their clients insights into the digital medium, possible innovations and successful case studies. We also believe that it is imperative to grow the overall creativity and innovation ecosystem amongst advertisers and agencies. In 2010, we brought Yahoo!’s global flagship awards Big Idea Chair to India, in a bid to celebrate digital innovation. Since then these awards have recognized some of the most creative work, and smart ideas delivered in the world of digital advertising.”  -arshiya.khullar@pitchonnet.com

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

PERSPECTIVE

Bimalendu Tarafdar | Marketing Head, Van Heusen

“Considering that there are 73 million urban Indians on the internet (as per IAMAI) and approximately 35% of them form our TG, it makes immense sense for us to use the digital platform to connect with our prospective consumers. Digital media not only allows brands like us to engage with consumers but also provides rich consumer insight. We have our own website where we get monthly about 15,000 visitors as well specific brand pages on Face Book (VDOT page about 2 lakh fans and Van Heusen page has about 1.4 lakh fans).”

Dhiman Mukherjee | Director Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn India

“Several B2C marketers are already online on our platform in full strength such as Volkswagen, Woodland, etc. On the other hand, their B2B counterparts are still in early stages of leveraging the online opportunity. Firms such as Cisco India, SAP India, Huawei and Trend Micro are successfully leveraging LinkedIn to meet their business objectives. Given that LinkedIn has a local member base of approximately 57% decision makers, it is no surprise that in 2011 Indian professionals on LinkedIn generated 149 million business leads.”

Faisal Farooqui | CEO, Mouthshut.com

“On mouthshut.com, advertisers looks for consumers who talk about their brands and services. They are not their on mouthshut.com to share their daily news but are there to talk about services and brands. Therefore, the audience is very receptive to these ads. We bundle with a lot of innovative solutions. For example, we tie up with insurance companies. We tell them that you don’t just advertise with their banner on moutshut.com but you also engage with people who have talked about your policies and try and resolve their issues, give them new ideas with your insurance product. Therefore, there are a lot of education and awareness campaigns going on.”

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COVER STORY PERSPECTIVE Harkirat Singh | CEO, Woodland

“Like any other medium, even digital medium has its own pros and cons. While its effective in reach and instant in reaction, the most critical feature is of it’s being an open forum. Though, it gets a brand a lot of compliments be its product, service led, it also invite negative comments that are shared by the subscribers on an open forum. One negative comment (subject to its in-sight) can negative / wipe-out all the positive perception that has been built over a period. Most of the brands use a 360-degree approach for their campaigns. In our case – we being a youth brand - digital is the key, since it’s the most effective way to reach out to our audiences”

Jacob John | Brand Head, Louis Philippe

“Identifying the right metrics and benchmarks is a critical challenge in the digital space. How do we measure RoI from digital campaigns and what are the right metrics to consider in this medium is something that is still being debated.The business impact of digital marketing spends still needs validation in many cases and is still a big challlenge for marketers. Also, finding the right balance between social media conversations and engagement on the brand website is a critical challenge area that marketers are just learning to deal with. Further, initiating a change in thought process to put digital at the heart of every strategy is something that most of us are still learning to enforce.”

Lutz Kothe | Head of Marketing and PR, Volkswagen Passenger Cars

“Each medium plays an important role for us e.g. the social media assets like Facebook and Twitter are being used to extensively engage with the audience e.g. anything4jetta# campaign on twitter during the launch of the Jetta TDI, a You Tube campaign during the launch of the Jetta TSI to educate the audience about the benefits of the TSI engine. Other digital platforms are also important as a marketing tool and have also been used extensively by us for various campaigns e.g. a special mobile game was devised during the IPL season 6.”

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Nikhil Sharma | Marketing Director, PVMI

“Digital as a platform has always been a challenging platform for a marketer. To share some of the key ones: 1. Consistent content development like product videos, webisodes, games etc. 2. Customising the available content like product shots, brand videos as per digital specification and tonality. 3. Creating an opportunity to converse daily with users is a challenging task. 4. Innovation and experimentation on digital is the key. 5. Managing end to end digital value chain with multiple stakeholders like brand, creative, media, technology has always been a tough task for any marketer.”

Rahul Saighal | CMO, Samsung India

“Biggest challenge in the digital space is to create content relevant for consumers, whether it’s a tactical campaign or it is designed to meet your long term strategic intent. Tactical is where the campaign has a start and end date and is easy to execute. It is the strategic category, where the biggest challenge for a brand to create digital platforms lies. For integration, it is not necessary to integrate all media campaigns, as integration ideas come from understanding the strengths of each medium and synergistically leveraging those strengths.”

Rajiv Mehta | MD, South Asia, Puma

“Given that our primary audience is the youth – the digital medium is paramount to our marketing strategy. The youth are very aware and active in the digital space and we need to be where they are in order to talk to them. What drives the growth of digital is that we see tangible results from our campaigns online and we are able to involve the customer more – by proving them real-time content, videos, images and information about the brand and our activities. People react and interact with us and this is very important for us – to know what our audience is thinking and how we can give them more of what they are looking for.”

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COVER STORY PERSPECTIVE Sameer Satpathy | Executive VP and Head Marketing - Consumer Product Business, Marico

“The more premium and influential consumers are occupying the digital space and if you look at most of the top brands in India, their target is the top 20 percent or 30 percent of the population any which way. If you look at it from that perspective, one-third of the population is using it. The medium in itself is very influential because of its fluency in Search and Display and thus, it really can add a lot of value to any campaign. As far as being on mobile is concerned, as long as the consumers are on it, we have to be there. That said, handle devices are definitely going to be much larger in number because of the simplicity and convenience they offer.”

Somprabh Singh | Marketing Head, India, Titan Industries

“For any campaign we use a mix of all the four verticals - search, display, social media & mobile. For instance in our award winning campaign for HTSE, we had used all the verticals, but mobile and social media had taken the lead. In the case of HTSE, we wanted our consumers to experience the technology and the designs in the best way possible. To achieve this, we developed a very interesting application for both Facebook and Mobile, which integrated augmented reality to help the consumer experience the entire collection. HTSE is a very specific example but most of our spends go into display as it helps us showcase our products very effectively and efficiently.”

Sooraj Bhat | COO, Allen Solly

“We have been aggressively spending - about 10 per cent of media spends - on digital. We use social media not only for the purposes of branding but also to connect with our consumers and get their insights on the product. We incorporate these insights/needs from the consumer to develop superior products, thus meeting the needs of the consumers. For example, we did an online research activation on Facebook last year to get a perception of what working professionals think of Friday Dressing and whether it has changed over a period of time. We got over 15,00 units of relevant responses and were able to get some great insights for our ‘Friday Dressing’ campaign.”

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

INTERVIEWS

‘Digital marketing helps us build brand salience ’ LK Gupta | Vice President, Marketing, LG India For LG, digital is a medium to create brand advocacy through consumers. LK Gupta, VP, Marketing, LG India, tells Aditi Malhotra how innovation will help achieve this

How important is the digital medium as a tool for marketing for LG as a brand? Digital marketing helps us to strike the consumer’s mindset in the evaluation stage. Our goals with regard to digital media have been to create a closer connect with our current and future consumers. The objective is to foster a bond with the brand based on the likes and dislikes of consumers rather than through brandspeak. Over time this will build higher likeability and preference for the brand. What is the objective of your digital strategy? The big objective for us when it comes to digital marketing is build on brand salience and brand advocates for us. To strengthen the brand - consumer bond in the longer version of business and target the new acquisitions and repeat customers. How important are the different verticals of the media? Search helps us in hitting the consumer mindset during the evaluation stage of his purchase life cycle. Social media helps us creating brand advocates for us via means of networking sites and listening tools. Display serves us as a vehicle to enable us to send across our message to the mass. Mobile media enables us to provide information to the consumer on the go thus serving various brands and business objectives for us. How important is mobile marketing for you? With more than 30 per cent Google searches happening on hand held devices; Mobile marketing has become an key part of our overall digital marketing efforts. We are making constant efforts to enable our consumers to receive on the go information through Apps, mobile

Our digital spends in 2012 are around Rs 25 crore and we have increased our digital spends by 50 per cent Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

display media and search. For dynamic products like mobile phones, it is extremely important for us to be in direct contact with our consumers in order to understand what exactly they are looking for and, therefore, add value to their lives. We have already experimented with advertising on mobile, and quite certainly this medium will grow for us as the smartphone penetration grows. How have your digital spends grown over the years? Our digital spends in 2012 are around Rs 25 crore. We have increased our digital spends by 50 per cent. What are the key digital marketing initiatives/campaigns executed by LG in the last one year? We at LG firmly believe in constant innovation and the Smartphone Idea Camp allows our consumers to showcase their creativity and talent. The Smartphone Idea Camp is an excellent way to gain inspiration from the imagination of the mobile phone users and tech enthusiasts. It helps us gain a better understanding of the demands and desires of our consumers and gives us a first-hand insight into their minds. We have rolled out two more campaigns. The first one is our flagship product LG Cinema 3D smart TV and second is Eco health campaign for Home Appliances. We have started out Home Appliances ATL campaign Eco friendly which showcases eco-friendly technology in LG HA products simultaneously we announced a digital interactive campaign on Facebook called My Eco Home which will allow Facebook fans around the world to create and share their own personalised, virtual dream homes. Optimus range campaign in early 2012 was another interesting campaign. In this we potrayed our range of Optimus smart phones via Super heros, Whereas each Super hero posessess a super power which signifies the key attribute of that Smart phone. An entire buzz was created around the activity via, Display , Social , Microsite, Videos etc. An entire comic strip was created around the super heros and was promoted through various diagital marketing vehicles. 

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘Facebook is not social media’ Simon Ashwin | Regional Head of Social Media, Asia Paciﬁc, Mindshare In an interview with Pallavi Srivastava, Ashwin talks about the importance of social media in a brands’ life, the Dos and the Don’ts of the medium, the irrelevance of fans and much more…

How important is social media for marketers in India? Social isn’t for everybody, particularly in markets like India, which is still growing very fast. Take the example of Facebook for instance. Interestingly, India ranks No 3 in the Facebook world. There are about 53.5-54 million people online on Facebook from India that represents 67 per cent of the online population of the world. But if you look at the social media penetration in the country, it is only about 4.5 per cent. Also, these 54 million people are mostly urban dwellers than rural and heavily skewed towards males. The gender spread on Facebook in India is 70 per cent male and 30 per cent female. Age-wise, most of Facebook users in India fall in the age group of 18-34 years. So it certainly doesn’t makes sense for every brand to have presence on social media today itself. So if a brand’s TG is predominantly male, between 1834 years it makes sense for them to invest on a social media platform like Facebook. In other cases, a brand may have a wider target audience but may be looking at targeting a particular segment through social media. How important is social media in the marketing budget of brands? Digital is small in the overall ad pie. In the recent past, brands have started shifting budgets away from traditional mediums for different reasons like inflation in cost of 30 second slots. Also brands are realising that audience behaviour is changing they are not watching as much TV as they use to and their internet consumption through various screens is going up. When they are on bus, on train, on the move, in oﬃce, they are mostly online searching web engaging with friends through various social media platforms. And so, brands are also

There are about 53.5-54 million people online on Facebook from India. But the social media penetration in the country, is only about 4.5% 22

saying that lets move spends on digital. What is your take on Indian marketers’ understanding of the Social Media? Most clients see Facebook as social media and I have strong views about that. Facebook is not social media and Facebook strategy is not social media strategy. Facebook is a tactic that you deploy to build a robust social media strategy. Many of our clients see Facebook investment as a starting point. When I think about some of those brands and their target audience, Facebook totally is an inappropriate starting point. However they are now asking us what we should do with the ‘X’ number of fans we have. Usually, they should have thought about that before but again that’s not unique to India. This is what happens in every market in the initial stages when marketers are exploring social media platforms. We tend to feel that social media is technology driven. Social is the conversation you have about a brand with your friends and families and technology is just a medium that facilitates those conversations. So the blogs and forums where people talk about brand and product is also social media. Then there is an opportunity to have branded social presence on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ etc. So what is the value of Facebook fans for the brands? We get asked this very frequently. To the horror of some clients, I say that a fan is worth zero rupees. They are worthless. Look at it this way: if the same brand had an email database of consumers but never used it, what value does the database have? It is worthless! So it is not about what database or fan base you have but about what you do with that fan base to drive business outcomes. So, just collecting numbers adds no value to brands. Driving those fans to on ground events to create content, which can further be connected back to social media is important. You also talked about the importance of having

| September | Oct-Nov 2012 Pitch Pitch

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

defined objectives for social media presence. What are some key objectives clients have and how do you help them identify these objectives? We have developed, globally, the 7As process to help clients find the objectives of their social media strategy. And you will be surprised to know that choosing the platform like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc is step No 4. Most often, clients jump to that but when we go through the planning process, it naturally leads us to an easy understanding of what platform works best to achieve this objective. Can you share the steps in this 7 A’s process? Yes. The steps are: 1. Audience (who are you wishing to engage with?) 2. Aims (what are you wanting to achieve? What are your goals?) 3. Approach (what is your social media architecture? How will you assess and respond to consumer comments? What is your tone of voice?) 4. Areas (what social media platform/s will best meet your needs?) 5. Assets (what content do you have or need?) 6. Activation (how will you let people know where you are? How will you drive eyeballs to your social media sites?) 7. Analysis (what metrics/ measurements will you use to track success?) How important is Twitter as a social media platform and how different is it than Facebook? Twitter is a very different channel. It is like an apple and a pear. The way Twitter is used and consumed is totally different from Facebook. Twitter serves different objectives: it is about news blocks, quick timely content, about short links etc. There are many aspects of the Twitter strategy like: Tweet strategy, link strategy, hashtags, videos and pictures etc. We all know that Twitter has 140 character limit for the Tweets. But we recommend to clients that they should limit Tweets to 100-120 characters, reason being when somebody retweets, their handle goes in the front, which means the original message will not be displayed completely. Then there is whole link strategy that comes into play. Research shows that if u put your link in the middle of your tweet you get a higher engagement than if you put it in the end. Plus, hashtags have evolved into a marketing opportunity but it also brings the risk of what we call ‘bashtagging’, that’s where communities on Twitter may have a disagreement with the brand and overtake the brand’s objective of being there. But then that risk is present in all advertising. What are the challenges you see in the social media space? One of the challenges, which is an external challenge, is

Pitch | Oct-Nov September 2012 2012

client’s understanding and acceptance of it. For instance, for most of the clients, their Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is based on GRPs. So even if they want to do a lot of digital and social stuff, it will not get them promotions or pay hike. So that’s one challenge. Another challenge is that clients think that if they open a brand page, everyone will complain. But, this is illusionary. I say, they are anyways complaining whether you are or aren’t on the social media. We use tools to show clients on Twitter the conversations people were having about them, even when they were not present on the medium. To avoid social media crisis, brands should always plan in advance for most situations. Many clients ask me for good crisis management case studies, but I say there are none, because a well-managed challenging situation never actually becomes a crisis. How does consumer psyche get influenced by brands on social media? In end of 2010 and early 2011, as GroupM, we did a research where we looked that the digital elements of the

Marketers should limit Tweets to 100-120 characters. When someone retweets, their handle goes in the front consumer’s past researches. We looked across different categories and found out that the consumer generally starts purchase via search on platforms like Yahoo, Google, Bing etc. These search results now include social results and that is not restricted to only FB but also means writing reviews and blogs. Here word of mouth comes to play an important role in influencing purchase decisions. In fact, Nielsen released a report in 2010-2011 that 74 per cent of consumers don’t believe a single word what advertisers say. I am not surprised as I look at my own experience. I go to search and see what people have said about the brand and then go back to the brand site and either go to point of sale or may even go back to search again. I may then eventually, may or may not buy the product. Depending on my experience, I may or may not join the brand’s Facebook page. So, for brands being inventive and relevant is very important. Just posting for the sake of posting I think can be detrimental, so post when you have something to add value to and sometimes that will be branded content or content that is relevant for your brand territory; other times it will be commercial. n pallavi@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘Finance has to constantly engage’ Ajay Kakar | Chief Marketing Officer, Aditya Birla Group - Financial Services In an interview with Ruchika Kumar, Ajay Kakar talks about the importance of digital media for the financial sector. Excerpts...

How important is the digital medium as a tool for marketing for Aditya Birla Finacial Group? The first trend that we can see in India is that those businesses that are agent or agency driven, where products and services are sold through intermediaries, financial panelists, next sale agents etc. These kind of financial service verticals, where selling is not direct, are currently under pressure. For example, if earlier an agent was earning Rs 10 by selling one policy, today, he earns the same amount by selling five policies. Then there is pressure in the intermediation process From the overall financial sector perspective, digital has become an important tool of marketing for Aditya Birla Group. It ensures measurement from the servicing point of view where I have the analytics and data to measure the impact and cost. If I am allowing easy access at the click of a button to a customer to procure any account data and making things easier for him, I am also cutting down costs for the brand. Thus, it is a very cost effective way of engaging with consumers. What is the objective of your digital strategy? Our objective is to look at the customer across his lifecycle needs. It is not to attract a person to my website for dome information or a ‘once in a while’ engagement. It is to give the consumer enough reason to come repeatedly and engage with the brand, the category and learn the benefits of the category. For example, we have invested a year’s time and a heavy amount to revamp all our websites keeping user experience in mind. From a digital marketing perspective for the brand, how important are the different verticals of the media? As a brand, we would like to be present across all verticals,

Just the sheer number of likes on a social media campaign doesn’t show the real impact the campaign is making on the consumer’s life 24

because finance is one place which has to constantly engage with the consumer all 365 days of the year. It becomes crucial for the brand to be available on all these components of search, display, social media and mobile. How important is mobile marketing for you? Mobile marketing is an important part of the business. We may have even increased our budget but the fact remains that this media is yet to be tapped. Marketers, barring a top few, are shying away from using this media maybe because the infrastructure is still not in place, or perhaps the fact that even things like 3G have not fully arrived in the market. The percentage share or in absolute terms is very miniscule as compared to other media tools. On an average, I can say that financial services maybe spending merely a crore on this media. What are the key consumer and marketing trends that you see online? More and more consumers are making transactions online that has opened up the online retail business to a great extent. Brands are considering digital as an upcoming tool of consumer engagement and cost effectiveness. What are the challenges you see on digital platform? How important is the integration of other media campaigns with the brand’s digital strategy? Challenges are in the form of infrastructure and the right kind of message delivery to the end consumer. Today many marketers are jumping into the race of being on social media websites, which is popular, but is that serving the purpose of communicating with the right TG? I don’t think that is happening. Just the sheer number of likes or members on a social media campaign doesn’t show the real impact the campaign is making on the consumer’s life. Marketers often forget that messages on social media websites are not what the brand wants to say but more about what consumers want to hear.  ruchika@pitchonnet.com

| September | Oct-Nov 2012 Pitch Pitch

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

‘Digital media’s biggest challenge is in its reach’ Chandramouli Venkatesan | Director, Snacking & Strategy, Cadbury India Cadbury Bournville took its social media engagement to a new high by collaborating with The Dark Knight Rises’ & created an intriguing mix of online marketing. Venkatesan tells Ruchika Kumar how...

How important is the digital medium as a tool for marketing for Cadbury Bournville as a brand? What is driving the growth of this medium? Cadbury Bournville has great appeal in young adults, anywhere between 19-30 years of age. This is also the audience who spend more time online. The digital medium offers opportunity for the brand to drive relevance and build brand equity. Cadbury Bournville, with over 20 lakh fans, has been creating compelling and engaging online content that has become popular with the audiences. Being a dynamic medium, digital is gaining high priority. What is the objective of your digital strategy? Through digital, we are ensuring high and meaningful engagement with our audience. The objective is to build affinity for our brands.

The ‘Bean Hunt’ got over 13 lakh views in 10 days and Bournville crossed over 21 lakh fans on Facebook

Pitch | Oct-Nov September 2012 2012

What is the share of Digital in your media mix? How has it changed over the last two years? It depends on the brands. However it is going up continuously. What are the key digital marketing initiatives/ campaigns executed by Cadbury for Bournville in the last one year? Very recently, Cadbury Bournville tied up with the most anticipated movie of the year, The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR). Cadbury Bournville’s association with TDKR involved an innovative and exciting integrated marketing campaign and the biggest component of the campaign was the digital medium, which involved a specially created ‘animated commercial’ and a large format online contest that added to the sense of anticipation and excitement among the chocolate loyalist. Winners of this con-

test were gratified with Cadbury Bournville and Batman merchandise and special advance screening of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ across five cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai. Through the digital campaign, Bournville first built intrigue and anticipation around the association by branding the official Facebook page with TDKR’s. The bat signs asked users to “Guess who’s coming?” and then unveiled the co-branded cover on Bournville’s FB page followed by a fun and innovative pixel contest where 100 lucky fans were given special prizes. Post that a 30-second ‘digital commercial’ was launched exclusively on Cadbury Bournville’s official YouTube channel. The video was interactive in nature with daily trivia around the Batman franchise being posted on it. At the same time, a unique animated video titled ‘Bean Hijack’ was launched, which added to the excitement of dedicated fans of Bournville. The video launched a story on hijacked cocoa beans leading to a thrilling game of unlocking clues and the hunt for the lost cocoa beans. The Bean hunt digital commercial got over 13 lakh views in just about 10 days. Cadbury Bournville crossed over 21 lakh fans on Facebook. What are the challenges you see on Digital platform? Digital medium’s biggest challenge is in its reach and the other one is around measurement. The performance metrics have to evolve. Which creative agency created the campaign? Cadbury Bournville’s digital agency is Madison and the creatives for the same were done by Ogilvy & Mather.  -ruchika@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘Digital allows accurate and contextual targeting’ Nalin Kapoor | Senior General Manager & Group Head, Marketing, Hyundai Motor India Kapoor speaks to Aditi Malhotra and throws light on the growing opportunities for automobile brands in the digital marketing space

How important is digital marketing for Hyundai? Digital media allows us to do more accurate and contextual targeting. We also understand the importance of online research done by a consumer during a car buying process and how that can be leveraged. From digital marketing perspective for Hyundai, how important are the different verticals? The presence on search is hygiene as a prospect is constantly searching for information related to cars even in absence of an anchor campaign hence, it has always been a part of our media plan. Hyundai has strong presence on social media platforms through “Hyundai India” pages, which helps us to keep in constant touch with the customer. What is your annual marketing budget for digital? Currently, we are investing around 8~10 per cent of the overall budget on digital media, which is going to increase in the coming years. What are the key digital marketing initiatives/campaigns executed by Hyundai in the last one year? We had digital campaign for all our recent launches including EON, Sonata and Elantra in which we did pre- launch and post launch digital campaigns. “Catch the Buzz “campaign during the Auto Expo 2012 in which a Digital Zone was created with the aim to give visitors an interactive experience in digital media. The various stalls at this zone enabled the visitor to update his/her wall with posts and pictures

Presence on search is hygiene as prospects constantly search for information related to cars even in absence of an anchor campaign 26

on a real time basis on their Facebook and email using RFID cards. The pavilion was blu-fi enabled. A special application was developed for visitors to download Hyundai commercials and wallpapers with social media plug-ins. The Twitter area within the zone with a giant LED/LCD TV displayed the live tweets by visitors. At this zone Digital Jockeys were present – which gave live updates of the activities and performances at the Hyundai pavilion on social platform. During the EON launch we had received four lakh visits to our campaign microsite which also had an engagement application. We received around 20,000 enquiries even before launch of the car. With the EON launch we had introduced mobile site for Hyundai India. We have further done campaigns like “I live the Uberlife Campaign” during the igen i20 launch. Digital will continue to be effective media to generate buzz and enquires in our future campaigns What are the challenges you see on Digital platform? How important is the integration of other media campaigns with Hyundai’s digital strategy? We follow 360-degree approach for the campaigns by ensuring presence on all media in which digital plays a key role as digital media has the ability to capture response of the prospect at an early stage and it has really worked for us in the past. In our recent campaigns we have advertised social media campaigns on TV and print as digital has the capability to collect responses, which traditional media lacks hence it is important. Digital media has given us the power to execute highly targeted campaigns for some of our premium brands effectively.  -aditi@pitchonnet.com

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

‘Mobile lets you break the queue’ Shankar Mahadevan | Singer & Music Composer Giving a whole new musical twist to mobile interactivity with consumers in India, popular musician Shankar Mahadevan, together with Hungama Digital, launched a digital talent hunt called MOBIsur. Mahadevan talks to Ruchika Kumar about integrating mobile media in his plans ahead. Excerpts… Why digital and especially mobile as the choice for this initiative? When I conceptualised this property with Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, the thought was to give every Indian an opportunity to participate in a unique contest to try and reach the pinnacle of musical genius. Music is a powerful medium that can come from the most unexpected places. This first of its kind initiative by ITC’s Vivel Face Wash and Hungama opens new doors to a diverse mix of talent across India. By using mobile media to leverage the talent in the country, MOBISur has set a new benchmark for talent hunts. Which digital tools are being used to promote the concept? The hunt is to be carried out digitally in the true sense, with pan India auditions being conducted through mobile and internet. Participants have to dial 546465, record their voice on a unique IVR and send in their entries. Alternatively, they can also log onto the website www.mobi-sur.com and upload their video. To cover all digital mediums, a special entry area has been designed on Facebook. The finale will be live streamed across various digital touch points. How is it different from the other reality shows/ talent hunts that happen on TV channels? This hunt enables participation from anywhere in the country; all that a participant requires is a mobile phone or an Internet connection. It is truly unique

Youth in smaller towns is very aspirational but somehow technology plays a spoiler as there might not be internet penetration there Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

as it empowers the participants to break the queue and forego travelling to the nearest city for an audition. They can audition right from the comfort of their homes. In terms of cost effectiveness and reach, how is the digital medium proving more lucrative to you? Currently we are witnessing a paradigm shift in terms of consumption of digital platforms i.e. usage of internet and mobile phones. Therefore, a proposition with internet and mobile elements at the core will to cater to a larger audience with successful participation. With more and more talent shows mushrooming using two principle mediums, television and online; it’s the mobile platform through interactive voice response which will cut across all segments and regions of the country What has been the response so far? Which regions gave maximum response? We have received overwhelming response on MOBISur so far, so much that we had to extend the deadline by two more weeks. We have over 4,50,000 call-ins and more than 6,00,000 entries on the website. What is your TG for this initiative? Anyone and everyone who can sing can participate in MOBIsur. Youth in smaller towns is very aspirational but somehow technology plays a spoiler as there might not be internet penetration there. So how are you tackling this kind of challenge? Like, I said, the entry is not through internet only; anyone who can sing can dial in through a mobile phone on 546465 and participate to become the next singing icon of the nation.  -ruchika@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘50 per cent of our digital mix is search & 20 per cent social’ Namrita Sehgal | Director Digital, Taj Hotels Since travel is intrinsically social, Taj Hotels finds it pertinent to be in the digital space but with a personal touch banking on search and analytics as the backbone of the business. Arshiya Khullar talks to Sehgal to find out Taj’s online plans

We are trying to bring in a culture whereby we are trying to use our QR codes more effectively 28

How important is the digital medium as a tool for marketing for Taj? For Taj or any other brand, the reason for doing anything on digital is because that is where our customers reside. We are only following our customers and trying to make sure that we provide them with an environment, which is conducive to the sort of experience they would expect of a luxury brand like Taj or Vivanta or Gateway. Social Media allows us to capture people’s experiences in a significant way. Social is all about people sharing their experiences. And travelling is one time when you have a lot of experiences to share. It is all about starting a journey of exploration and discovery and creating memories to share with your friends. And in this process you end up becoming a storyteller. Travel is intrinsically social so it makes sense for us to be on the digital space. Social is also creating a whole lot of communities. In hospitality and travel, we are looking at people who have common interestsin terms of wellness and good living, F&B, luxury and through this we get customer insights. It helps to keep the engagement happening with the customer that goes beyond his or her stay at our hotel or other interactions with us. From an ecommerce perspective also, travel is one of the most evolved category. It only makes sense for us to leverage this opportunity. Some of the opportunities that are available are dynamic packaging, online retailing, online spa reservations- this cuts across different digital media, whether it is websites or mobile apps. We also do the traditional ecommerce like room bookings. As far as bookings on our direct, branded website go, it is still in single digits. If

you look at our international competitors, they are close to 15 per cent. Ecommerce depends on what sort of personalisation we can do. I don’t see any hospitality player doing customisation with regards to anonymous visitors. For example, there is a group of junkies who go to different places. When this particular customer will visit our website, he will see a beach related resort page rather than the normal webpage you see. This is something that is on the cards for our own branded websites. Second level of personalisation that we are planning to do is integration with our CRM. A guest has logged in with his loyalty programme details and on the basis of this we can serve him personalised experiences. Amazon has been doing it, for instance. From a digital marketing perspective for your brand, how important are the diﬀerent verticals of the media (Search, display, social media & mobile)? Analytics and search are the backbone of our business. In search, the reliance on SEOs and SEM’s is significant. We have three brands, four different products, 15-20 different geographies that we operate in. We do SEO at a corporate level- this is a centralised function in collaboration with different branches. For SEMs- different hotels take on the responsibility and are supported by the corporate team. In terms of our search spends (SEM), we have done an 8-10X increase year on year. Last year we were spending in lakh and this year we are spending in crore. This is for the domestic market. Search is no longer what it used to be- it has a direct impact on social,

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

websites, blogs. We are also focussing on improvising our search matrix. We are looking at what are the best practices, which search can go back and give to some of the other verticals in digital so that their performance becomes better. This will remain work in progress for another 12 months. We have been very effective in terms of the SEM campaigns that we have run. In the international market, we have won awards- Example- the Adrain awards for our US hotels’ SEM campaigns. If we talk of display, the focus is predominantly in terms of international markets. We don’t do any brand awareness campaigns, unless there is a launch in India. Any limited amount of display campaigns that we do in India are tactical ads, done with the intent of getting the rooms filled in. While there will be the umbrella brand approach, it will come with a subtle offer. In India, Vivanta is a contemporary brand, so we have had five-six launches and have spent money on a brand awareness perspective. We work with a repertoire of Indian and international agencies. We are trying to bring in a culture whereby we are trying to use our QR codes more effectively. The TG in India are all sitting on smart phonesthis is the option provided to the customer that he wishes to take the experience beyond the offline ad. We are also looking at integration between paid, owned, earned. With every display campaign that we do, we are looking to do other things like press releases, storytelling- talking about the ethos of doing a particular campaign. In India, search is about 50 per cent of our digital media mix and social is about 20 per cent. On an average there are around two lakh people who walk into a hotel each year. If we could put a certain percentage of these customers, say 10 per cent on our social channel and take it across my hundred hotels, then I don’t need a base of people larger than that. This needs to form 70-80 per cent of the online community. There are of course the aspirational customers too.The immediate aim is to work on getting that inward looking focus and get our customers to get connected on social. We are also looking at profiling our fans and followers and then taking this and marrying it back to our CRM database. Information such as psychological info and interest based information and then marry these behavioural patterns with

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

the transactional patterns. The full impact of these initiatives will be seen in the next 12-18 months. For the Vivanta by Taj brand, we have created a campaign called the ‘Divas of Rock’ in partnership with Sony and Rolling Stones. These are budding rock artists who are given an opportunity to present their talent at our Vivanta hotels. It is an annual event, launched last year. Entry submission is on facebook. Apart from PR and social, there is no other medium being used for the promotion. What is the share of Digital in your media mix? How has it changed over the last two years? Our aspiration was to touch 10 per cent this year. But it will be a little low. From last year, it has gone up by 5X in a year’s time. Digital is important to us. The Taj Group of Hotels are considered the leading luxury brand in the hospitality sector in India. About 50 per cent of our audience comes from the international markets and for them, digital is the first touch point- whether it is the website or mobile. Our benchmark is not just the Indian hospitality space. We also have many firsts in the Indian hospitality even in the digital space. We were the firsts to take out an iPhone app, advertise on the iPad and to create WAP sites in the marketplace. What answers do you seek from your digital advertising agencies and digital media partners while promoting your brand on internet? It all depends on the objectives of the campaign. This marketplace is evolving so fast that within the consumers a set of boredom sets in. In rich media, the kind of click through rates you used to get up to a year back, we don’t get them now. It becomes important for media planners to think of innovations to emerge beyond the clutter. In international markets, the thinking about that idea in terms of media innovations is relatively stronger. In India, in the luxury niche market there is an opportunity for a little bit more of innovationsAs far as analytics and media are concerned, most of the media teams happen to do fine. As far as media and creatives are concerned, I feel that media companies today have more power because they own the media in terms of driving innovation. Media agencies need to start thinking a lot more, keeping the creative angle in mind.n -arshiya.khullar@pitchonnet.com

Our aspiration was to touch 10 per cent this year in terms of digital share. But it will be a little low

COVER STORY COLUMNS

The Rise of Hashtags Known for their “Make or Break” properties, Hashtags can easily be flipped into Bashtags which represent the dark side of them

Suraj Nambiar

Partner, Mindshare Interaction

nyone who knows about Twitter definitely knows about a Hashtag. Ever since their inception on Twitter, Hashtags have expanded and integrated themselves into many other social networking sites like Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, Instagram and so on. Astonishingly simple and highly effective, Hashtags have single handedly centralized common topics and tweets on the ever growing social platform. A year after the establishment of Twitter, Chris Messina, also known as the “Father of Hashtags”, allegedly posted the first tweet which contained a Hashtag. Ever since, Tweeple have used Hashtags to market their accounts, gain followers and create vast communities with common interests. The term Hashtag was coined after trending topics and words were attached with a hash (#) prefix. So what are Hashtags exactly used for? Of the many advantages of using hashtags, the most known one is that it refines searches and saves time as a simple click on a trending Hashtag can get you all the information you need, complete with personal opinions of Tweeple. It is a known

fact that more that 10% of all tweets on Twitter today have Hashtags. Hashtags today are also used to reach out to the masses. Many people have initiated protests and online movements with the help of the humble Hashtag. Brands leverage Hashtags in various ways hoping that the brands trends on Twitter. The recent noticeable hastags were Castrol Biking where they used MotoGP as a platform to communicate to bikers in the country. Along with this Castrol engaged with influencers with the twitter community to spread awareness about the sport. Another campaign that was trending on Twitter was on Reliance 3G tab campaign where users had to find the tab in each location across India using # Reliance3GTab. Celebrities also are leveraged on platforms like Twitter to promote the brands however this has to be done tactically and subtly since the social users do not take kind to direct brand endorsements. Recently, Twitter took a professional turn with “Twesumes” or “Twitter Resumes”. With this new trend, potential candidates can put up their professional resume, all narrowed down to 140 characters,

Hashtags today are also used to reach out to the masses. Many people have initiated protests and online movements with the help of the Hashtag 30

along with Hashtags which mentions their profession. This enables potential employers to narrow down their search for a candidate who fits the bill. While there are a number of advantages of using Hashtags, there are a few disadvantages too. The flipside of Hashtags is that they cannot be controlled or owned. Known for their “Make or Break” properties, they can easily be flipped into Bashtags which represent the dark side of Hashtags. Once turned, Bashtags are used to damage the reputation or promotion of a brand. Quantas and McDonald’s experienced the wrath of bashtags first hand when their market promotions backfired, wounding the brand reputation. This supports the fact that Hashtags are not really the ideal platform to promote a brand. Despite the disadvantages, Hashtags remain the ultimate tool when it comes to reaching out to a wider base of audiences quickly and conveniently. The use of Hashtags is growing and evolving consistently everyday. So now when you notice the little’#’ symbol in front of a word on a social media platform, you know what it means and the power it holds. 

The views expressed here are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Pitch

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

A long way to go... There are still many unknown factors about the future of online businesses. All studies indicate that the Internet seems to be following the famous Moore’s law

he crash of the Internet ‘bubble’ in 2000 led to the phase of “creative destruction” that we are witnessing now.When the dotcom bubble burst, the rest of the global economy was dynamic Kapil Gupta, Founder & CEO, OMLogic Consulting and perfectly able to absorb the impact of that crash. The Information Technology and Communication industries have suffered the same fate and have eventually matured over the past decade. The industry of Internet is, by definition, “decentralized”. So, where does the future of e-commerce and Internet Marketing lay, in this context? Economic models are now better and it is true that many efforts have been devoted to standardization. What we are currently witnessing is the widespread change occurring at a phenomenal rate. Unfortunately the “traditional” industry sectors like banking, automotive, retail and traditional media such as newspapers, television and radio, are last to the party. These sectors will have to evolve rapidly to survive. It is impossible to say what the economy and world trade will look like at the end of this cycle of economic stagnation. But there’s one thing we can be sure of: they will be very very different from what they look today... Internet will be at the center of everything. But to return to the subject, how is it going to affect commerce and marketing? The answer is simple: massively. Marketing expenditure is mov-

ing to where the customers are: online. The advantages over traditional media lie obvious: online channels are cost effective, provide more measurable results and most important – provide a 2-way interaction (read: social media). Marketing experts are now thoroughly convinced that the focus of their marketing activities should be on the Internet. When searching for products and services, search engines have becomes the tool of choice, and there are no signs that this will change in the foreseeable future. Google, however, is not the only top dog. While Bing and Google compete in US and Europe, Baidu and Yandex have been established in China and Russia, respectively. Innovative developments such as mobile and collaborative search and geo-location mean that the complexity of the search marketing continues to grow. The personalisation and segmentation of the content of websites is becoming increasingly important. An important stimulus for the personalization arises from the fact that even anonymous website visitors can be identified by their URL, keywords or by geolocalization and how they landed on the page. Using specific landing pages and target group-oriented website optimization delivers personalized marketing that additionally improves results. Given that the activity of a pur-

The problem for companies is to find the latest promising channel and integrate the opportunity each provides into their overall marketing strategy Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

chaser can now be traced more accurately than most traditional media, our understanding of marketing and business in general, will have to change too. Marketing experts can draw on a wealth of new channels: ranging from mobile (messaging, websites and apps), rich media (video, podcasts and online games) to social media (micro-blogs, social networks and user generated content). The problem for companies is to find the latest promising channel and integrate the opportunity each provides into their overall marketing strategy. Social media in this context is positioned to become the center-point of all marketing and a convergence point for all user-engagement, in the broadest sense possible. There are still many unknown factors about the future of online businesses. One thing is certain though; all studies indicate that the Internet seems to be following the famous Moore’s law. It is estimated that the network will double in volume every five years. At this rate the web is expected surpass all other media and media in the very near future especially because it there’s no “one” web but many that converge at various intersections. The future is a source of uncertainty, and for much the unknown is terrifying. For others it is the most exciting experience that they are to live.

The views expressed here are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Pitch

COVER STORY CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Who’s doing what online? Who’re online? What are they doing online? Where are they going online?

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

By Abhinav Mohapatra

Internet Audience : Unique visitors • In July 2012, internet audience in India was 627 lakhs • This represented a 3% growth vis-a-vis June 2012 and 41% YOY 800 700

610 627 578 594 563 542 446 450 455

459 464 469

473

Nov -11

Jan -12

500

Oct -11

600

Jul -11

400 300 200

Jul -12

Jun -12

May -12

Apr -12

Mar -12

Feb -12

Dec -11

Sep -11

100 Aug -11

n the last two years, consumer behaviour has changed exponentially, and internet has been the catalyst in this. Consumers, today have more options to research and buy from. With the exponential increase in online service and product providers, cheaper internet service and better infrastructure – users can research in depth online. Hence, differentiation and preference lies in terms of user experience and quality service. Users are savvier and more aware of the product they are looking for and have ample resources to make an informed decision. This wasn’t the case earlier. In July 2012, internet audience in India was 627 lakh (unique visitors, All India; 15+; does not include users logged in from cyber cafes or other shared computers), a three per cent growth over June 2012 and a 41 per cent growth year on year. Disappearing disparity The gap between the male and female

Market – All India; TG – 15+yrs; Source – comScore; Unique visitors in lakhs (doesn’t include internet users from internet cafes or other shared computers) Period – Jul. 2011 to Jul. 2012 comScore updated its universe estimates of India in Feb 2012

Unique visitors : Demographic profiling • In Jul 2012 gender and age group proportion of internet audience is similar to that of Jun 2012 Unique Visitors July (in lakhs) 2012

35-44 16%

Male 61%

July 2012 Gender

Female 39%

54 45- % 6 5+ 3%

25-34 39%

Age Group 15-24 36%

June 2012

July 2011

MoM YoY Growth Growth

Males

381

370

275

38%

Females

381

370

275

38%

Unique Visitors July (in lakhs) 2012

June 2012

July 2011

MoM YoY Growth Growth

15-24

224

216

151

48%

25-34

245

240

183

34%

45-54

32%

55+

74%

Market – All India; TG – 15+yrs; Source – comScore; Unique visitors in lakhs (doesn’t include internet users from internet cafes or other shared computers)Period – Jul. 2011 to Jul. 2012 , MoM denotes month-on-month & YoY denotes year-on-year comScore updated its universe estimates of India in Feb 2012

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COVER STORY CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR internet users is narrowing down fast, and as per Pitch-Mindshare Digital Report 2012, in July 2012, there were 381 lakh male unique visitors as compared to 246 lakh female unique visitors, a 38 and 44 per cent growth respectively. In comparison, in July 2011, while the number of male unique visitors stood at 275 lakh, there were only 171 lakh females unique visitors. The age group of these users can be divided into five basic groups - 1524, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54 & 55 years and above. While the 15-24 age group is growing at 48 per cent, internet today is not confined to the young only as the growth of the 55 and above users too is growing the fastest at the rate of 74 per cent. However, in terms of absolute numbers, the age group of 25 to

74%

is the growth rate of internet users aged 55 years and above to emerge as the fastest growing age-group

34 years has the maximum number of unique visitors – 245 lakh – holding a share of 39 per cent. What are they doing online? What exactly is the consumer doing online? According to Bharat Bambawale, Global Brand Director, Bharti Airtel, “Today, the discerning Indian customer, especially the youth is relying on his mobile device to do just about anything from checking emails, accessing social networks, downloading music, playing games, clicking pictures, leveraging useful applications etc. This very customer is also increasingly online and prefers to use the web as a primary source of consuming news, staying connected with friends / family, for entertainment.”

Digital media consumption : By category • Corporate Presence & Services have near universal reach. • Only Sports has witnessed growth in July 2012 vis-à-vis June 2012 July 2012 Avg DV UV (in lakhs) Reach % (in lakhs)

June 2012

Jul ’12. Vs Jun ‘12

UV (in lakhs)

MoM Growth

Corporate Presence

614

260

598

Services

614

379

598

Social Media

602

204

588

Portals

594

120

588

Search/Navigation

573

169

557

Entertainment

559

166

557

News/Information

503

473

Directories/Resources

425

421

Technology

405

403

Retail

375

380

-1%

Business/Finance

355

351

Community

352

364

-3%

Distributed content

350

347

Education

280

288

-3%

Travel

276

271

Career Services and Development

271

280

-3%

Games

251

253

-1%

Telecommunications

218

210

Sports

164

138

19%

Business to Business

160

156

Regional/Local

144

147

-2%

Health

132

131

Automotive

112

108

Government

Auctions

-2%

ISP

Real estate

-3%

Gambling

-6%

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Top 20 properties

• Google, Facebook & Yahoo maintain the top 3 positions in terms of unique visitors. • In July 2012, Babylon.com has witnessed 19% growth over previous month. Times Internet added 21 lakh unique visitors in Jul 2012

700 186 141

600 500

Jul- 12 Jun - 12 % Reach Jul-12 # Average Daily Visitors Jul 12

35 21

300

200

40 17

CBS Interactive

NetShelter Technology

Amazon Sites

TORRENTZ.EU

Naukri

Glam Media

Federated media

BABYLON.COM

NIC.IN

Indian Railways

Rediff.com India Ltd

Ask Network

Network 18

BitTorrent Network

Wikimedia Foundation

Times Internet Limited

Microsoft Sites

Yahoo!Sites

FACEBOOK.COM

Google Sites

100 0

80 70 60 50

400

100 90

30 20 10 0

Market – All India; TG – 15+yrs; Source – comScore; UV stands for Unique visitors in lakhs (doesn’t include internet users from internet cafes or other shared computers); Figures in text boxes denote average daily visitors (in lakhs) to the sites; Numbers given are without duplication Period –Jul. 2012 ; Bars represent UV for the site

Services – Top 10 sites 700

177

600 500

• In Jul 2012, KAT.PH grew its UV base by 13% vis-à-vis June 2012 adding 5 lakh unique visitors in a month. Jul- 12 Jun - 12 % Reach Jul-12

400

# Average Daily Visitors Jul 12

100

4 KAT.PH

200

Picasa Network

WAY2SMS.COM

CENT Downloads

300

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Globe 7

TORRENTZ.EU

NIC.IN

BitTorrent Network

Yahoo! Mail

Google

100 90

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COVER STORY CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Portals – Top 10 sites

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

# Average Daily Visitors Jul 12

AOL, Inc.

Sify Portals

1 Webdunia

JAGRAN.COM

4 INDIA.COM SITES

IN.COM*

Rediff.com India Ltd

Times Internet Limited

Microsoft Sites

300 250 200 150 100 50 0

• Yahoo! Sites maintains No.1 position followed by Microsoft Sites and Times Internet Ltd; Unique visitor base of IN.com grew by 10%. 59 Jul- 12 Jun - 12 35 % Reach Jul-12

Yahoo! Sites

450 400 350

* Entity has assigned traffic to certain pages in the domain to other entities Market – All India; TG – 15+yrs; Source – comScore; UV stands for Unique visitors in lakhs (doesn’t include internet users from internet cafes or other shared computers); Figures in text boxes denote average daily visitors (in lakhs) to the sites; Numbers given are without duplication Period – Jul 2012 ; Bars represent UV for the site

Social Media – Top 10 sites • Facebook maintains no. 1 position and has added 13 lakhs UV in a month. 600

400

# Average Daily Visitors Jul 12

300 200

100

1 Hubpages.com

Zedge.net

500

Jul- 12 Jun - 12 % Reach Jul-12

141

Bharatstudent.com

Twitter.com

Orkut

Technorati Media

Federated Media Publising

Blogger

FACEBOOK.COM

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Search/ Navigation – Top 10 sites Google Search, leader in the category followed by Ask Network, Unique visitor base of search-results.com grew by 15% 600

100 90 80

Jul- 12 Jun - 12 % Reach Jul-12

129

500 400

# Average Daily Visitors Jul 12

300 200

11 3

2 Asklaila.com

Bing

filestube.com

Justdial.com

Yahoo! Search

Ask Network

Google Search

1 Attrakt.com

Grotal.com

Search-Results.com

100

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Entertainment – Top 10 sites Yahoo! Movies grew by 27% in Jul 12 over June 12. Youtube is the leader in this category. 600

100 90 80

Jul- 12 Jun - 12 % Reach Jul-12

500 400

# Average Daily Visitors Jul 12

300 200

5 4

100

70 60 50 40 30 20 10

MP3RAID.COM

IMDb

ToneMedia

DAILYMOTION.COM

BEEMP3.COM

Yahoo!Movies

omg!from Yahoo!

SONGS.PK

CBS Interative

Youtube.com*

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COVER STORY CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR According to the Pitch–Mindshare Digital Report 2012, the various categories in terms of online consumer consumption are services, portals, search and navigation, health, technology, corporate presence, social media, entertainment, distributed content, community, news and information, retail, business and finance, career service and development, travel, education, telecommunications, automotive, ISP, sports, auctions, real estate among others. More play The maximum growth, in terms of unique visitors, since June 2012 has been seen in the sports, services and corporate presence. Services includes e-mails, downloads, photos, discussions or chat, instant messengers, e-cards, coupons, web hosting, incentives etc. The sports category has recorded a growth of 19 per cent with 164 lakh unique visitors since June which was 138 lakh unique visitors. Both Services and Corporate Presence have seen a three per cent growth with 614 lakh unique visitors since June 2012. The search and navigation category was dominated by Google adding 129 lakh average daily visitors in July 2012 over June 2012. Portals as a category was dominated by Yahoo sites adding 59 lakh average daily visitors. Yahoo! Movies saw a 27 per cent increase in July 2012 while Youtube added 49 lakh average daily users to its basket in the entertainment segment according to the Pitch-Mindshare Report 2012. Snehal Shinde, Co-founder of Dhingana which provides online streaming of Indian music says that entertainment is one of the most sought after sections online. “On a monthly basis, 80 per cent of the users who go online are interested in entertainment and music. So that is more than the number of users who spend time searching on Google or Yahoo,” he says. In the last six months, more than 120

The primary start point of search of real estate is shifting from print classifieds to online search and the trend has been seen from the last 12 to 18 months pirated sites have been taken down by the government. In a year or two, he expects that one will see only legal sources that are attracting users for entertainment. And a lot of these users come through Facebook. If we talk about Facebook, it leads the social network or social media category, adding 141 lakh average daily visitors in the month of July 2012 and 13 lakh unique visitors since June 2012. Google, Facebook & Yahoo maintain the Top-3 positions in terms of unique visitors, with 186, 141, 59 lakh average daily users in July 2012 respectively.

19%

is the growth rate of sports category in July with 164 lakh ubique visitors in the month

Real Estate on the rise Property and Real Estate that was a sector never thought to be touched upon in the digital world because of its on-ground and touch and feel nature, saw 50 lakh unique visitors in July 2012 with a reach of eight percent. This space has seen degrowth of three per cent as the unique visitor rate of June 2012 was 51 lakh, according to the Pitch-Mindshare Digital Report 2012. According to Ganesh Vasudevan, CEO,

Online buying tends to increase over weekends or month ends with incomes coming in. More content is consumed during lunch hours and mid-week days 38

IndiaProperty, the quality of content has improved in leaps and bounds in the real estate space in the last two to three years. “Therefore, the adaptation and the primary start point of search of real estate is shifting from print classifieds to online search and the trend has been seen from the last 12 to 18 months. A buyer would spend two to three months in evaluating and searching offline earlier, which has changed. Now a buyer spends one to two months on search and three to four months on evaluation. This widening of time reflects that people are jumping in to the online space,” he says. IndiaProperty.com claims to have 2.5 million registered users and in addition to that it has a unique traffic of about 1.2 million users in a month which counts for data in terms of page views. It claims to have around three lakh visitors daily. Seventy per cent of its visitors are from India and the rest 30 per cent are NRIs from the Gulf and the US. What time is the best? Umang Kumar, CEO and Co-Founder, Gaadi.com, feels that Consumer behaviour differs online from offline. According to him, consumers have more time online to do research and want to be thorough before taking the decision of buying or using a service or a product. “Online buying tends to increase over weekends or month ends with incomes coming in. People tend to consume more content during lunch hours and mid-week days when the work load is less,” he says. In the same vein, however, consumption on mobile, according to him, is greater early morning or evening when people travel to or from work. Hence, these trends are an aggregated function of time of the day, income, loyalty to product or service, best deals and offers, etc.n -abhinav@pitchonnet.com

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

COLUMN

The untapped power of reviews As users voice their opinion about products on a review website, brand managers engage with them as part of brand’s social media strategy

hile there are a deluge of websites vying for the attention of media agencies and brands, very few can confidently proclaim Surjendu Kuila that they attract genuine buyers. Co-Founder & Director, Reviews42.com However, a research or reviews portal can; by the very nature of surjendu@reviews42.com its content. For any user, purchase journey starts with research. Research takes various avatars – a quick phone call to a family member, lengthy conversation with friends or jumping on to the internet for information from fellow shoppers. If one looks closely, all these are social elements of shopping. At a macro level, social is primarily driven by user generated reviews and recommendations. To that end, a research or reviews portal plays a critical role in a user’s decision making process and hence becomes an obvious platform for brands to advertise on. From the good old days of Epinions.com we have witnessed many product research and reviews platform including Shopping. com, Buzzillions.com, Goodreads. com and CNet.com etc. Lately the ecommerce behemoths such as Amazon have also started acting as a research platform owing to the enormity of pertinent content: trusted reviews, opinions and recommendations. However, conflict of interest arises when an ecommerce portal tries to navigate between “Credibility” and “Revenue Maximization”. You can Google

“Amazon Review Controversy” to know more. Even as a B2C business, and especially in India, an unbiased user generated reviews portal has a big market and multiple channels to monetise. Lead Generation has always been an accepted way to monetize. Ecommerce sites, Brand webstores, Offline retailers pay for qualified clicks and sales; the latter being the more accepted model in India. Monetisation also happens through branding and recommendation services via product display, listing and sponsored listings. Another interesting monetisation avenue is content syndication. Ecommerce sites, brand webstores, niche blogs consume specifications, user generated reviews and expert reviews for products on a SAAS delivery model. As users voice their opinion about products on a review website, brand managers engage with them as part of brand’s social media strategy. Interesting revenue models have already emerged in the opinion mining and sentiment analysis space. Come to think of it, the most compelling use case for a review or research portal is on a mobile. For a user in an offline retail store and making up her mind for a purchase, a reviews portal empowers her to take the right decision. A quick check on reviews or ratings (you can never trust the salesman), educating oneself on the features of the product (Do you really know what a

The most compelling use case for a review or research portal is on a mobile. For a customer in an ofﬂine retail store, a reviews portal empowers her to take the right decision Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

Lint Filter does in a washing machine?), finding online prices for a cheaper deal (maybe Flipkart is selling at a lower price) and using coupons/discount for a better bargain: All these facets make a purchase more informed and self-satisfying. In the USA, mobile apps such as Shopsavvy, Shopkick, Thefind, Red Laser and a host of others have been well received by consumers as companion apps – mobile apps helping users buy the right product. According to ShopSavvy what is most interesting is the willingness of the brands to pay CPM rates as high as $500. Power of advertising is most effective at the point of decision making and these mobile apps assist consumers at the apex of an energetic decision making process. According to ShopSavvy, they get 30% Click-Through- Rates for category specific and well-targeted ads. Consumers are most receptive to marketing messages or ads when they are actually shopping and companion apps naturally become the conduit to pass on these messages to the user while she is making purchase decisions. Factors such as 3G penetration, increasing smartphone usage, consumption of utilitarian content on mobile have fuelled the Indian mobile growth story. I sincerely feel that a reviews portal assisting consumers to take an informed purchase decision would act as a catalyst in the social commerce space bringing the brands and consumers closer without being intrusive. n

The views expressed here are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Pitch

COVER STORY MOBILE

A SMART Act Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s driving marketers to use mobile as a great marketing tool? And do marketers really understand the medium enough?

Rising bars

Mobile will command almost 10% share in digital ad pie by the end of 2013

`242.67 Crore

`167.36 Crore

`121.2 Crore

45%

38%

2011 2012 2013 (E)

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Pitch | October 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

By Ruchika Kumar

ith the penetration of internet and the galloping growth of technology, as well as the number of mobile phone subscribers – 90.84 crore subscribers, by end of August, according to TRAI – mobile marketing is becoming an important part of the digital media mix. Add to it cheaper smartphones and cheaper 3G rates. According to experts, mobile device activity will outstrip fixed PC usage in emerging countries in a period of five years. This presents both, a formidable challenge to marketers as well as significant underlying opportunities in terms of leveraging this surge of mobile usage to create a compelling connect for their brands. As per Pitch-Mindhsare Digital Report 2012, mobile, commanded eight per cent share (Rs 121 crore), in the digital ad pie worth Rs 1,514 crore in 2011. The figure, by the end of next two months is expected to touch about Rs 167 crore, a growth of 38 per cent. The growth will further accelerate in 2012 to garner ad spends worth Rs 243 crore. This will take mobile’s share to 9.5 per cent in the digital ad pie in 2013. “From a total digital ad spends point of view, ideally half should be spent on mobile. Such is the scale of this medium,” says Ashutosh Srivastava, Chief Executive Officer, Global and Emerging Markets, Mindshare. Adds Dippak Khurana, MD & CEO, Vserve, “Today, when you talk about digital advertising on the mobile phone, marketers are getting more aware that only 10 per cent of the users are from the metros and 90 per

“Seventy nine per cent of the top advertisers do not have websites designed for a mobile platform” Ashutosh Srivastava CEO, Global & Emerging Markets, Mindshare cent of the users are from the rest of the country. And on mobile, which has a uniform presence, they can get across them too through this platform.” The growth in digital media has been fuelled by search and display, and both these verticals are finding their ‘mobi’ versions already. The three legs that would push mobile advertising in 2013 would be SMS, Search and Display. According to Srivastava, easy access to web via mobile and cheaper data plans along with the heightened popularity of applications, and ‘sharing’ on the online space are some of the key trends that are redefining user engagement on mobile.

The emergence of SoLoMo is a vital point towards growth of mobile. No other medium has the ability to bring this triumvirate together in this fashion

Pitch | October 2012

A mobile in every hand A recent report by Gartner suggests that by 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common web access device worldwide. The smartphone and browserequipped enhanced phone base dashing to a 182 crore worldwide, is food for thought for marketers to treat the mobile space with a special focus and attention. Looking at the opportunity ahead, Indian mobile service providers have already jumped into the madvertising bandwagon. Mohit Beotra, Head, Emerging Business, Airtel says, “We entered m-advertising, because we believed it was opportune for us to make it available to marketers. The fact that we have such large customer base, and because of the size and age of our base, we have the requisite audience for any brand in the country – the Mercedes user at the upper end or the farmer in the rural market. There are very few media opportunities that allow you to straddle that spectrum and focus on XYZ audience.” Airtel has tied-up with Mogae, which makes the company effectively a media seller too. With an easy access to a large susbcriber database, and with their profiling filtered, Airtel can easily execute a campaign to the right audience. “So, there are four areas - selling (meeting clients), media/strategic planning, creative development and actual operations; that’s what Mogae does for us,” adds Beotra. Precision targeting The emergence of SoLoMo (social, local and mobility) is a vital point towards the growth of mobile. No other medium currently has the ability to bring this triumvirate together in this fashion. The power this gives to a marketer to not only communicate a relevant message in the right context at the right

DIGITAL MOBILE MARKETING time but also eventually drive the consumer into action. And to use the power of SoLoMo effectively, and make mobile an ultimate tool for marketing, Vincent Digonnet, President, Asia Pacific, Digitas, suggests that the current practice of selling inventory on mobile needs to stop. “No one wants to get inventory on mobile. Mobile will develop with geo localisation, targeted promotional activity linked to where you are,” he says. Who’s on? According to Bipin Narang, Head, Marketing, Videocon Mobiles (Handset Division), “Few of the companies that have started using mobile marketing effectively are telecom operators. There are other categories – auto, insurance and banking – targeting the rural push, too are getting intensive on mobile through SMSes.” Meanwhile, Nokia believes that it’s not necessarily the smartphones that will give mobile marketing the real push. Nokia has been working towards blurring the line between feature phones and smartphones – where the company is delivering solutions that were previously available only on smartphones, with its Asha range of devices. Viral Oza, Director, Marketing, Nokia India, says, “This range not only provides consumers with their first experience of the smart solutions such as Nokia Music Unlimited, Nokia Maps, Nokia Store, etc. but is also emerging as the consumer’s first device for access to the internet, driving the overall benefits of mobility to a larger audience.” Are we dialing the right number? But do marketers understand the mobile platform enough? “Yes and No,” says Narang. “Yes, to the extent that they understand the high reach of the medium. No, as they

their smart phones, what kind of ads they respond to, the difference between web and mobile usage at best can be said to be exploratory in nature.” A case in point But that hasn’t stopped other marketers from experimenting, and moving beyond adapting cutting down content for the mobile. A case in point of one successful mobile is Pond’s Age Miracle’s augment“Our mobile strategy is focused campaign ed reality based app that allows users to see on creating immersive products the visible effects of the cream on their face. and brand experiences that span Marketers already are looking at apps as a viable tool of reaching out to the audience, across all of the devices” through push-messages. In fact, apps are making traditional measurement metrics Vishal Maheshwari like CPA, CPC, CPM, CPT redundant. The Senior Director & Head of Sales, Yahoo India new metrics is CPD (Cost per Download). Kaya Skin Clinic has used geo-fencing to haven’t been able to create a mobile cam- target customers in the vicinity of its clinics paign first. It’s more of a copy-paste job of by sending messages, offering them deals. Suvodeep Das, Head, Marketing, Kaya Skin mainstream advertising.” Narang is bang on, when you hear Nikhil Clinic, says, “Kaya is a niche brand. It has a Sharma, Director, Marketing, PVMI, talk retail footprint of 85 clinics. Every time, Kaya about the challenges of mobile marketing. spends on TV, radio, and print, 95 per cent of “The content has to be tailor made for this it is wastage, as the target audience is about medium, and heavy content needs to be cut three per cent. It makes sense for Kaya to spend more marketing dollars on mobile, down for the mobile.” While marketers are seeing first traces which allows precision targeting.” Another example is of Star TV, when it of the power of mobile advertising, in their own admission, m-advertising in launched its new channel, Life OK. With India is at best in exploratory mode. Ra- DND in place, one certainly couldn’t send meet Arora, Senior Director, Marketing, out SMSes. Star TV tied-up with Airtel to McDonald’s India (West and South), says, reach out to its pre-paid user base. Between “Our understanding of the consumer be- 5 PM to 8 PM in six northern states, Airtel haviour with respect to mobile usage is tagged a message to its End-of-Call notifinascent. The answers to what different cation, requesting the pre-paid user to tune types of consumers are searching on in at 8 PM for the launch.

While marketers are seeing first traces of the power of mobile advertising, in their own admission, m-advertising in India is at best in exploratory mode

Pitch | October 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Pitch | October 2012

Convergence of screens That said, media owners themselves are seeing a convergence of all platforms and looking to be on the mobile space. CNBC TV 18, initiated its digital entity - moneycontrol.com, almost a decade back, works a synergy on mobile with a ‘Markets on Mobile’ app and separate apps for Apple devices. On its turn, internet giant, Yahoo too is looking to offer seamless experiences across screens. Vishal Maheshwari, Senior Director & Head of Sales, Yahoo! India, says, “We are investing in mobile experiences where we see major opportunities for innovation for both consumers and advertisers. We have over 60 apps around the world on iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Our mobile strategy is focused on creating immersive products and brand experiences that span across all of the devices people choose to use.” While that’s Yahoo, but when it comes to convergence of web and mobile, the reality is different. According to Srivastava of Mindshare, “Seventy nine per cent of the top advertisers do not have websites designed for a mobile platform.” And media players are giving the advertisers that platform too. According to Alex Kuruvilla, Managing Director, Conde Nast India, mobile is a central part of the company’s digital strategy. “Apart from making all our websites optimised for mobile, we are testing several innovations in MVAs, apps etc. We have several apps like the Vogue 365 app, Vogue Stylist, GQ App and the Conde Nast Traveller India App,” he says. Neeraj Sanan, CMO, ABP News, provides an insight how mobile is becoming a useful tool of content creation too. “When it comes to news, the consumption of which is always ‘here and now’, the mobile transcends its erstwhile role of communication,

While buying trends on PC increase over weekends, consumption on mobile is greater early morning or evening when people travel to or from work to churning out content.” While illustrating this, he says, “The part which is not so evident and is happening at a far greater speed, and the adoption is even faster, is the use of technology in content creation. Messages on Twitter are a topic of discussion at a prime time news broadcast. The OB Vans today, to a great deal, are being complemented, though I wouldn’t say replaced, by carry bag packs for creation of News. When there’s a flood, we have a journalist travelling with a mobile phone and at times that footage actually goes on broadcast.” When and how But is there any difference in how mobile content is consumed as compared to other digital

“Most marketers haven’t been able to create a mobile campaign first. It’s more of a copy-paste job of mainstream advertising” Bipin Narang Head, Marketing, Videocon Mobiles (Handset Division)

screens. According to Umang Kumar, CEO, Gaadi.com, “On a PC, buying tends to increase over weekends or month ends with incomes coming in. People tend to consume more content during lunch hours and mid-week days when the work load is less,” he says, adding, “In the same vein, consumption on mobile is greater early morning or evening when people travel to or from work.” Bad network area From a marketer standpoint, the challenge is to be able to deliver a new and different experience to the customer. It is not enough to just mobile optimise the company’s website, the medium needs to independently deliver a brand experience. Arora of McDonald’s, asks some questions, “Is it possible to activate a purchase intent on mobile? Can a brand within its category, help to change usage on mobile from research/search that aids purchase; to use the medium to trigger purchase?” Having said that security concerns and data thefts are some grey areas that marketers, app developers, mobile operators and other players in the eco-system, need to quell. To quell these fears, and for mobile marketing to have the requisite impact on a brand’s visibility and reach, marketers, according to Srivastava, need to set aside some part of their marketing budget towards testing new initiatives on mobile. However, economic slowdown the world over has lessened the intent of companies to invest in trial and error on mobile. -ruchika@pitchonnet.com

Pitch | October 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

‘Nokia is blurring lines between smartphones and feature phones’ Viral Oza | Director-Marketing, Nokia India The Marketing Director of Nokia India in a conversation with Noor Fathima Warsia, says that mobile opens up a sea of opportunities for all constituents of the mobile ecosystem. Excerpts:

What are the new opportunities presented to handset manufacturers with evolution of mobile? In today’s day and age, mobile phones have gone beyond delivering just voice communications. The demand for services is consistent across rural and urban consumers. Both segments want entertainment and commerce related services. This presents great opportunities for handset manufacturers to innovate and deliver effective solutions that bring value to the consumer. While Nokia continues to deliver a robust range of devices across price-points, as well as investing in signature services such as Nokia Music, Nokia Maps, Nokia Browser, Nokia Life, Nokia Store, etc., developers are helping create localised and relevant applications to deliver through the Nokia Store and Windows Marketplace. Our partnership with operators is aiding data consumption, which helps consumers experience our solutions. For example, with the Asha 202, for the first time ever, not one but five operators offered special offers and 100 MB data. Any change in handset purchase trends in India...? Consumers are moving onto their second and third devices, spurring the growth of smart devices and solutions. These consumers want solutions that help them network, play games, read news, surf on the

Consumers are moving onto their second and third devices, spurring the growth of smart devices and solutions

Pitch | October 2012

internet, listen to music, chat instantly with friends and families and even check their mails on their devices. For Nokia, the Asha series of devices, boasts of a range of innovative solutions that were earlier only available on high-end devices. Are mobile manufacturers looking at platforms that can be monetised? Our Nokia store platform today has more than 120 million registered Nokia Store customers globally and offers more than 1.2 lakh apps. It is currently driving more than six crore downloads a month in India. Similarly, there are overa a lakh apps available in Windows Phone Marketplace. Both these platforms are extremely successful in terms of app downloads and consumer preferences. Have smartphones helped mobile become a strong medium? Nokia, over the past year, has been working towards blurring the line between feature phones and smartphones. The company is delivering solutions that were previously only available on smartphones, to the feature phone consumer also. The Asha range, for instance, not only provides consumers with their first experience of the smart solutions such as Nokia Music Unlimited, Nokia Maps, Nokia Store with a host of localised applications, Nokia Life, mail for exchange but is also emerging as the consumer’s first device for access to the internet, driving the overall benefits of mobility to a larger audience.  -noor@pitchonnet.com

COLUMN

Ignore mobile advertising at your own peril Unlike emails, which reach customers through internet media, mobile ads are considered more reachable and accessible to customers

Hemant Jain

Senior Vice President and Head – Domestic Business, Hungama Mobile

f year 2010-2011 saw the explosion of various e-commerce companies going mainstream with most of the brands attracting customers online, then 2012 has raised curtains on a new era of smartphones. The year powered smartphones and tablets as the screens of choice for even ‘Aam Aadmi’ and fuelled unprecedented demand for content, social interaction and entertainment; thus, giving rise to mobile advertising and infuse of mobile value-added services. From merely being a device where you can dial a number and connect to somebody, there are now dozens of application, games and features to enhance your mobile experience. Smartphones have revolutionised the use of mobile phones with easy to access internet, the ability to send and receive emails, etc. on the move. But besides this,

it has created an entirely new method of advertising – mobile advertising aka as display advertising. This concept in India has grown and expanded considerably over the past one year and continues to grow. Handsets are economical to most people and with the availability of data plans for cell phones, communication has reached a completely different level altogether. Now, through cell phones people can not only connect and interact with people but also surf the internet, send and receive emails, listen to music, access social networking sites, etc. It can literally be seen as a mobile laptop! Mobile advertising is not a new proposition in the Indian context, though many believe that it is yet to garner its dues in terms of attracting a large chunk of marketing spends. The digital industry has been

Close to 8-12 new apps are downloaded by users every month. They are pegged to bring that ‘infotainment’ feature for a consumer and an opportunity for the marketers to find relevant and contextual connect

growing at a rate of over 40 per cent until the last quarter of 2011, but unfortunately gets a very small share from the Rs 266 billion advertising industry in India. But at the same time, it furnishes more space for growth and experiments by industry players India has, however, emerged as the largest mobile advertising destination in the Asia Pacific region in 2011. According to BuzzCity Report 2011, mobile advertising in India stands at about Rs 100 crore at the moment. With a growth rate of more than 44 per cent and 5792 million ad impressions served, this standing is way ahead of its immediate next – Indonesia, which stands at a growth rate of 31 per cent and scores 3,921 million ad impressions. Therefore, in today’s scenario, it seems almost inevitable to ignore such a big and growing medium. The shift from TV to computer and from computer to mobile is happening and brands are getting into the bandwagon

Pitch | October 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

as early as possible. It will be interesting to see how brands leverage the industry and explore the opportunities. Unlike emails, which reach customers through internet media, mobile ads are considered more reachable and accessible to customers because of the portable feature of mobile phones. Also, SMS ads offer end-to-end brand promotion solutions immediately and effectively. The upsurge of pocket internet is yet another driver of mobile advertising. The boom in apps or application economy sets the stage for driving next level of growth for mobile advertising in India. Close to 8-12 new apps are downloaded by users every month, which in itself is a proof of the growing application market on mobile. They are pegged to bring that ‘infotainment’ feature for a consumer and an opportunity for the marketers to find relevant and contextual connect. Another avenue on mobile devices that has opened up in the recent past is the LocationBased Services (LBS) augmented by the higher availability of GPSenabled phones. Some time back, a report by Gartner predicted that advertising-based or ‘free’ LBS will be a huge hit because of its limiting costs factor. Therefore, the total spends in the LBS market in India is expected to rise to $78.2 million

Pitch | October 2012

by 2013. This will throw open a completely new dimension to connecting with consumers beyond brand communication opportunity. Relevant deals and offers can now be pushed to customers based on their location and unique offer codes will aid better customer profiling and measuring the efficacy of such programmes. The explosion of video consumption on mobile phones

is more than linear feed on television. While we watched the London Olympics live on television through several hours of daily programming, many opted to get their dose of the sporting action online through YouTube, Dailymotion and other related websites through mobile devices. YouTube is also being viewed as a marketing tool by advertisers and marketers across cat-

Location Based Services will throw open a completely new dimension to connecting with consumers beyond brand communication opportunity is another phenomenon that has led to consumer interactivity and engagement. With the growth of smartphones and tablets, some of the video sites have witnessed significant growth in real-time traffic now coming from mobile devices. Today YouTube almost streams more than four billion online videos every day out of India and mobile forms an integral part of it. In fact, industry watchers whisper that it may replace TV network also with apps being downloaded by the viewers to watch their favorite programmes on the television channels. Today, number of hours of viewership of some of the popular music television channels on YouTube

egories. Advertising on YouTube is measurable and sharply targeted. Video ads on YouTube have become extremely popular with users and brands. There is not even an ounce of doubt that mobiles devices will dominate the future of internet and data services in coming times. With 60 million unique mobile internet users in India and with quarter-on-quarter growth of close to 20 per cent in 2011, it is imperative for brands to start opening their purse strings towards high impact mobile advertising campaigns. 

The views expressed here are of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Pitch

INTERVIEW DIPPAK KHURANA

‘I don’t blame marketers for not understanding the mobile platform” Dippak Khurana | Managing Director & CEO, VSERV.Mobi Global, and one of India’s leading mobile ad network, Vserve, claims to have a market share of 30 per cent in the country and hopes to garner 40 per cent share and be the No 1 player in the country, in the next two years. Abhinav Mohapatra quizzes Vserve’s MD & CEO, Dippak Khurana, on which way the mobile advertising is heading. Excerpts:

What are the trends that you see in the mobile ad network today? The mobile ecosystem in India, currently, is highly fragmented with app developers and publishers. So the content creation for these millions of users is done by a variety of independent developers - small and media enterprises to large media houses. Because of massive fragmentation of content creation, the role of the ad network in this ecosystem has gained significant importance. As an ad network, I can consolidate an audience, which is spread across multiple apps and multiple publishers. We create various audience profiles and segments and over and above that from a technology point of view, the ad network apart from consolidating this fragmentation, brings in the layer of superior targeting and superior technology. What is the differentiating factor between feature phones and smartphones when it comes to advertising? Which one has a larger share and why?

As an ad network, I can consolidate an audience, which is spread across multiple apps and multiple publishers

India is a free market unlike the developed markets, where people buy devices through a carrier and the carrier subsidises the cost. Here they want a Samsung or a Nokia and have a brand loyalty towards a specific brand. Of the 120 million mobile internet users in India today, almost 85 percent of the users are browsing the internet using smarter feature-phones. The major focus is around content consumption than the make or model. We just know how to consume the content from any device. Right from a metro like Mumbai to a guy in Bareli, he discovers himself that which device is good for him to browse content. Do you think the mobile space is underpenetrated in terms of advertising spends? For the last two years, we have been advocating this to the market and bringing them up to speed. When you reach out to a mobile internet user, you are reaching out to a pan India audience. Traditionally, for them when they were reaching through the digital, through the PC, they knew that 80 per cent of the digital audience of the PC would come from the metros. With mobile that is not the case. Traditional digital advertising on PC is shifting to mobile. As marketers, when they looked at the digital advertising space two years back, they would look at PC users, who came from Tier-I or

Pitch | October 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Tier-II cities. Today, when you talk about digital advertising on the mobile phone, marketers are getting more aware that only 10 per cent of the users are from the metros and 90 per cent of the users are from the rest of the country. And on mobile, which has a uniform presence, they can get across them too through this platform. Is there a gap between what marketers understand about this medium and how they use it? Yes, there is a gap, but I would not at all blame them. First of all, mobile marketing has started gaining traction in the last two years only. A digital marketer has seen the advent of Facebook, the advent of Twitter, and other social media platforms and even videos on Youtube, and all had to learn it all in just little time. They will have to invest in people and get up to speed with this. Do you think that display ads are the major focus as of now? Why? Majority of the marketers that are traditional in approach, look at display. Some give equal importance to both search and display. As I said earlier, they’ve had a lot to learn in the last two years. Whenever there’s a new form of advertising, it takes time for marketers to understand and build capabilities and refine a two to three years period. From a marketers perspective, what are the advertising needs on the mobile space? It’s not about what I should do on mobile. It is about what my audience is doing on mobile. “Is my audience browsing heavily on the phone?” is the question marketers look at. If he sees that the audience is active as a mobile internet user and does ‘ABC’ activity, then he has a reason to embrace that medium. Now with most marketers who know clearly that the most important screen today is the mobile screen, as it is in everybody’s hands. It is the biggest real estate

Pitch | October 2012

and has the maximum share as far as the user is concerned. People are not spending time in front of the TV as they are on mobile. This screen is there for 7-8 hours in front of you, where users spend on average 30 minutes of active browsing in a day. Marketers are seeing that while television is getting the maximum eyeballs ibetween 6 PM and 9 PM in the evening, a mobile phone is with you throughout the day. During the 12-hour-period, the user engages with the mobile screen during the course of day. Marketers know that people are doing that. What are the key challenges that you see in this space from your point of view as an ad network? Whether it is the advertising agency or the marketers, like for any other new medium, they have to learn the possibilities on this medium and understand the ecosystem in a short time. But how fast can they learn and leverage

Whether it is the advertising agency or the marketers, like for any other new medium, they have to learn the possibilities on this medium this medium, is the big question. The second challenge is if they are committed to the medium, how fast they can put dedicated resources who can invest 12 hours a day to deal with opportunities on this medium. In the last six to 12 months, we’ve met marketers who are focussed and are setting up teams in a dedicated manner dedicated manner who will handle the opportunity on mobile or digital advertising. They know that the country has a scalable audience in terms of 120 million mobile internet users currently, growing up to 250 million in the next two years. If they don’t invest into the learning today, they will lose out. 

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘Mobile gives scale and also allows individual targeting’ Mohit Beotra | Head, Emerging Business, Airtel After its foray in the m-advertising segment in India, Airtel is very optimistic about its future. Mohit Beotra, Head – Emerging Business, Airtel, in conversation with Shree Lahiri speaks about mobile advertising industry, its prospects, opportunities and challenges. Excerpts:

Mobile advertising is at that cusp today; when it will explode? Increasingly, companies are realising the importance of the mobile platform and are going forward, and we will see continued momentum of advertisers wanting to address users. We entered m-advertising, because we believed it was opportune for us to make it available to marketers. The fact that we have such large customer base, and because of the size and age of our base, we have the requisite audience for any brand in the country – the Mercedes user at the upper end or the farmer in the rural market. There are very few media opportunities that allow you to straddle that spectrum and focus on XYZ audience. What are the implications of your tie-up with Mogae, which also makes Airtel a media seller? We felt the need to partner with Mogae, not just in one area, but in multiple areas. Much like a media agency, they have a challenging job – a strategic media planning job – if you have a problem they provide a solution. In mobile advertising, the opportunities are large and Mogae, after studying the problem provides the

We have a large customer base and requisite audience for any brand – the Mercedes user at the upper end or the farmer in the rural

best message and how to deliver that message. We have the ‘ad platform’, which allows us to dip into the database and find the right customers and then, execute the campaign. So, there are four areas - selling (meeting clients), media/strategic planning, creative development and actual operations; that’s what Mogae does for us. What are the opportunities in mobile advertising? All these address the core challenge; nobody knows what they can do with the mobile. There are so many opportunities in the mobile medium which clients do not know and don’t have any idea how to best use this medium, and which opportunities are ideal for them. That’s the core issue and again, that’s what Mogae addresses. Internationally, operators have done this, but in India we are the first to do this. We will facilitate the opportunity, because we know clients will eventually take it up. You are a marketer and you want to do mobile advertising, and if you go to any media agency, the problem is they will sell the database blind, that may address a Mercedes owner and also an Alto owner at the same time. But we will help marketers to do this based on mobile usage, so efficacy of campaign comes in. It’s an interesting dichotomy – on the one hand, mobile gives the opportunity for massive scale and on the other hand, it has the ability to target down to the individual, who is right for your brand.  -feedback@pitchonnet.com

Pitch | October 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

‘We are just in the foreword section of book called Mobile Marketing’ Rameet Arora | Senior Director, Marketing, McDonald’s India (West and South) The Senior Director of Marketing for McDonald’s India (West & South) tells Pitch that mobile marketing has a long way to go in India, and the company too is testing waters. Excerpts:

Are we pragmatic in the high expectations that the industry has from mobile in India? Why? Our understanding of the consumer behaviour with respect to mobile usage is nascent. The answers to what different types of consumers are searching on their smart phones, what kind of ads they respond to, the difference between web and mobile usage at best can be said to be exploratory in nature. Today, we are in the foreword section of the book called Mobile Marketing. Is the growth in the number of smartphones helping mobile to become a strong medium of advertising in India? Before January 2007, the iPhone didn’t even exist nor did Android handsets. The growth in the numbers and the potential experience of smartphones does allow one to sit up and take notice. But we have a long way to go before we start diverting a significant percentage of the marketing budget for mobile advertising. From a marketer point of view, what are the advantages that are unique to mobile? There is an increased intent to act when it comes to mobile usage. Marketers need to be ready to

We have a long way to go before we start diverting a significant percentage of the marketing budget for mobile advertising

Pitch | October 2012

SMARTIES

cater to this opportunity. For example, the intent difference between someone at home browsing through new restaurants in the city versus a mobile user looking for the nearest option to grab a sandwich before he heads into his meeting. This opportunity then has to translate into business numbers also. From a marketer standpoint, what are the challenges that mobile, as a medium, is facing in India? 1. To be able to deliver a new and different experience to the customer. It is not enough to just mobile optimise your website, the medium needs to independently deliver a brand experience. Going forward an opportunity to do a mobile brand campaign. 2. Is it possible to activate a purchase intent on mobile? Can a brand within it’s category help to change usage on mobile from research/search that aids purchase; to use the medium to trigger purchase? Having said that security too would be a concern. Is mobile advertising something that would interest you? Why? We are testing to see what works and does not in the mobile world and developing the building blocks that ensure that investments in mobile advertising are sustainable and profitable.  -feedback@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY DIGITAL AD NETWORKS

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the

Plan?

While marketers are still trying to understand digital as an advertising medium, specialised agencies and ad-networks have mushroomed at a fast pace. How are they looking to educate the marketer?

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

By Arshiya Khullar

nline advertising networks have, in the last few years, become a crucial part of the digital ecosystem in the country. These ad networks provide solutions to both advertisers and publishers. While they provide tools to publishers to help them manage and optimise their online advertising, they connect advertisers to their vast ad inventory. Ad-networks like Tyroo, Komli, Adchakra, Ozone Media, and Pubmatic, to name a few are a part of the eco-system.

Tools and Formats In terms of the different ways in which these networks help to target customers as well as the ad formats in use, most players are of the opinion that it varies according to categories and client objectives. Ad networks help in geographical targeting, behavioural targeting, and contextual targeting. According to Gulshan Verma, VP and Country Head, Komli Media Network, India and North America, whose ad network, Komli represents around 1,500 websites, behavioural targeting has opened up a plethora of opportunities. “At a broad level, the sites, the behavioural targeting looks very different. That is one area of it. Then we think about insights. For example, in Facebook, we can actually work with an advertiser to understand consumers’ behavioural identity – their likes, and their background. A new facility has opened up on Facebook where you can now target on the basis of email address and phone number. We have 1.4 crore people who are behaviourally segmented right now,” he says. A specific type of behavioural targeting called look-alike targeting, according to Roy de Souza, Ceo & Founder of Zedo, a digital ad solutions company, is a popular tool that is used. “Look-alike targeting essentially connects people

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

“Digital marketing is not just about the collusion of numbers, it is about the collusion of ad formats” Gulshan Verma VP and Country Head, Komli Media Network, India who look alike in terms of behaviour and have similar characteristics. This could be in terms of finding out the type of websites a particular person accesses and then track other users who access the same site,” he explains. A lot of ad networks in India continue to use cookies to retarget their customers. But according to Daman Soni, Vice President - Global Marketing & Sales, PK Online Ventures (of which Adchakra ad network is a part), cookie retargeting is not perfect because computers are mostly shared at home and 30 per cent of computer users still access the web through cyber cafes. When it comes to the various ad formats in use, the standard IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) formats are used most prominently and each network also has its own formats.

“There are a variety of display, rich media and video formats that are being used currently. Tyroo serves ads for its clients in the form of text ads, web banners, video banners and expandable, pushdown etc. IAB has set standards and guidelines for all digital ad formats. All IAB sizes and Pop-Unders are the most favourite formats,” says Manish Vij, Founder, Smile Vun Group (SVG) and Founder & CEO, Tyroo Media. Tyroo is a digital media network that has worked with brands like Myntra.com, Jabong. com, Honda, Ford, Samsung, HDFC and Microsoft to name a few. With the growing dominance of video, video banners are also becoming popular. De Souza from Zedo, whose company serves a lot of editorial websites in the country like NDTV, Walt Disney, UTV, and Hindustan Times, among others, feels that while the Slider has begun to be used widely in India and has good click rates and high visibility, there is tremendous opportunity in getting television advertising on the internet. “The format that we have is a Full screen television commercial – serves in a small unit anywhere on the page. It doesn’t look like a television commercial but looks like a flash ad. When you mouse over it, it plays the sound of the ad and on clicking on the ad, it will play in full screen,” he says. When it comes to the measurement of online properties and the currency measures and metrics that are considered standard, Kiran Gopinath, Founder and CEO, Ozone Media, who has served clients like TimesJobs, Bharatmatrimony, Makemytrip, ICICI, and PolicyBazaar, lists

A lot of ad networks continue to use cookies to retarget their customers. Cookie retargeting is not perfect because computers are mostly shared

COVER STORY DIGITAL AD NETWORKS down some of the terms that are helpful for ad networks. “Total unique visitors to any online property, the percentage of reach a certain property has as compared to the vertical the property falls under, the daily visitors and time spent on a page along with CTR, total impressions delivered and geography split of audience are some factors,” he says. Trends According to Adchakra’s Soni, e-commerce, financial services, and the auto sector are some categories that have been using ad networks. He goes ahead to talk about the major trends that will define this space. “Lot of publishers are going towards performance advertising. Besides this,

“The time at which an ad network gets engaged is much later in the process, that hampers the effectiveness of delivery” Kiran Gopinath Founder and CEO, Ozone Media

Tier-1 agencies in India are beginning to include a line item called ad-network in their media plans,” says Soni. On the difference in strategy that needs to be adopted for e-commerce players, Soni says that the aim is to drive reach and do smaller campaigns. For one of its clients, MakeMyTrip for instance, Adchakra has done performance campaigns and stopped at CPL (Cost Per Lead) and not commit on sales. Many networks like Ozone Media, for instance, have also started offering

Measurability challenges

ust like the selection of a suitable marketing channel is heavily reliant on a brand’s objectives, selection of publishers for a particular campaign - the right web site and content genre depends on qualitative and quantitative aspects; the available target group, audience composition and reach of a web site – is equally important. But what are the metrics that make measurability of web easy and to be precise. Atul Hegde, Chief Executive Officer at Ignitee, a digital marketing agency, lists the standard metrics that are used. According to him, unique page views, the average time spent on the website, the average visits per user along with the past performance and the rates versus reach rationale are some of the factors. When it comes to the measurement of online properties and the uniform metrics that people rely on, ComScore, Adobe Omniture, apart from Google Analytics are some tools. Facebook Insights, for instance, tells the traction rate on a particular web post which helps in understanding what content works and what doesn’t. The metrics used by each advertiser also vary depending on the underlying goal of the digital strategy. “For some FMCG companies, it is about driving sampling, for some retailers driving footfalls is the major focus, while auto brands aim at driving test drives,” says Gulshan Verma, VP and Country Head at Komli Media Network, India and North America. He cites an example of one of Komli’s recent campaigns. Komli worked on a coupon basis for a key retailer in the country (Verma did not divulge the name) and these coupons were given

to the brand’s fans on social media. On analysis, it turned out that on every Rs 1,000 that was spent in terms of discount, advertising, and promotion; there was an ROI of Rs 22,000.

Easy Measurability: Boon or Bane? While measurability and ability to receive real time data are often cited as strategic advantages of the digital platform, have we overdone this measurement quotient leading to it becoming an obstacle rather than an added plus? Most agency heads seem to agree in unison. “The data sufficiency part of who is the audience is really the bane today. Even with data sources that are currently considered the gold standard, I believe that there are huge improvements required there as well,” says V Achuthan Kutty, Director Digital, Madison Communications. “When effectiveness of other mediums is measured by numbers, why digital alone should be measured on leads/acquisitions?” questions Ignitee’s Hegde. Digital should be looked at from a frequency perspective rather than only lead generating medium. An intense scrutiny of the internet media for ROI and the demand of most marketers to see every minute data point for analysis are the other challenges that agencies face when it comes to measurability. “Measurement is good, but only if we actionise basis what the results show,” says Daman Soni, Vice President - Global Marketing & Sales, PK Online Ventures He goes ahead to add that most marketers are stuck at clicks whereas post click metrics and corresponding actions have taken a new dimension and need to be leveraged. n

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Facebook Ad Inventory. In this, there are two types of ads, marketplace ads, one which can be accessed and used by anyone and premium ads, which are high priced and offer advantages of guaranteed exposure, greater interaction, roadblocks, target blocks, exclusive coverage. Networks are keen on increasing the awareness about this facility and make marketers include premium ad spends as part of their marketing plan. With deeper internet penetration and the greater usage of smartphones, video advertising is also becoming popular. This coupled with the growing convergence of smart devices; agencies are now providing advertising solutions across PCs, mobile, tablet, smart TVs, consoles and so on. One such player is Affle, which recently launched Ripple, a rich media and video advertising network. Supported by HTML 5 and Flash, Ripple claims to differentiate itself from other ad-networks by providing an integrated platform across all devices. It claims to use “innovative technologies” like face detection, image search, and voice recognition to deliver contextual advertising. Even Tyroo Direct’s mobile performance solutions will enable advertisers to scale their digital marketing campaigns by being visible on all screens. Challenges The digital ecosystem operates on a different format than traditional advertising and for marketers to fully utilise the opportunities presented by online advertising networks, their awareness about this platform needs to increase. Adchakra’s Soni feels that marketers tend to commoditise the ad network business and do not differentiate one network from the other. There also needs to be a closer association with ad networks in the planning phase itself in terms of objectives, creative, delivery, and how the budgets are split. “Since a good chunk of campaigns come from agencies today and the time at which an ad network gets

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

SOME Digital Agencies IN India Mindshare

Vivaki Exchange

Webchutney

Madison Media

AdChakra

Leo Burnett

Maxus

Wieden and Kennedy

Bates 141

Lintas Media Group

Platinum Media

JWT

Lodestar Universal

Quasar Media

ZenithOptimedia

Starcom Worldwide

Rediffusion Y&R

Triplecom Media

Mediacom

BC Web Wise

AIDEM

Mudra Max

Tribal DDB India

Dentsu Communications

MEC

Socialseety

TME

DGM India Internet Marketing

Havas Media

C2W Digital

Carat Fresh Integrated

OMD

Isobar

Media Direction

Hungama Digital Media & Entertainment

IMX

Interactive Avenues

Vizeum

Group M

Percept Knorign PK Online ventures

“A strong association with performance marketing and a small supply pool of publishers are some challenges that ad networks face” Manish Vij Founder, Smile Vun Group (SVG) and Founder & CEO, Tyroo Media engaged is much later in the process, that hampers the effectiveness of delivery, “says Ozone Media’s Gopinath. Advertising on digital is also complicated, primarily because of the sheer number of solution providers. In traditional media, a client may work with at best one or two agencies but in digital, according to Komli Media’s Verma,

Aegis Media

Posterscope

* The list is not exhaustive

everyone has numbers that do not exactly tie-up. “There are five to ten different variations of video banners and six to seven different paid advertising possiblities on Facebook alone. The complexity becomes tough. The other thing is that marketing is becoming much more real-time. It is not just about the collusion of numbers, it is about the collusion of ad formats,” he says. According to Vij, a strong association with performance marketing and a small supply pool of publishers are the other challenges that advertising networks face. However, most players also agree that marketers are fast realising the potential of ad-networks and are leveraging it to drive branding initiatives. “With increased adoption of technology and offerings, ad networks are no more plain entities and will not wither out due to the rise of DSPs (Demand Side Platform) or RTBs (Real-time bidding). Rather they will integrate and work hand in hand to provide the complete bouquet of services and the ones that will stand tall are the ones that offer a one stop shop solution,” says Gopinath. n -arshiya.khullar@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘Social will move from likes to engagement with brand assets’ Shamsuddin Jasani | Managing Director, Isobar India Isobar India has been at the helm of many innovative digital campaigns in the country and professes the integration of the media with the brand’s overall marekting strategy. Arshiya Khullar talks to Jasani and finds out more Please share with us, some of the key work and campaigns executed by Isobar in the last one year? Isobar has done some great work over the past year for which we also have won multiple awards and have been also recognised by Facebook as a preferred developer as well having worked with over 50 clients some of the great work we have done are for Expedia: Blogger out reach; Reebok Flex Mob; BMW 3 series launch Including the 1 millionth fan Sachin Tendulkar; Adidas OBA campaign; Philips Style Sutra; Exepdia give wings campaign; Goodyear multiple destination campaign and Kellogg Website development. What are the major challenges that you perceive while designing a media plan/creatives on digital? One of the biggest challenges while creating a media plan is to get a perspective on the end objective of the client for the activity- whether they are looking at a sales increase, brand engagement, pure traﬃc generation to their website. Hence clarity and being in sync with client brief is most important and challenging bit while designing a media plan also very important is how does the digital plan sit with other media’s and how we can leverage digital with offline and vice versa, more often than not digital plans are created in isolation. On creative the biggest challenge that we face is the understanding that this medium is different from print and TV and we cannot just adapt a creative meant for Offline media but we need to have a different approach for digital creative, which takes advantage of the technologies, which the medium offers. What are the factors that media planners consider

ORM is vital to social and is set to become important with digital getting mainstream 56

when selecting publishers for a particular campaign? Other than the obvious reach and frequency metrics, one of the most important factors for deciding any website / publisher for a campaign would be to identify the web content that best reaches their target audiences that would maximise the ROI from advertising spend. Time spent on particular website, what environment your advert is being shown, also increasingly another important factor is the customisation possibilities any publisher would offer. Seamless navigation between content and advertising content is preferred. Also we know from our vast experience which publisher works best for which category and hence that also weighs in and finally because we are mostly buying impressions and not a fixed inventory the unique user count on that page is more essential that just over all page views or impressions How should the entire digital marketing budget ideally be allocated across platforms? There is no set formula. It really depends on the clients’ objective and performance criterion. What we can say is that Social, SEO and some bits of search need an always on approach it needs to be on 365 days a year. What are the different touch points on the internet and other digital platforms that are being leveraged to create brand exposure? Social over last couple of years have become a very important tool, which marketers now cannot afford to ignore. One of the important extensions of social is ORM which has and would become more important as digital is becoming more mainstream and, hence it’s very important for any brand to safeguard their online assets and reputation. Digital platforms are now going from being limited to only PC/Desktops to Mobile and TV as well as out of home. We no longer can look at single screen and the mobile has now started living up to being billed as the truly convergent device and

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

we see it playing a bigger role in advertising as we go ahead. What is the industry doing to create awareness among marketers? I think we are doing a descent job of spreading awareness for digital. We are seeing a change as digital is becoming central to a lot of client briefs and your traditional media planner is now adapting to digital. As far as marketers go some of them really understand digital, and those are one who bought into this medium when this industry was at a nascent stage, and now are doing some really good work and guess they are reaping the benefits of the same now. Another big and welcome change that is happening is Digital courses being offered in Management colleges. This is a big and a defining moment for us digital folks and the day is not far away where digital will become integral in many a course focused to the marketing/ advertising industry Is there a gap between what marketers think of digital and what it actually is? Yes there is a gap between the perception and reality. One of the major causes is under representation of digital in the widely accepted offline planning tools and researches this is being addressed and I see it changing in the next few years. Also marketers need to exhibit some patience with the medium as they do with others and it will deliver you the results. Internet is said to be a measurable medium. What is your take on this? In your opinion, have we overdone the measurement quotient and made the medium hard to understand for brand marketers? Yes, while this medium is the most measurable medium and gives real time data that no other medium gives and also the flexibility to change and adapt creative’s at jiffy, We feel that marketers demand for more and more data and scrutinizing internet media for ROI has actually restricted its growth and this factor has become its bane than boon. But I still believe that it is not rocket science the fundamentals of planning remain the same its just that you have some different metrics to work with. People think its rocket science some of it is but most of it can be easily explained it’s just that advertisers need to Can the conventional brand building approach be replicated online? No medium, however, big or small should be looked into in isolation. Digital needs to be in sync with your overall brand strategy. The media mix may differ from client to client based on the objectives of the client and

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

sometimes digital can become the lead medium as well. But we truly believe that digital needs to be a part of your overall strategy and not an afterthought or a separate proposition. You may have a specialist working on your digital plan but it needs to fit in with your overall marketing strategy. How different is the approach while designing creatives for digital vis a vis the traditional media? In the true sense of traditional media most of it is broadcast and one way communication. The biggest difference is that digital is a two way street. Not only that but the medium also offers you great deal of flexibility the technology allows you to do a lot more and connect with users in a much deeper way that broadcast. What are the key trends in the digital marketing space at present? As I have said before all media is going digital I see a great future in smart tv’s and mobile two big things for the future. Augmented reality has now become mainstream, NFC will become more and more popular,

One big challenge while creating media plans is to get a perspective on client’s end objective video will continue to gain prominence. Social will be moving from how many likes the brand pages have to what level of engagement the brand page / assets have. Emerging social platforms like Pinterest will be explored and will become part of social mix. In creative space HTML5 would become norm and creative’s will have to seamless appeal across screens (Laptop, Tablet, Mobile). What are your recent initiatives in designing creatives for the mobile platform? Mobile is very important focus as this would be the medium which will help digital leapfrog and get those numbers here in India. Our philosophy for design and development is that we would want to develop for the mobile first and then for tablets and Desktops/Laptops later. We also believe that most clients skip the web on mobile piece through your native browsers and and jump straight to developing apps. I feel that having the right mobile site is more important than an app from the indian perspective. Of course we also feel mobile apps are very important but they do come after your mobile web presence. n -arshiya.khullar@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘Ecommerce is a medium, a store and an advertising tool’ Vincent Digonnet | President, Asia Paciﬁc, Digitas Digitas is set to build the concept of Social Commerce in India. Vincent Digonnet, President, Asia Pacific, Digitas and Kanika Mathur, President, Digitas India tell Arshiya Khullar more on that

Marketing organisations are putting more and more money into digital marketing and not advertising 58

Digitas has just launched a new ecommerce service. Please share details. Kanika Mathur (KM): Digitas has just launched its ecommerce service, which is a complete ecommerce ecosystem; as it includes technology engine and a marketing support around it. Typically what happens is that most technology companies just end up offering only the technology aspect but that is where the cookie starts crumbling as clients do not get the best ecommerce solution. We have a software engine that integrates with the client’s back end needs like a supply chain or a contact centre etc with marketing support and planning coming from the best of partners we have in US and in Asia. It is a B2B offering, but the ultimate benefiter is the end consumer. Vincent Digonnet (VD): It’s a service that is B2B, but the ultimate goal is to generate traffic, sales and improve the value of the brand for the end consumer. It’s B2C because it is directly linked to the customer and brand building tool for the marketer. It’s a strategy we are adopting worldwide. Hence, social media and ecommerce are our two main pillars, out of which we are looking at building ‘Social Commerce’. The ecommerce platform has a threefold function: it is a medium, it’s a store and at the same it is your advertising tool. So as you advertise, you can build your communication with the customer at the same time. What are the reasons/insights for launching the service? VD: What digital has done to communication is that it has brought a total shift in paradigm, but

it hasn’t been recognised yet. A lot of marketers and agencies treat Digital as an online President, extension of Kanika Mathur | Digitas India the advertising agency, which is a very small part of what digital brings to marketers. What it essentially brings to marketers is actually the change in the way they can project their brand, sell and communicate to the consumer. Nobody has realised that the power has shifted from the brand to the consumer. Although social media consumption has increased tremendously and people do talk about brands on that platform, irrespective what companies want to say about that brand. People still think that pushing messages is the right way to build your brand. What digital has brought to the world of communication is completely different; people now have all the access to all the information they want. And they make their own opinions and do not like intrusions from marketers. If they want to buy something, they first go to the brand’s website followed by a search on the social media websites, and they adhere to the word of mouth, discussing things with friends. So, where is the advertising in all of this? Nowhere! They gather information the way they want to and not be dictated by brands. We have worked on this insight and found out that social media and ecommerce are the two main drivers, and thus have developed this offering.

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

What are the key differentiators that Digitas brings in? VD: Internet and mobile are powered by technology and many marketers are clueless about the role of technology. What we do, is that we integrate the technology, develop the platform with marketing lenses. We build all the store management, CRM, connection with social media, monitoring etc, that will allow marketers to forget about technology and concentrate on what they are good at doing. Currently, marketers are facing this challenge of wasting too much time in understanding technology. Digitas is a marketing agency and we provide the confluence/channel between medium, technology and creativity. There is no other player that provides all three services on the same platform. Who are your clients? VD: In India, we built an engine for Samsung and are in talks with other clients. In China we are developing service for Lancome, Sephora and Johnny Walker. How would you compare the digital scenario in India to that in China? VD: China is five years ahead of India, in terms of development but we recognised a year and a half ago that India was at the tipping point. India is a very special market because China is a domestic market, so whatever you are developing in that market is good only for that market and not outside. The language is also a barrier, so you have to develop a whole new system to suit the market. Even the ecosystem differs as there is no Youtube or Facebook. However, India though a bit late in digital terms because of the low penetration of digital, is a huge domestic market, the development capabilities compounded by the use of English language, makes India as one of the key hub of developing technology. India is a huge market for MNCs vying a piece of the ecommerce market. Marketers here are ready to develop in terms of technology. This product will fill the gap that marketers face in terms of understanding technology; it is scaled to the realities of the Indian market. In India, the marketing budget towards digital is till single digit, how different is this from China?

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

VD: You have put together two points: advertising and marketing. This is where the disconnect lies. We are growing 30 per cent organically in India since the past two years. Digital advertising, which is media placement is probably 10-15 per cent of our revenue. The growth of digital marketing is happening in areas not accounted to for by advertising. An ecommerce platform or social media monitoring or content creation is not an advertising spend. So, you have all new strings of marketing activities that are not part of advertising. The small size of digital advertising is not representative of the overall digital marketing industry. We have to understand that marketing organisations are putting more and more money into digital marketing and not advertising. What then are the challenges that you are facing here in India? KM: This disconnect is the challenge, because most people using digital understand it more from the point of view of advertising rather than from a marketing and business transformation stand point. This is where we need to evangelize

Marketing organisations are still run by people not born in digital era and creatives & budget allocation are still based on an old model with our clients. Most brands are convinced that they need to do something on digital. But how much to invest and what to invest on is the dilemma right now. VD: The biggest challenge is that marketing organisations are still run by people who were not born in the digital era and the creatives and allocation of the budget is still based on an old model. At the moment we are in this transient position. Young ones understand digital but the ones who know marketing and business do not really understand digital. There needs to be connect between them. The replica of offline traditional media into online and mobile is deemed to fail. Please throw some light on the business strategy of Digitas VD: Our core business is developing CRM, which has totally changed with digital marketing. So

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS applying CRM with social media and ecommerce are our key areas. The new buzz word is social commerce or social CRM. What are the kinds of investments that Digitas has made in India, with this new venture? KM: Investments is by way of people, today we are 300 people right now and Digitas will invest more and more into that to enhance our offerings and develop the market. We have about 45 people in the tech team trained to run projects like these. What are the metrics in place on digital that are uniform and people rely on? KM: Before we run programmes, we set metrics. But metrics are not just enough in case of lack of background data, so we set benchmarks and set metrics based on what are the best practices being followed globally, these may include consumer journey, level of engagement or sales. You talked about the campaign that Digitas has done for Samsung. How was the turnout? KM: 30 lakh people on FB page and 18 lakh people

People are only interested in services and content, which requires new alliances with content providers to curate content for brands who actually visit Samsung related web pages, which are written about through bloggers/ advocates on a monthly basis. We have 50-60 lakh visiting their website. So that’s the scale that Samsung has achieved on social media. Has there been any surge in Samsung’s spends on digital? KM: Samsung has doubled their digital spends since last year. Digital happens to be a major part of Samsung’s ad spends. What are the kind of brands/categories are increasingly looking at social media? KM: 500 brands on FB, whether it is B2B or B2C, all are on this platform, there is no limit. Can the conventional brand building approach be replicated online or do you need to devise a separate marketing plan for digital? Also, does the digital platform need to be looked at in sync with the entire media mix or as a standalone marketing platform?

VD: No. This is the big mistake that has been made. Online media has been developed on the principles of traditional media. In digital, asset is worth nothing and intelligence, monitoring, tracking and creating content is where the money is. Traditionally, the right to put 30 seconds of a TV spot is a lot of money whereas the right to put anything on internet or in mobile is nothing. All those people who try to monetize from just mere asset sell will be wiped out because it is now audience on demand. You need more intelligence and less space since you don’t need to buy that space. Social media involves constant creation and creating of interesting content. What marketers do at the moment is that they think that people want to read page after page of advertising. But people are only interested in services and content. This requires whole new kind of people, alliances- with content providers and publishers to adapt curate and integrate content for brands. Marketers think that pushing headlines and just a couple of images will be enough. Money is not expandable therefore choices have to be made. Marketers need to realise that they need to invest more in the creation of content for their brand. Biggest problem of Facebook, and others is that there is huge traffic, a huge platform but one doesn’t know how to monetize it. With so many companies entering the digital space, there is a massive clutter in the e-commerce player. What is your take on consolidation? KM: Clutter is only in technology. Not in service provider. VD: If I look at China, a lot of platforms are collapsing because there is clutter. You are not limited by space, and this is where the whole pricing, value needs to change. If you open a store on a street, it will cost money. On the internet, anyone can set up anything on any platform. The only limit is how many people you can drive to your platform. Five years down the lane, what are some of the trends that according to you will become game changers... VD: In the world we live in, it is changing all the time. The key pillars to all these changes will be ecommerce and social media. These will drive marketing. Traditional advertising will become a thing of the past. Mobile and internet is an infinite world, where asset has no value. Whole pricing model of advertising and space is based on limited inventory. n -arshiya.khullar@pitchonnet.com

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Welcome to THE MET - the future of hospitality embedded with responsible luxury. No other address matches its unique blend of minimalist design, innovative technology and eco-friendly practices. Redefining excellence and exemplary service, the iconic New Delhi hotel reflects refined tastes and unsurpassed lifestyle of the elite travellers. The sensory experience of THE MET attests to its status as a modern New Delhi landmark and to stay here is truly an expression of privilege.

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COVER STORY E-COMMERCE

A full

CART Almost everyday, there’s an announcement of a new e-commerce website being launched in India. Where’s the industry headed? By Arshiya Khullar

he meteoric rise of smartphones and internet usage has changed the way connected Indians shop by creating a whole new world of deals, discounts and a deluge of brands. E-commerce in India, though still in a nascent stage, is fast growing to become not just a convenient and cost effective shopping option but also a wealth creating tool for entrepreneurs. A favourable demographic dividend, rising disposable incomes and growth of the ‘screenager generation’ has resulted

in a surge of popularity of B2C and B2B online transactions. While the initial impetus to the development of e-commerce in India has been provided by the travel portals, railways, and airlines; online services like banking, bill payment, hotel room booking, matrimonial sites, and job sites, among many others are now becoming popular. Whether it is deal Sites like Snapdeal. com, Online Retailers like Yepme, Jabong, Myntra or books retailers like Flipcart.com, practically every conceivable

Of the total customer trafﬁc that is seen on e-commerce sites, a signiﬁcant proportion comes from the Tier II and III towns 62

product/service segment has set up shop in the virtual world aiming to attract the ‘value for money’ customers. Marketers, e-commerce players and agencies seem to have a positive outlook for the road ahead for this industry and the untapped potential that remains to be leveraged. According to Harneet Singh Rajpal, VP-Marketing, Domino’s Pizza India, there were some apprehensions in the consumers’ minds at first, but in the last year and a half significant investments have been made by many ecommerce companies as a result of which people have started experimenting with online ordering. In terms of the core target audience of online stores, it is the internet savvy

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

younger generation that most brands cater to. Each brands’ product portfolio is also therefore in sync with the preferences of this segment. “Myntra sees an age group of 18 to 28, mostly comprising college students and first jobbers coming online and shopping,” says Ganesh Subramanian, Chief Merchandising Officer at Myntra.com. “In terms of product categories, sports and casual lifestyle products - footwear, apparel and accessories are popular. Though when it comes to regions, demand for different types of products depends on the demography as well. Myntra is one of the well known e-commerce retailers and claims to having a registered user base of 30 lakh and five lakh customer traffic every day. Of the total customer traffic that is seen on e-commerce sites, a significant proportion comes from the Tier II and III towns. With easy access, greater choice

While the number of people transacting online has seen a marked increase, e-commerce hasn’t yet permeated through all consumer segments and improved payment options, more and more people from towns and cities are dipping their feet in the e-commerce pool. Shailen Amin, CEO, beStylish is of the opinion that the adoption of e-commerce in these places is to do with the non-availability of products and brands in Tier two and three cities along with the upsurge of mobiles and smartphones. Myntra estimates that close to 55 per cent of its business is driven through these markets, with the rest of the business coming from the top 8 cities. Moreover, 60 per cent of the transactions are Cash on Delivery.

To be or not to be While the number of people transacting online has seen a marked increase, ecommerce hasn’t yet permeated through all consumer segments and groups. There still exists apprehension and discomfort which stops customers from embracing the medium fully. A crucial factor is the relative lack of differentiation in the product portfolio of most e-commerce players. Fashion sites, for instances, offer the same brands with minute price variations as a result of which there seldom exists brand loyalty. According to Amit Tiwari, Country Head, Media and Digital at Philips India, there is a lot of focus on deals but no

What’s up with the e-commerce industry? Pitch organised a round table conference with some major internet players and marketers to discuss the opportunities in the e-commerce space in India. The highlights of the conference can be seen on Pitch TV on pitchonnet.com

Front Row (L-R): Neetu Bhatia, Co-Founder & CEO, Kyazoonga.com; Amit Tiwari, Director, Country Head Media & Digital, Philips India; Roy de Souza, CEO, Zedo; Standing (L-R): Nikhil Rungta, Country Marketing Head, Google India; Suneet Manchanda, Co-Founder & COO, Ladyblush.com; Harish Bahl, CEO, Smile Group; Siddhartha Sethi, Director, Xaxis (Moderator); Manish Vij, Founder, Smile Vun Group; Manu Kumar Jain, Co-Founder, Jabong.com; & Samarjeet Singh, Director Founder, Iksula

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COVER STORY E-COMMERCE SOME PROMINENT E-COMMERCE WEBSITES IN INDIA APPARELS

HOME GOODS

RECHARGE

20north.com

evok.com

easyrecharge.com

bestylish.com

fabfurnish.com

freerecharge.com

fashionandme.com

fernsandpetals.com

oxicash.in

fashionandyou.com

furniturewalla.com

paytm.com

freecultr.com

housefull.co.in

rechargeguru.com

inkfruit.com

indiamart.com

rechargeitnow.com

naturesbasket.com

CLASSIFIEDS

TICKETING

adeex.in

KIDS

bookmyshow.com

adoos.in

babyoye.com

easymovies.com

click.in

firstcry.com

kyazoonga.com

clickindia.com

hoopos.com

khojle.in

momandme.com

locanto.in olx.in quikr.com vivastreet.co.in

DEALS 99labels.com bagittoday.com bindaasbargain.com coupondunia.in crazeal.com freekaamaal.com lootmore.com mydala.com naaptol.com snapdeal.com timtara.com tradus.com

OTHERS bigbazaar.com ebay.in excluzen.com flipkart.com futurebazaar.com indiaplaza.com infibeam.com jabong.com jungle.com koovs.com magazinemall.com myntra.com next.co.in redbag.com swissmilitary.com yebhi.com

ELECTRONICS/ CONSUMER DURABLES croma.com homeshop18.com themobilestore.com

zoomin.com

TRAVEL coxandkings.com expedia.com goibibo.com Irctc.com ixigo.com makemytrip.com redbus.in travelguru.com tripadvisor.in yatra.com

WOMEN faballey.com ladyblush.com prettysecrets.com shopimagine.in strapsandstrings.com zivame.com

zovi.com

* The list is not exhaustive

brand imagery has been created. “There is no connect between a customer and the brand imagery and the same products are available across sites. End of the day, it is not only the product that is driving sales but the deal, not just the strategy but the imagery. If brand imagery isn’t created, there will never be audience attraction,” he appends. Most consumers would therefore survey online and purchase oﬄine which defeats the very purpose of an online store. The apprehension is also fuelled by the payment processes in place. Most shoppers are wary of using their credit cards and limit their online actions to only browsing and price/product comparison. Cash on Delivery has therefore, provided a respite to shoppers but at the same time, has also resulted in enhancing costs incurred by brands. “There is apprehension in terms of credit card usage as they think there is potential fraud associated with it which is why COD is still big. I personally believe it is a matter of time. We as a society are going through an evolution, we are slightly behind and we need to build that comfort level. The overall banking infrastructure and system in India is fairly mature but people need to get more comfortable with it,” opines Chandrakanth BN, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Theorem, a global technology company. With COD, servicing and reach also becomes a challenge. Suneet Manchanda, Co-Founder & COO, Ladyblush.com, a shopping website exclusively for women, is of the opinion that what is critical for ecommerce players is to establish a wide reach, service more number of cities and pin code deliveries. “Volumes are waiting to happen but the courier companies don’t see economies of scale from there. Awareness and willingness to pay is equal to a good opportunity for conversion. I am able to get the conversion but not the delivery

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

sorted out,” says Manchanda. For some others, Cash on Delivery helps to provide opportunities for greater interaction and engagement. According to Harish Bahl, Founder and Chairman, Smile Group, COD helps to provide a direct touch point and active communication with the customer besides creating a database of customers. Timely deliveries, ensuring against damage during shipment, return rates of products, reversal of faulty transactions, and improving the poor bandwidth and supply constraints are some other factors that marketers’ need to work on to drive greater traffic. Another challenge, according to many companies, is to change the perception about online shopping and payment that Indians hold. Nikhil Rungta, Country Marketing Head at Google India feels that trust and awareness is low for e-commerce companies. Lack of adequate trust and brand recognition is the reason why transactions and buying is low on the internet. A major cause is because none of the ecommerce companies stand for any one particular thing,” he says. Rungta goes ahead to cite the example of Indigo Airlines, which has been able to sustain its consumer base because of the brand promise of being on time, which it has stood by. Samarjeet Singh, Director Founder, Iksula believes that it is the industry that needs to remove the fear that customers have about trusting a brand online. “We are fundamentally non-trusting as a country and that will take time to change. There is also tremendous opportunity in changing the widely held notion that we are a country with a bad delivery service. If e-commerce companies can deliver a clear value proposition and fast service, they can gather higher market shares,” he appends. The Mantras For Samrajeet Singh, convenience, price and hard-to-find products are the core propositions for any successful

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

e-commerce venture. He goes ahead to add that return and profitability are higher in the later two propositions. “It is today become increasingly important to create a strong proposition for consumers to transact and get to the pulse of the consumer. This will get you traction which will further get you the capital,” says Bahl. To create a compelling connect and pull for the consumer therefore, differentiation and relevance remain the key. “Today, there are 40 million shoppers

“There is tremendous opportunity in changing the held notion that we are a country with a bad delivery service” Samarjeet Singh Director Founder, Iksula

“Volumes are waiting to happen, but the courier companies don’t see economies of scale from there” Suneet Manchanda Co-Founder & COO, Ladyblush.com

online out of the 120 million internet users in the country. Most e-commerce players focus on media categories. Stress should be laid on verticalization and super verticalization of e-commerce in India,” says Manchanda. For him, it was a natural choice to enter the women’s category considering there exists 25 to 30 per cent margins for this segment. According to Neetu Bhatia, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, KyaZoonga.com, cross selling and up selling work well and help to create engagement. “If there is a compelling proposition, people who are online will find the brand. KyaZoonga, for instance, sold merchandise along with tickets for some major events to drive interest,” she says. Investments and cost of acquisition also play an important role in the success of an e-commerce venture. “The whole industry is becoming much more mature and understanding the meaning of profitability. Companies are moving towards sustainable and profitable growth rather than just growth,” says Manu Kumar Jain, Co-founder, Jabong.com. What then is the golden rule for companies looking at cementing its place in the constantly evolving and growing e-commerce landscape? According to figures shared by Google’s Rungta, close to 70 per cent internet users in U.S. are using e-commerce while in China it is 40 per cent. This signals there huge head room that exists in India and the opportunities that need to be leveraged. Manish Vij, Founder, Smile Vun Group talks about the right moves that need to be made. According to him, a customer should ideally be made profitable within one to one and a half years of his first buying. “Companies who are focussing on building their brand and ensuring repeat customers through brand building initiatives coupled with a balanced approach of voucherisation and transactional tactical advertising will do well. The supply chain, categories and pricing needs to be right for a customer to have repeat purchase intent,” he adds. n -arshiya.khullar@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘Online policy buying allows comparisons and reduce costs’ Akshay Mehrotra | CMO, Policybazaar.com Akshay Mehrotra, CMO, Policybazaar.com talks to Ruchika Kumar of Pitch on the business prospects of an online facilitator of insurance sales and how the brand is taking shape in the online space. Excerpts... Please elaborate on the consumer insight that triggered the need to launch a portal like policybazaar? We noticed some insurance portals like money supermarket.com and confused.com in UK and Europe offering comparison services to consumers. The model seemed very interesting and we thought a very large scalable business model could be built around this. Also, online e-retailing of insurance helps reduce massive distribution cost. Currently, in India they are 48 insurance companies and close to few thousand insurance products. Let’s take an example, if customer wants to buy the best health insurance today he will need to meet agents from 32 companies offering health insurance and go through all their product offerings. It will take this person almost a month before he is able to narrow down the product he can buy. While today on Policybazaar.com you can compare insurance plans from insurers and find the best plan for you within minutes. The second part of the business, which is very much hidden from consumers is online e-supermarket. It allows distribution cost to drastically come down and typically work as the lowest distribution format in the market. Products, which have less commission, have better returns for customers and lower premiums cannot be sold by traditional agent distribution formats. Whereas, online, we are able to drastically reduce distribution cost. How do you think the portal helps you ﬁnd the challenges that most brands in this sector face onground? Are the challenges diﬀerent here? The unique capability of Policybazaar.com to provide

Today, close to 10,000 transactions happen online through policybazaar and another 20,000 policies are sold through referred customers 66

comparison makes customer interaction every easy. In some products like term insurance and car insurance customers are looking for the lowest buy. We provide an easy comparison. In some products, which need concept selling, we provide phone assistance to help customers make select the product they need. Consumers can then look at buying these products online also. Today, close to 10,000 transactions happen online through policybazaar and another 20,000 policies are sold through referred customers who compare online before they buy. Do you also sell insurance products online? Or do you focus on lead generation? What is the objective of the brand? We focus in facilitating online insurance sales. Although 15 per cent of our revenue is currently linked to lead generation but these are for products where online tractions are few and less products are available online. With strict IRDA guidelines, where aggregators have been barred from ranking or commenting on insurers or products, what has been Policybazaar’s strategy and method of functioning? Policybazaar calls for comparison from an approved IRDA aggregator. The IRDA guidelines are very discouraging for a business like ours. We were forced to remove customers rating and comments from the platform because of this but the advantage we get is that now companies by regulation have to share their rates and charges with us for all products, which help get more and more products on our platform. We are hoping that in the next three months we can add 300 more products to our platform. What is the opportunity in the digital space in India for brands like policybazaar? What according

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

to you is driving the growth of this segment? Policybazaar.com got two crore unique visitors last year. The number of customers is more than the total traffic all insurance companies, put together, get on their website. Today, we only are able to convert less than 0.5 per cent of these customers. The potential is very huge considering only 0.4 per cent of insurance is being bought online currently in a country that sells more than 70 lakh insurance policies each year. In the UK, 70 per cent of all insurance policies are sold online. What is your annual and monthly turnover? On average, we get close to 20 lakh unique visitors each month, but this traffic goes up by 2.5 times in the last four months of the financial year. Total unique customer visits last year were two crore. Currently, new business premium sourced through customers visiting Policybazaar is over Rs 200 crore a year. What is your marketing budget for the digital space? What are the key marketing tools you use to communicate to consumers? Our digital marketing spends are between Rs 28-30 crore this year. 65 per cent of these spends are pure on Google Adwords. The rest 35 per cent of these spend are equality distributed between display, mailers and online network buys. Our marketing campaigns are pure performance driven; we follow Cost of Acquisition & Cost per Lead matrix to optimise our campaigns. What are the challenges and opportunities you see in this segment? There are three main challenges in our business: 1. Lack on online distribution and pricing system for insurance. In the absence of the same we had to build physically build online bridges with each company for every product to make it available online for customers. 2. Regulatory atmosphere, which makes the business model very uncertain. 3. Very small portion of the market and product base being online today only 70 products can be bought online. But these challenges provided a huge potential at 10,000 policies being sold online through us already. In my opinion, in the next three years, close to 50 per cent of the market will move online and e-commerce players like us will benefit a great deal. What are the trends in the buying patterns? Customers now have moved from search to research before they buy. During the period 2003-05, people

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

used to search for flight options from Delhi to Mumbai on Google. By 2008, people started to more actively research about flight options on travel aggregator websites like Makemytrip and Yatra to get a better rate or a better offer on the ticket prices. Today, more than 60 per cent of all items sold online are tickets both air and train. We today see customers having a similar shift in case of their insurance purchases. Close to half a million customers a month do a detailed research of insurance plans on our site but transactions are still very few. But we expect conversion numbers will increase to nearly 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 20 per cent conversion over the next 18 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 24 months. What are the new strategies that websites are adopting to lure consumers like Trial and Buy, buy online and pick up offline etc.? Our current focus is to provide a consultative approach to our visitors, especially for products which require a little more understanding. Insurance plans

On average, we get close to 20 lakh unique visitors each month, but this traffic goes up by 2.5 times in the last four months of the financial year like pension, child, money back & health insurance can be customised to suit customer needs and not many customers today are able to do this themselves. Customers need to understand these products, before they buy them. In the next few weeks we will be introducing a range of modules on our website, which will help customers use this consultative approach to narrow down the product best suited. We recently introduced direct phone support for customers who need assistance a little more than those who understand this category. Do you think this growth in e-commerce/e-retailing in India is sustainable or can it be another bubble that may burst soon? Ecommerce is here to stay, we see many customers now getting comfortable buying online. Today ecommerce brands need to focus more on improving backend efficiencies and improved product catalogues to product depth. Customers are very keen to buy, but what currently restricts them is a limited knowledge about the product range available. In my opinion the sector will expand and grow immensely. n -ruchika@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘Our target audience is the moneyrich, time-poor community’ K Vaitheeswaran | CEO & Founder, Indiaplaza.com Fascinated by the marvels of internet, the idea of Indiaplaza came about in the’90s & is on its way of becoming a Rs 200 crore venture. K Vaitheeswaran shares the journey What was the idea behind launching Indiaplaza? What was the insight that triggered the idea? In 1996, I was on Hotmail and saw an ad for buying books. I clicked on it, landed on amazon.com and was absolutely fascinated. I felt that the concept of selling stuff to customers worldwide without being physically present was a game changer and I wanted to do something like this in India. In 1999, when I got the chance to co-found India’s first e-commerce company with some friends, I grabbed the opportunity. There was no major insight, it sounded exciting and unique, so we did it. How do you think you are diﬀerentiated from competition? We pioneered e-commerce in India and have been following the same strategy for over 13 years, which includes huge selection, low prices and the zero inventory model. Most e-commerce companies are copying and replicating our business strategy or model. As the pioneers, we don’t need to differentiate ourselves, it is for companies who have followed our footsteps to determine how to differentiate themselves from Indiaplaza! Our USP is the same we have built over the years – massive selection and low prices. Who comprises your TG? We define our TG in a different manner – we call them the ‘money-rich-time-poor’ community. These are working professionals, busy working couples, businessmen, professionals across all cities in India. What is the opportunity in the e-commerce space? E-commerce market in India is around Rs 2,500 crore currently. By 2015 it is expected to grow to Rs 50,000 crore! A massive movement of customers, who are comfortable with online transactions, is driving this surge.

Around 65 per cent of business comes from metros and large cities and rest from Tier-II and Tier-III towns 68

What is your annual/monthly turnover and daily unique visitors on your site? We are planning to touch Rs 150-200 crore this year. We have crossed over One crore page views per month. Around 65 per cent of our business comes from metros and large cities, the balance 35 per cent comes from tier II and tier III towns. What is your marketing budget and key marketing tools? Our marketing budget is quite small. Mostly we use search and social media to access our customers. What are the challenges and opportunities here? The opportunity is to build a massive business in size. The challenge will be to make the business sustainable and profitable. What are the key trends in the buying patterns of consumers online? Customers started buying low value items like books but are now prepared to buy high value items like cameras, mobiles, washing machines online. The other key trend we have seen is growth in purchase of lifestyle items like apparel, footwear, cosmetics online. Also, increasingly customers use oﬄine retail stores to see / try an item and then they buy online because of lower prices. The next two big game changers in this space will happen when large oﬄine retailers successfully go online and the government allows FDI in multi-brand retail. Do you think this growth in e-commerce in India is sustainable or can it be another bubble that may burst soon? E-commerce is here to stay and grow; I do not have any doubt on this. However, e-commerce companies who are purely building top line without any profitability approach may find it hard to continue for long.n -ruchika@pitchonnet.com

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

‘Delivery time-line will be the game changer of e-commerce’ Sachin Kapur | CMO, Crazeal The CMO of Crazeal, talks to Ruchika Kumar, about the opportunities in the deals’ based websites in India. Excerpts:

How’s crazeal diﬀerent from other deal sites? We are trying to introduce services to individuals for the first time. For example, a lot of people didn’t know that they could buy ski-diving adventure packages online or laser eye surgery online. We tied up with a reputed eye-surgeon in Bangalore and sold around 35 of those vouchers in two days, which cost Rs 25,000 each. Thus, these deals are first of their kinds. What is your annual and monthly turnover? As a policy, we cannot give out any region specific numbers. Globally we have more than 150 million subscriber base, present in 148 countries. In terms of Groupon Inc’s global turnover, the company registered a 45 per cent year-over-year growth in revenues to a total of $568.3 million, in the second quarter of 2012. What are the key marketing tools you use? We are online business, everything is on social media in terms of advertising and engaging people, almost fourfive per cent of the traffic comes to the site via social media. The other tool, apart from social media and online marketing, is through our newsletters. We also indulge in experiential marketing activities, oﬄine activations for movie promotions like Spiderman (in Delhi) and Batman (across 9 cities), and then we had Café Coffee Day (CCD) activations where one could get customised coffee deals. We also gave away coupons at PVR for members to get their free refreshments during movie screenings. In addition, we keep having online contests and we are equally active on consumer feedback.

Local commerce is the big opportunity in this space. People are willing to explore entertainment opportunities during weekends Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

What are the challenges in this segment? This is a crowded space with many players in this domain. Our competitors are mostly focusing on numbers but less on quality, so once the consumer is dissatisfied, he will lose interest in those deals. But we are more focused on quality led experience from our deals. What about opportunities? Local commerce is the next big opportunity in this space. People in big metros are always willing to explore more entertainment opportunities during weekends so, we have started weekend.crazeal.com, which is a lineup of deals that one can do on a weekend. What are the new strategies that websites are adopting to lure consumers and what will be the game changers in the industry? The game changers are definitely going to be the delivery time line and customer experience. More than freebies, discounts and all the prime focus will be on what the consumer wants to experience. Let me ask this way; what if the deal goes bad? So, we, at Crazeal, give a complete reimbursement in case of customer dissatisfaction, even if the consumer has used the deal. We have a 14-day money return deal with our services. Do you think this growth in e-commerce in India is sustainable or can it be another bubble that may burst soon? The way e-commerce has come back; it is here to stay definitely. But having said that, there has definitely been consolidation and only the strong ones will survive in the long run. The next big wave and push for ecommerce will come from mobile. But there will be consolidation of that market too. n -ruchika@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY MEDIA ONNET

Offline to

online?

How are broadcatsers or other offline media brands leveraging online? Do they find the cusp a revenue churner?

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

By Aditi Malhotra

t’s not hard to guess why digital is in the process of being unleashed as an animal on the hunt to which everyone is falling prey. Yes, it’s about keeping up with changing trends of viewers and readers alike. The broadcast troupe, especially, needs to tug the fussy digital anchor towards itself because viewers today are hopping between four screens (Computers, Tablets, Mobile Phones and Television). And, this is a choice they make based on experience. Troy Lobo, Senior Director, South Asia for Network & Content Distribution at Turner International India, articulates this well. He says, “Previously there was traditional television, which was ‘leanback experience’. Today, everything is an interactive ‘lean forward experience.’ So, I want to mix and match, I want to consume on the mobile. I want to consume on my iPad, on my computer. And adding to that, the audience is fragmented and it needs more interactivity.” The online platform also provides the additional advantage for a user to be able to revisit content or data, in great depth, from any time period. In short, the interbrand competition is now becoming more inclusive, as an intra-Brand competition. Tackling this intensity and evading the threat of stagnation, offline media brands have steadily steered and advanced into the digital deep space. Marketing spends of eminent newspapers and channels reflect and suggest the necessity of implementing this variation. Popular brands like Star TV, Hindustan Times and MTV India, back this up. “We’ve had our online presence through hindustantimes.com since 1996. And, today, we dedicate almost 15 per cent of the total marketing budget to digital,” says Shantanu Bhanja, Vice President, Marketing, Hindustan Times Media. For Star TV too, which has a whole host of channels running across varied genres, for the top portfolio channels, the marketing spend on digital is as high as 45-50

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

“Traditional TV was ‘leanback experience’. Today, everything is an interactive ‘lean forward experience” Troy Lobo Senior Director, South Asia, Network & Content Distribution, Turner International India per cent. Even for channels which have begun their tryst with the Indian market recently, like History TV18 and Comedy Central, the marketing budget for digital has been set aside at 5-8 per cent and 20

per cent respectively. The intersection of the several streams of traditional and new media, for most players in India, is definitely far from being driven solely by the revenue generation. The prerogative, largely, is to replicate consumption and connect on platforms which are the online counterparts. “You’re talking to a large set of audience for some of whom the digital screen is the first screen,” says Lalit Bhagia, Vice President and Digital Head at Star TV to sum this movement well. For the Young and the Restless As per numbers indicated by comScore in the Pitch Mindshare Digital Report 2012, the results on demographic profiling with respect to age group are rather interesting. The 55 years and above category which had 11 lakh unique visitors in July 2011, rose to a 19 lakh figure leading thus, to a 74 per cent year-on-year growth, which was the maximum amongst all categories. The 15-24 age group, which is an active segment in the youth category,

The Greatest Indian Challenge’, a nationwide poll to select the ‘One Great Indian After Gandhi’ has been one of the most impactful campaigns done by a media brand 71

COVER STORY MEDIA ONNET followed with a 48 per cent year-on-year growth. Yet, for most channels, the transcend from offline to online content consumption platforms, has been to tap the younger audiences. “We do reach out to incremental audiences online, who are younger and not a part of the channel’s core target audience,” says Suranjana Ghosh, Marketing Head, CNBC TV18. Sangeetha Aiyer, General Manager - Marketing, History TV18, says something in a similar breath. “We were very clear from day one that we wanted to tap the younger audiences. The fact is that television is not their first port when it comes to entertainment.” The messaging and imagery for most channels fluffing their activity on online spaces is undoubtedly, influenced by the way marketers feel the young and the restless will be easily captivated. Even for a show like Satyamev Jayate,

dren and the grandparents, 20 per cent of the total contribution came from the 18-22 age group. Its Facebook page saw 60 crore impressions. And, on Twitter there were over five crore impressions. So while most people in the 55+ age group declared the show’s success on television, one would imagine that these galloping figures on the “second screen” had the youth backing it.

“We’ve had our online presence through since 1996. We dedicate almost 15% of the total marketing budget to digital” Shantanu Bhanja Vice President, Marketing, Hindustan Times Media which in its universality managed to evoke conflicted opinions from the grandchil-

Sculpting a new casket Besides this clear segmentation playing a role in packaging content available on the traditional platform for the digital platform, the casing of the content is also governed to a large extent by the fact that the very DNA of the digital platform is different. Hence, a kind of product which would work well on television, will need to be shaped differently for the new media. Neeraj Sanan, CMO, ABP News, says, “When it comes to even shots, long shots

CASE STUDY Satyamev Jayate Objective: To convert individual behavioral change to government action and response and ultimately do something meaningful for the society. The intention was to produce Corporate Social Responsibility, not as a disparate offering. Execution: Conversations via the web were encouraged during breaks

and post the episode. Some of the popular hashtags which ran were #Dowry, #Childsexabuse, #ConserveWater and #AgingParents. Donations also flew in through various mediums like SMS and the Click to Give forum which was created. According to World Information Tracking, on Digital Platforms, the show received over a billion Impressions and 64 million engagements. Donations, worth Rs. 38,304,197 flew in through various mediums like SMS and the Click to Give Contest. Conversations also peaked during breaks and post the episode. All 13 episodes were top trending on Twitter in India and three of

them, even trended globally.

Result: Donations worth Rs. 38,304,197 were received. All 13 episodes were top trending on Twitter in India and three of them, even trended globally. Figures also indicate that there were 3.5 million unique visitors on satyamevjayate.in. The Youtube page saw 35 million views. The Facebook and Twitter pages showed 600 million and over 500 million impressions respectively. This also facilitated an active Government Response Action some of which include, Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court, Arun Mishra agreeing, in principle, to setup fast track courts in Jaipur to expedite all cases on female foeticide and the Rajya Sabha passing a pending gender-neutral Bill - Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2011 for the protection of children against this kind of abuse. Satyamev Jayate, thus, highlighted the power the second screen as a complimenting one to Television. n

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

with cranes or moving people will be apt to cover a whole conference. But, on mobile, when you’re really close to the anchor, you can see his/her expressions and transmit it at a much lower resolution. Hence, is my product delivery on mobile the same as that on TV? No.” The bottom line here thus, is that there needs to be a content requirement assessment which would then lead to the customisation of the product. The more popular adaptation is also for most channels to aggressively extend a show on digital in a way that for a child who watched Ben Ten on Cartoon Network or Chhota Bheem on Pogo, can play the character by controlling its representation via a mobile game. “When you come to the website, we have short clips, e-Greeting cards, Build Your Own Avatar to be able to create opportunities for the audience to interact with the brand on another platform,” says Lobo of Turner

For new channels particularly, social media has been a wondrous accelerator for gaining visibility and crediting a much higher ‘conversation currency’ International India. Even for UTV Movies, which began its Facebook activities in September 2009 and brought its biggest off-air property, “Jeeyo Bollywood Awards” last year, the way forward now is to promote the page as the No 1 Bollywood movies destination online and with this mandate in mind, it has created digital concepts in the form of apps and games around the same. The Social Media and Website Crusade For new channels particularly, which have entered the Indian market off late, social media has been a wondrous accelerator for gaining visibility and crediting a much higher “conversation currency”,

as Sangeetha Aiyer puts it. And to follow mandatory arrows and wander within the digital space, feels Aiyer, is a much more reasonable option than converting the value attained on bigital platforms back to television viewing. That said, for History TV18, which began its operations in the country on October 9, last year, the curiosity factor and the launch murmur used platforms like Twitter and Facebook to give users that “special privilege.” Even for channels like Comedy Central and VH1 India, the digital undertaking has been sans a website. “With social media, you’re already on platforms on which people are active. With a website, the task is to drive traffic, which is really a whole

CASE STUDY Nano Drive with MTV Objective: MTV Nano Drive- The So-

Execution: Buzz was created with on-

who were looking for adventure.

cial Road Trip, was aimed at travel enthusiasts, photographers, writers and those who have the urge to get out and explore.

air promos playing out on the channel with the underlying tone of eliminating boring people from the drive and calling for

The CFE phase lasted two weeks and received 6225 genuine entries with 457 video entries. The best 16 entries were then picked for the drive. To spread the word about the campaign, celebrities like Raghu Ram consistently tweeted. The contestants also received individual traction on Social Media platforms through blogs, posts and Tweets. The website hosted live updates from each team member as they went along their respective routes. The individual team pages flashed photos, videos and blogs.

t h e fun people

Result: The figures show that hashtags for each of the zones (#nanowest, #nanoeast, #nanonorth, #nanosouth) saw 27,741, 29,420, 37,978 and 32,610 Tweets as tag count. The Facebook page saw 6,93,934 stories, 75,775,045 impressions and facilitated a daily engagement of 8,648 fans. There were 4,58, 529 Likes on content and the page recorded a total of 53,50,668 interactions. n

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COVER STORY MEDIA ONNET different ball game. Even if you look at VH1, which is extremely digitally savvy as a brand, so to say, we’ve got about 13 lakh fans on Facebook. We have around 3,5003,700 Tweets and have 11,000+ followers. And this is incredible in comparison to say, a channel like Star World which has been around for a while and has about 20,000 odd Tweets and maybe around 10,000 followers. Currently, social media is far more relevant for us.” Lalit Bhagia of Star TV, however, with his opinion adds assortment to the platter. Bhagia makes a relevant point when he says that on “social media and associated platforms, there is no way you own the consumer. The consumer is owned by the social media platform in question. On your website, you know exactly who the consumer is. The data specifics and particulars are with you.” Also, the direction which is followed is not to just restrict activity promoting

“We are content creators and consider ourselves platform agnostic. Hence, we have to be on every platform today” Neeraj Sanan CMO, ABP News

a collateral for channel specific content, but adopting a more genre-centric ap-

proach. Which goes further to say that a channel like Comedy Central often sees posts on Facebook taking funny spins on whatever is local and relevant? In the second week of September this year, for example, Comedy Central launched an app on Facebook called ‘Show me the Funny’ where fans could submit their fan art, the wackiest quotes from their favourite shows and Comedy Central would take it forward by making the best fan art into a T shirt. History TV18, too ran ‘History Har Din’ which was a User Generated Content campaign on ordinary people making “history” every day. Not only did the Twitter handle and the campaign hashtag trend on the day of the launch of the initiative, but it received more than 130 entries in three days. For channels with absolutely focused target groups like Cartoon Network, which is attentive to the 4-14 target audience, leveraging Social Media is not such

CASE STUDY The Greatest Indian Challenge Objective: The Greatest Indian (TGI) was a nationwide poll to select that one great Indian after Mahatma Gandhi who has been influential and has impacted lives. This initiative was hosted in partnership with CNN IBN and like BBC roped in the news channel to create a conversation currency. Execution: There were three Modes of Selection- A Nationwide Poll, Jury Votes and a Market Research Survey conducted by AC Neilsen. There were two modes of voting. The first included giving a missed call to a specified number wherein each nominee had a unique number. TGI also leveraged the Facebook Connect to gather votes. On Facebook, knowing that Mahatma Gandhi is highly respected among the target audience, the campaign created a buildup by talking about Gandhi’s leadership through cover images. During the launch, a Timeline of Events was unveiled in the lives of each of the greats on the day of the show. Colourful

graffiti posters were also created for each of the greats. Based on the page’s past performance, the fact that ‘face-offs’ is a property that always performed well, and leveraged them to its advantage.

Result: The discussion reached platforms like Facebook, Community boards, mailing lists, SMS and even BBMs with ‘missed call’ voting numbers getting viral. All these efforts resulted in an growth in

the vote count and the initiative led to fascinating development on Facebook and creation of fan pages, rooting for their icons. The eight weeks saw seven hashtags trending on Twitter like #TGI, #TheGreatestIndian, #TheGreatestQuiz, #TenGreatIndian etc. The number of followers increased fourfold from 820 on 11th June to 3318, which is the recent figure. Twenty lakh users were reached out to through viral content on Facebook. n

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

an endorsed idea, reason being that most social media platforms do not encourage children within that age group to scuttle around. Cartoon Network has recently initiated social elements. But that call is also more from a marketing perspective and owes to the fact that it’s obviously essential to be omni present. No Cheat Codes on Social Media The formal appeal of a website standing as counterpoint to the conversationality and establishing meaningful connect through social media, is a bonus that goes to the latter and is deemed correct. However, when it comes to tracking consumption on the scoreboard of Likes and Followers is a tricky podium to be on. A fraction of the responses on being quizzed about this, feels that the immediacy and consistency of receiving

For channels with absolutely focused target groups like Cartoon Network, leveraging social media is not such an endorsed idea reactions on compelling dialogues and building relationships thereon, is what could potentially ascertain quality and a superior assessment. “Measurement of impact on social media varies from activity to activity,” says Bhagia. If you could look at just the Facebook page, you would know and could count how many people are actively talking about you.” Fostering further clarity, he says, “There is Reach and then, there is Engagement. A lot of brands stop at Reach. But, we’re always more keen to keep in touch with giving the quantity, some quality, by measuring engagement.”

CASE STUDY Cartoon Network India (GSK Boost)

Safe to say thus, that the second level comes from the Comments and its number. This comes obviously after the simple task of merely who has seen the post. “And, the third and I think, the one that really marks your success is the Sharing. You have to be really appealing to the online audience if you want someone to Share or Retweet your post. So we use these three parameters,” says Aiyer. The conclusive password could thus be summed up as ‘continuous engagement.’ Come to think of it, it’s inevitable to not ‘do it right’ on this platform of mammoth expression. “You can’t be putting up a post every five minutes and

Cartoon Network India (Perfetti Big Babol)

Objective: To communicate the brand message, ‘Boost gives 3 times stamina to win everyday race / to beat the on-going competition’.

Solution: An exciting contest was created with games depicting the day of a kid and the kind of activities he does. The game captured how Boost helped the kid complete the tasks on time and be a winner by reaching school on time and helping out at home. Result: Nominated for best integrated campaign at IAMAI Awards. n

Objective: To build TOM recall for the brand (Big Babol) amongst the digital audience.

Execution: Perfetti Big Babol partnered with CN as the presenting sponsor of Toon Football (free-to-play online football tournament). Big Babol featured across the microsite and was also integrated within the game (runner boards, score panel, pre-loader etc.).

Result: The campaign created a Unique Visitor count of 2,76,553. n

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COVER STORY MEDIA ONNET neither can you put out a post every three days. You’ve got to get your timing and your research right.” Stating the dos and don’ts in one crisp statement, Palia says, “You can’t abuse the medium and you can’t let it lie dormant.” Aligning the Business Model The initial organisation hiccup in this process is twofold. The first is to find a suitable balance between the business of this convergence and align it with the inevitable need of media convergence. Most of the revenue, still continues to come from the traditional spaces. However, the decision for marketers could be outlined by the fact that stepping into the space as a quick fix accustomisation without having to worry too much about ROI initially, is important. Configuration of Skill: Do they understand Digital? The other is graver, in terms of the skill and capabilities that exist and are stored in the organizational silo. “How well do offline media players understand digital?” is a question that articulates this further. As a response to this, Akash Chawla, Head, Marketing National Channels of Zee Group, says, “We are trying to understand digital and in doing that we’ve made mistakes and had our share of successes. When we created the Dance India Dance app, we asked ourselves why an app of a show like DID got only 30,000 downloads. Maybe the conceptualisation went haywire. But, more importantly, why is it that a learning from there helped us get 3.5 lakh downloads for a Little Masters. It happened because we introduced features that people were looking for.” Chawla also says that while the Internet, as a measurable tool, is far more superior to traditional media, marketers might not be exploiting this aspect

“You have to be really appealing to the online audience if you want someone to Share or Retweet your post” Sangeetha Aiyer General Manager - Marketing, History TV18

“We are trying to understand digital and in doing that we’ve made mistakes and had our share of successes” Akash Chawla Head, Marketing National Channels, Zee Group completely. “Does everybody use Analytics in the best possible fashion? The answer is no. Do we use Analytics in the best possible fashion? The answer is no. In fact, we’ve just started to invest

The heat of the rising mercury in the digital thermometer has a visible accompaniment in the fact, that clients want it as a part of their plan because of the unmatched synergies 76

into tools. We’re just trying to figure out the correlation between Searches and Show Ratings. Is there a correlation that seems to be coming out? Yes. I still don’t know what that correlation is. But, I’m sure that if we focus and lay adequate emphasis on the Analytical aspect, especially in the next six months, we will be able to come out with information which will help us to get a better ROI out of Digital Marketing.” However, monetising through the digital space is not something that is lying low at the bottom of the ladder. How interested thus, are clients and advertisers, who have been associated with the traditional mediums, in online plans? Does the motivation for clients lie in bundling for both the online and the offline spaces? Sangeetha Aiyer of History TV18 answers these by citing how ‘The Greatest Indian Challenge’, a nationwide poll to select the ‘One Great Indian After Gandhi’ who has been the most impactful, iconic and influential, used the digital terrain as the driving marketing vehicle for the property. “With the kind of eyeballs Reliance as a presenting sponsor and Samsung as a co-presenting sponsor got through was very important to us which is why we began to put a value to it.” She adds, “Clients are looking at ways in which they can engage with audiences too through the property. To give you an example, most of the promos that we air for ‘The Greatest Indian Challenge’, found a link to the Reliance Facebook Page as well. And, some of the contests that we ran, were simultaneously running on Reliance’s page as well.” The heat of the rising mercury in the digital thermometer has a visible accompaniment in the fact, that clients want it as a part of their plan because of the unmatched synergies and engagements which the platform is capable of facilitating. “We are content creators and consider ourselves platform agnostic,” says Neeraj Sanan qualifying thus, as a mouthpiece for the media industry which stands on the critical cusp of convergence. n -aditi@pitchonnet.com

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

COLUMN

Why do celebrities Tweet?

F Kuber Chopra Founder, Rasta

kuber@thinkrasta.com @kuberchopra

or years Pop Culture icons have been pacing around the metaphorical vanity van, larger than life personalities, exposed only by fantastical tabloid. They’ve been Godlike, revered, yet distant, until one day a little birdie landed on their shoulders and said, “Tweet”. From then on, things have changed so much that it’s safe to say Lady Gaga is our outrageous next door neighbor. Since its outset, Twitter has stayed simple and focused. They came in early, at a time when social media order was still being established. To their credit, adopting minimal yet viral features must have been a tough choice. To this simplicity, I attribute the adoption by pop idols. 140 Characters Just over a month back Mumbai came to a standstill, yet again. Single lines on twitter had more perspective on the situation than what I read in the TOI next day: @GKhamba Shudder to think how many ambulances would be stuck in this cross city snarl Even though brevity and intelligence was an important selling point to start with, it applied to celebrities only in a quotable quote sort of a way. Primarily, they just had to show up and seem approachable. Today,when @Rihanna posts a twitpic of her new hairdo, it starts a trend amongst millions. Following “Following” is the drug that celebrities are addicted to. Staying with

Rihanna, she’s got over 21 mn following her!! When on stage, why shouldn’t she create more fodder by twitpiking a bit more of her derriere? Question is, why can’t she do this on Facebook? The answer is more social than tech. On Twitter, Rihanna’s fans aren’t “subscribed” to her, neither do they “Like” brand Rihanna’s page, they obviously can’t be “friends” with her as they understand this isn’t a relationship amongst equals. So they “follow” as she leads, which isn’t always hairstyles. This “Following” establishes a virtual hierarchy that mimics the real world that we inhabit. RT and Mentions When Bieber tweets that he’s caught a cold, twitter deliberates whether it’ll make him sound like a man. I do not follow the punk but I still get to know, as my own sardonic twitter leaders relay the message, ever so acerbically. There are those who’ve turned into mini celebrities themselves, thanks to how easily Tweets can be shared. For instance, @iPoonampandey, Twitter’s Rakhi Sawant, has 2,50,000 followers, @gkhamba a comic, accounts 25,000. #Hashtag Twitter’s taken this inconspicuous special character and put it next to the plusses and minuses of the world. # allows you to create branded threads and is perfect for celebrity chatter. Such as, Bill Gates drawing the attention of his 7 mn followers towards HIV: @

There are those who’ve turned into mini celebrities themselves, thanks to how easily Tweets can be shared. For instance, @iPoonampandey has 2,50,000 followers Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BillGates Why is Avahan so successful at #HIV prevention? Community intervention http://b-gat. es/L4Ie89 It’s these simple #epic features that have ushered Twitter onto a celebrity’s home page. Having said that where is Twitterati headed? Promotion. Is there a more a tangible measure of influence than following itself. Kim Kardashian gets paid $10,000 for inserting a product in her Tweets. However, these numbers are like billboards on a busy road. The more important attribute is authenticity (quality). Hire Agencies. Today, anyone expected to have an opinion must be on twitter. Not all of them are @iamsrk like 140 wise (almost 3 mn followers). So they hire ghost Tweeters. Now if everybody’s here and opening up, what’s the Paparazzi going to do? If you can’t beat them they say, “RTweet them”. Scribe’s have taken to amplifying celebrity tweets by discovering and publishing them across traditional print and TV. All this means celebrities have the attention, but it comes with a certain responsibility as they can’t look at the director, script writer, designer to erect their brand. Tradeoffs between populism and independence, activism and evangelism, commentary and interactions are to be made on your own. What they say on twitter certainly doesn’t stay on twitter, so here’s hoping to see creativity beyond follower numbers. n

The views expressed here are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Pitch

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘Satyamev Jayate is a great example of trans-media experience’ Lalit Bhagia | Vice President & Head, Digital (Internet & Mobile) at Star TV Lalit Bhagia divulges the channel’s conversation on the digital platform, its perusal of monetisation; the success of Satyamev Jayate and more with Aditi Malhotra What was the objective behind bringing the offline broadcast channel to the online platforms? We all know about the extensive reach of mobile phones in the country. There are today 70 crore active mobile phones and there are around 13 crore active internet users. You’re talking to a large set of audience, for most of whom the digital screen is the First Screen. Clearly, if there’s such a large audience and the consumer is moving, we need to provide entertainment across their preferred screen of choice. So, digital for us is both a first screen and second screen opportunity. The first screen opportunity is that all the digital screens become consumption platforms for our existing and new viewers. And, second screen is all about exploring an engagement opportunity with the viewers. For us, it’s a well thought out strategy where digital screens serve a dual purpose. We follow that up with the question of how can we, as Star, enable and make available these opportunities for our consumers and viewers. Viewers today, consume content on television, in a certain manner. Linear consumption seems to be the biggest form. So, people have a schedule and they watch a particular program a particular time. Suddenly, digital screens give them the opportunity to consume content at the time of their choice. They can do so whenever, wherever and however. So Digital screens certainly allow more control in the hands of the consumers and our role is to enable that. What are the specific activities you have carried out to implement collateral engagement? To me, when I look at digital platforms, I divide them into basic phone and connected devices. On the basic phone

We offer an engagement based model where we tell advertisers that it’s not an advertisement model based on impressions 78

there is Voice and SMS as an engagement and content consumption opportunity. Then, the connected device division comprises of all the websites, social media pages, applications and our video player. So, on the basic phone we’ve launched something called Star Plus on mobile, which is a voice product, where people call in and can do four things on it- they can listen to all the daily episodes on Star Plus in a condensed four minute audio soap, they can follow the blogs of all their favourite characters as audio blogs, they can listen and download all the music they hear on the channel or on any of our shows specifically and they can further engage on it. As a second screen opportunity, we use SMS that allows people to participate in voting, content consumption, for people to tell us about what they think about shows. So, both Voice and SMS in their respective capacities are essential for people to engage and consume content. The PC, Laptops, Smartphones, Tablets comprise the connected devices. For them, we have websites, social media, video player and apps. To me, therefore, digital is definitely about the Internet. But, it is as much about the mobile space. Do you consciously rate website over social media or vice versa with regards to all the activities on digital? On social media and associated platforms, there is no way you own the consumer. The consumer is owned by the social media platform in question. So, you use the platform to engage. On your website, you know who the exactly who the consumer is. The consumer registers and hence, the data specifics and particulars are with you. Social media is centred around the individual and his or her friends. I believe even social media will go through a change where social web networks will form communities of people who share common passions around a common interest. And, it’s already happening.

| September | Oct-Nov 2012 Pitch Pitch

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Does Star pursue monetisation with the digital platform? We have moved into a model where we’re telling our advertisers that this is not an advertisement model based on impressions. This model is based on engagement. So, when we pitch to clients, we tell them there’s an available ‘audience for engagement’. We follow, thus, an A4E model. The engagement will be spread across our website and all our social media platforms. When we do any show, the advertiser gets to be talked about on our Twitter platform, on our Facebook page, across our Youtube channel and on our website. So we offer an increased audience and there’s an audience available to engage with your brand as part of what we’re doing with them. Hence, there is clarity in distinction because it’s an engagement model versus an impressions model which is still largely prevalent in the industry. How do you track consumption on various verticals within the digital platform? One of the key parameters, for us is time spent. We go beyond the standard measurement of Unique Visitors (UVs) on our pages and access the content consumption pattern of viewers when it comes to the website. What are they doing online, is the question we ask. This is because there is a range of activities where they could be engaging in anything from watching shows online to reading up about their favourite shows or characters and how the movement is happening across various genres of content. The whole idea is to qualitatively assess whether viewers are spending quality time on the website. Clearly, while UVs are important, page views are important, now we’re increasingly looking at time spent. Social media is about active engagement. It’s not just about the number of people who’re connected to us. So a lot of brands still might look at how many Fans or Followers they have. We try and look at how many engaged and active fans we have. Measurement of impact on social media varies from activity to activity. If you look at just the Facebook page, you’d know and could count how many people are actively talking about you. There is reach and then there is engagement. A lot of brands stop at reach. But, we’re always more keen to keep in touch with the giving quantity some quality by measuring engagement. What is the target audience for the digital platform? Each channel has a brand promise and positioning. It has to cater to a common audience. Of course, on digital it’s a little bit of a younger audience. Hence, it gets little skewed that way. But, we’ve seen, it more or less follows

Pitch | Oct-Nov September 2012 2012

the channel base. For instance, while talking about Star Plus content and who consumes it, there’s hardly any difference. For a show like Satyamev Jayate, the older audience consumed content on television but for that same section, access and penetration in digital is not so high. So what was the target audience for all the activity that ran through the digital platforms? I’d like to share that almost 67 per cent of respondents we reached out to were male. And, 20 percent of all the contribution that came on was from the youth, which is ranging between the age group of 18-22 years. Can you share an example of how something that is in progress on the offline broadcast medium is packaged differently for the online platforms? Satyamev Jayate was a great example of a trans-media experience across platforms. So people watched the show, they would come onto the website, they would

We go beyond the standard measurement of Unique Visitors on our pages and access the content consumption pattern of viewers talk to us about stories they’ve heard of or encountered through the web and share a lot of the stuff they ordinarily thought about. So every time the show ran, we would be trending on twitter. SMJ was also the most conversed or talked about news show for the period of May. And it was the most talked about TV show in Indian history and most of this was facilitated through social media. The idea is how do you really deliver trans-media experience to consumers around the show across the activities of various platforms. Digital can be the action media; it can be the medium to spread the word and can be the share media for them. That’s how we used it for SMJ. What is the marketing spend on digital? What is the spend across different verticals within digital? It varies from channel to channel. For some portfolio channels, it is as high as 45-50 per cent of our out of pocket expenses. And, it can vary from 10-15 per cent to the upper range of 45-50 per cent from channel to channel. Media spends for us on search for a particular show or a campaign would be around 20-25 per cent. And, the remaining spend is on social media on all the other advertising that we do.n aditi@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘Today everything is a Lean Forward Experience’ Troy Lobo| Senior Director, South Asia, Network & Content Distribution, Turner International India How does online engagement work for channels like Cartoon Network India and Pogo TV, whose focus is restricted to the age group of 4-14 years? Troy Lobo shares more with Aditi Malhotra

When did the channels begin activity on the digital platform? This medium first obviously evolved internationally. And if we look at history, Cartoon Network was the first kids’ brand to be launched from Turner. The business has actually matured and as the digital platform evolved, we started creating new products and oﬀerings for consumers on these platforms. CN has been in India for the nexus of a decade. Pogo has been around for around seven years. There was always a web element. Owing to our international lineage, CN always had games on mobile. When I joined Turner about seven years ago, we already had mobile gaming. Depending upon the territories where we were prevalent, we had the digital arm also active in those territories. So maybe it’s safe to say that it has been well over a decade since we’ve been exploring this space. What was the objective behind bringing the ofﬂine broadcast channel on the digital platform? Very clearly, today the audience is fragmented. So audience engagement across platforms is very essential because consumption is multi-platform. Previously there was traditional television, which was ‘lean-back experience.’ Today, everything is an interactive ‘lean forward experience.’ So, I want to mix and match, I want to consume it on the mobile. I want to consume Ben Ten on my iPhone, iPad on my computer. That proves that the audience needs more interactivity.

We want our TG to come to our websites rather than our social media arms as most of these sites don’t look at this age group 80

The viewers and consumers of Cartoon Network and Pogo TV are mostly kids. Was there any contention with respect to access and penetration? As per our New Generation Study, 93 per cent of homes, own a mobile phone. So technically, every child has an opportunity to access the device. Over 10-12 percent of kids own their own mobile phones. Plus, computer engagement is increasing because of accessibility provided by schools, cyber cafes or within the home. So it was logical for us to present the brands to our audience to allow them to engage with it further. Can you give an example of how packaging for a show, which is offline is different from its online counterpart? I think the biggest draw for kids is games. And if you look at audience trends for gaming, most of the people want to play games on their mobile phones. The differentiator is that if there is brand called Ben Ten or Chhota Bheem, all you can do is see video. But when you come to website, we have games, short clips, e-greeting cards, and ‘Build Your Own Avatar’. So, we created opportunities for the audience to interact at another platform with the brand. Like I said, earlier it was lean back experience. Today they can do much more. So though you’re not in the character, you can potentially be closer to the Ben Ten brand by playing as the character. There is representation of the character that you’re controlling. All games are character driven and explore different genres. Has the purpose been to build collateral engagement with the viewers or does monetisation also drive activity on the digital platform? Yes, both on CN India as well as Pogo. Also, this is done on the mobile games that we distribute on

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

operators like Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance and so on and so forth. The models do vary. For the internet, it’s largely an ad support model where our in house sales team manages the monetisation. When it comes to mobile, we have various kinds of business models depending on the platform. Largely for South Asia, which is India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, it is driven by subscription where you could be paying anywhere between Rs five- 50 for a game, download and own it. These games are not the same games that we have on the websites. We have now initiated a partnership with the Nokia OVI Store where we are also giving free games. Monetisation and collateral engagement go hand in hand. Engagement would obviously have come first because monetisation dwells from the fact that you have audiences that have been and can be sustained and you have something to take as a story to the advertiser. So, monetisation follows eventually. Plus there are some brands, who’d only want to buy on the web. They would not want to associate with a campaign on television. FMCG companies like food and confectionery show interest in buying inventory on the web. So it is across our clients and some of them may be interested in spending money on online. In the genre that we operate we do believe that we have the largest audience space online. For an advertiser, who essentially wants to work within the kids’ genre, this obviously is the best, logical and safest place to be on because it is really just an extension of the on-air arm into the online space. It becomes simpler for them because it is a captive audience. Do you leverage social media to create traffic for the website? We do have social elements. Internationally, we do have a channel on Youtube and of course, the Facebook fan pages. But, essentially why we would like all the audience to come to cartoonnetwork.com or pogo.tv is because we are very focused on our TG, which is four-14 years whereas most of the social sites don’t look at this TG. The fact is that they are not targeting this audience, however, there is no denying that there are kids on these sites. It’s best for us to draw kids to the website as a destination where we can give them fun but there are social elements. That’s something we have recently initiated. That call is also more from marketing perspective and owes to the fact that it’s obviously essential to be omnipresent.

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

How do you track consumption behaviour on the website and on other platforms pertaining to social media? There could be likeminded people who endorse and propagate what you say and there could be a few who don’t. What you endorse, they would potentially endorse and that’s how social is growing. It’s subjective liking. But the power of this medium is massive. There’s so much connect. It’s a platform also for expression. What is the channel doing in the mobile space? We cover the entire gambit of opportunities from Brew to Java, Symbian, Android, iOS, Tablets. We essentially have apps and games. We launch a minimum of about eight-10 games in India other than the regional launches on the iPhone. There are also fourfive Apps available on the iOS and Android. We are investing large amount of resources on the mobile platform.

Unlike TV, we have to create content unique to every mobile device and that takes a lot of resources and time Why do you think investing in mobile is a good idea? What we’ve learnt from our partners, is that when it comes to weekends or after hours, a lot of children have access to their parents’ phone. And they discover things with much more advanced options than the primary users of the device since they’re not scared to experiment. They might not own their phones, but there is an excess of children who use phones. What, according to you, are the challenges for a transition to the digital platform? On mobile, the challenge is obviously access because everything is WAP or GPRS and the connectivity there is not very high. Another big challenge is devices. Unlike television, in mobile when we create a game it has to be unique to every device. That takes a lot of resources in terms of cost as well as time. Monetisation is also a challenge. And going forward, what model do we adopt? Is it advertisers, subscription or premium in app purchases? At our end we’re experimenting with every model depending upon the audience and the market. In markets like India or South Asia, we’re focusing on Java because that’s prevalent every where. n -aditi@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY INTERVIEWS

‘Platforms like Facebook and Twitter give you a conversation currency’ Sangeetha Aiyer| General Manager, Marketing, History TV18 Aiyer discusses with Aditi Malhotra, the challenges for a channel like History TV18, which launched in India only a year back and the decision to embrace social media platforms above a website When did History TV18 start exploring the digital platform? We launched the channel last year, on October 9. In fact, like most brands, which have been in the country, it’s not that we looked at digital platform or social media as an appendix to the main plan. We were very clear from Day one that we wanted to tap younger audiences. We all know that 60 per cent of India is less than 25 years of age. And while we knew that the television brand needs to do its job in the traditional space, we had to move it to the online space. During the launch, our Facebook fans and people on Twitter got a preview of the launch commercial even before it broke on mass media. We had updates on the channel a week before the channel was even launched. So, it generated a curiosity factor. Three days before we launched our commercial, you could see it on our Facebook page. It was linked on our site and therefore, promoted on Twitter. There was obviously a website launch because typically what happens is, if somebody is consuming you on your Facebook page, he/she will not tune into television to look at more information. That’s not how the consumption behavior works. The online viewer will go onto another online medium. Therefore, it was necessary that we have a website in place. Do you consciously rate Website over social media or vice versa with regards to all the activities on digital? Yes, we do leverage traction from our Social Media platforms to our websites. There is a reason behind it. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter give you a conversation currency. That’s where people air their opinions and

The most important thing would be to build a critical mass. When we have a threshold of numbers we’ll look at monetisation 82

views. And, from there to convert these to TV would be a futile and tough exercise. But, to move traction onto a website is something happening within the online space. What was the objective behind bringing the ofﬂine broadcast business to the digital platform? The primary objective is largely to appeal to audiences that are in the age group of 15-25 years. Their span of attention is very less. But, their options for entertainment and engagement are a lot more. And, to add to that, Television is not their first port of consumption when it comes to entertainment. If you speak to anybody within the age group of 18-22 years, they’ll tell you that they consume news online, they consume entertainment online, they watch sitcoms online, they get their cricket scores online. So, one of the first objectives was to get into the consideration set of this audience. And, that’s why we chose social media. When we have a threshold level of numbers, we will definitely look at monetisation. I think the most important thing would be to first build a critical mass and then look at monetisation. What is the interest level of clients and advertisers who’ve already associated with the oﬄine channel in its digital presence? When we did the The Greatest Indian (TGI), we used the online and digital media as the driving marketing vehicle for the property. We generated over a crore votes. The kind of eyeballs that Reliance as a presenting sponsor, and Samsung as a co-presenting sponsor got through the online platform, was very essential. And, now we’ve started putting a value to that, to the kind of eyeballs that they get. The mandate is of engagement. At the same time, clients are looking at ways in which they can engage with the audience through the property. To give you an example, most of the promos that we aired for TGI, found

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

a link to the Reliance Facebook page as well. Some of the contests that we ran, were simultaneously running on Reliance’s page as well. The synergies are huge and the manner in which you engage with audiences are different which is why most clients want this as a part of their plan. Do you follow a bundling process when it comes to advertisers for the presence across all media? Bundling is something, which is already in progress. So therefore, when I give a plan for a particular sponsor to come on board for a show, there are on-air elements, offair elements and online elements. So, this bundling was anyway happening. Who are the active advertisers on the website? It is largely property driven. For example, we have a new show called Brave New World. For that we have Greenlam on the website. We had a microsite for TGI, which is one of the pages on the website and we have all the sponsors on it- Reliance, Samsung, Hindware and Britannia . On television, when a sponsor buys into a particular initiative or property, for the duration of that property, it finds exposure on the website. In terms of TG, is there distinction between the channel and its digital translation? The channel is slightly broad based. We look at SEC A, B 15+ and all adults as far as the channel goes. But, when it comes to online usage, the penetration is the highest within the 15 and 25 age bracket. So the language, the kind of promotions and activities that we do are all designed keeping in mind the primary TG for the online medium, which is 15-25 years. The rest are an overlap. How do you track consumption on social media platforms, particularly Facebook? There are number of ways in which you can assess the traction on Facebook. First, there is the number of likes. On an average, any brand puts anywhere between 3-5 posts on its page. Over a period of time, you judge the ‘like’ as only a response to the fact that someone has seen the post. The second level of assessment comes from comments and its number. And, the third and I think, the one that really marks your success is the sharing. You have to be really appealing to the online audience if you want someone to share or retweet your post. And, considering that we’ve been doing this for a year now, we know the kind of questions that posts generate and the responses they can get. For example, anything that is close-ended as a definite question generates a more definitive answer. Humour also works very well. But, not very intellectual humour. It should be the kind

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

that everybody understands. How do you execute a data point tabulation on traction on the website and social media? On the website, the Click Through Rate (CTR) will tell you how you’re faring. At this point in time, however, our focus has largely been on social media even within the online space. Website comes after that because promoting a website is a completely different ball game. You have to treat it as a completely different destination and promote it. So, right now, what we do is we build a critical base on social media and we direct all the traffic to the website. What are the kind of activities on the website specifically? Website is a comprehensive or an exhaustive look at what the channel is. It is pretty much updated on daily basis. From the upcoming shows, to sneak previews, to promos, to quizzes, to what to expect in the near future, to merchandise options. The website is complete on its own. The website is being promoted right now at a number two versus a Twitter handle or a Facebook Page.

Influencers are very important on Twitter as they have the largest number of followers & that’s what converts to word-of-mouth What is your marketing spend on digital? We spend anywhere between five-eight percent on digital. This is largely on social media and website. In the mobile space, we have tied up with Apaalia. We are yet to figure out the rights for short format content and then monetising that content and relaying that content. That is something we need to figure out. But, surely in the next three-six months we’ll find headway there. Do you think the presence of channel representatives on social media platforms like Twitter, affect its social media brand equity? It’s a huge pull. For example, if you have a Rajdeep Sardesai who has actually tweeted during The Greatest Indian stating his Top Five or Top Ten and he’s active on the platform. And beyond on screen talent, even for off screen talent this holds true. Influencers are very important on Twitter because they have the largest number of followers and that’s what converts to word-of-mouth and that’s gets something trending. So for The Greatest Indian, we ensured that at least 50 per cent of our jury tweeted on the property. It gives a huge rub off to the brand. n -aditi@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY BOLLYWOOD

‘Net’ worthy Bollywood!

Cinema is no more confined to the big screen. It’s using the smallest screen too to woo the audience. Why and how?

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

By Ruchika Kumar

he latest segment to leverage the vast potential of mobile phones and tablets and reach of the media is none other than the Indian entertainment business, particularly the Indian cinema fraternity and the business of movie marketing. So, when Amitabh Bachchan Tweets about his experiences on the sets of the popular game show KBC (Kaun Banega Crorepati), millions of die-hard fans on his Twitter account (and that would be 3,63,6150 followers to be precise! And perhaps growing as you are reading this) are delighted to hear and share that online. Similarly, when Yash Raj Films promotes Salman Khan’s spy thriller Ek Tha Tiger on Youtube, the teaser trailer alone garners 20 lakh hits in just two days! There are many such examples of Bollywood experimenting with new media tools to grab maximum eyeballs in the most cost effective way. In fact, in the recent past, the digital media ecosystem has been witnessing rapid metamorphosis and evolution that is driving content and its consumption. Moving beyond norms Right from mainstream cinema to cult films and niche movies, all genres of cinema are latching on the growing popularity of the medium. The intention is not just restricted to movie promotions but indulging in business-led marketing exercises that can create meaningful content and, thereby, closer connect with consumers. Another trend that has picked up pace is the way content is being created and areas like video-blogs, online chats and contests are becoming essential tools of furthering the connect. Moreover, today, movie marketing in the digital space has moved beyond just websites and blogs to connect the film with the target audience. For instance, for the movie, Gangs of Wasseypur 2, digital

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

“All our movies are being actively marketed on online destinations like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter among several others” Anand Gurnani General Manager - Digital & New Media, Yash Raj Films agency, Ignitee created online Apps that gave the consumer the feel of being part of the movie. Wasseypur characters, citizenship cards and poster making contest for the movie, were some of the highlights of the interactive promotion on Facebook. The persona, feel and tone of the movie was further extended to Twitter, where characters from the movie had their own twitter handles and even online newspapers – Wasseypur I & II Patrika- were created. Moreover, the movie promotions created a cult of sorts with a ‘Gaali’ App, and a specially cut video of all the cuss words used in the movie was launched on Youtube, which alone saw 30,000 views. A spoof poster called ‘Gangs of Chorpur’ became so popular that it was later used by a political party to protest against another! A pseudo-election campaign set the pace for the launch

of the sequel. The results were spectacular, with over three lakh Facebook followers, 5,000 on Twitter and over 3.5 lakh views on Youtube. Not surprisingly, the Twitter accounts of the movie characters are still live as audience still interact with them. Atul Hegde, CEO, Ignitee, euphorically adds, “The movie now has a cult following, it has broken all previously pre-conceived notions of a mainline hit! The digital campaign has embraced this fact and some of the marketing elements are now on auto pilot and will chart their own course. In social media the brand is always best left in the consumers hands and we are seeing the positive side to it in this particular case.” Casting the new social Most film marketers today are extremely keen on exploring the potential of this medium that can reach audiences across age groups, segments, gender and geographies. According to Siddhartha Roy, COO, Consumer Business & Allied Services, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, social networking platforms are definitely important for connecting with target audience. One can get instant feedback from the audience on the movie and it helps in creating a viral ripple for the movie. One can get real time information and understand the market. But he also cautions that one needs to objectively define how one wants the movie to be portrayed online. “The central theme or the core communication is very important and it should eventually unify all marketing efforts,” adds Roy.

On digital, one can get instant feedback from the audience on the movie and it helps in creating a viral ripple for the movie

COVER STORY BOLLYWOOD For Anand Gurnani, General Manager - Digital & New Media, Yash Raj Films, “As a content creator, our objective is to always be present on various touch points through which we can connect with our consumers, hence these new online and digital mediums act as innovative and interactive platforms to connect with them. We aim to give every film immense attention before its release to create a space in the audience’s minds that does not merely create awareness but instead goes a step further to ensure a ‘buy-in’ to the film by creating a sense of anticipation and excitement. All our movies are being actively marketed on online destinations like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter among several others.” Yashraj actively uses its Youtube channel for the promos and also Meet-n-Greets online with stars, blogs and Google content network, among other tools. Hegde, too feels that social media is at the heart of any digital campaign for movies today. Content drives social media and vice versa- so what better fit to leverage this medium other than social media. “In fact, I would say movie content is fuelling Youtube’s success in India. Movie stars and celebrity directors are at the centre of twitters popularity and FB is where the consumer is driving the interactions. So it’s a great win-win for both the content and the medium!” he exclaims. Most of the marketers feel that though outdoor and television will continue to drive movie marketing for a few more years, but, TV will starting losing out on some budgets in a year or so. As movie making marketing become more and more corporate led, spends on the digital medium will rise. But, to the dismay of many, Adman Prahlad Kakar feels that TV has a mass appeal while internet still has a smaller reach. “Digital promotions target youth especially in the multiples culture and movies like Vicky Donor. Also,

“Digital marketing today constitutes anywhere from 4-7 per cent of the entire movie marketing budgets” Atul Hegde CEO, Ignitee

“The main concern is whether digital is sufficient enough to reach out to all audience, especially for mass market films” Shikha Kapur Executive Director, Marketing – Studios, Disney, UTV online marketing proves good for smaller budget movies. In times to come, the medium will become popular but not as much as TV. Hence, marketers need to be very careful while designing an online campaign and be very clear of the objective of engagement through any

Most marketers feel that though outdoor and TV will continue to drive movie marketing for a few more years, but,TV will starting losing out on some budgets in a year or so 86

medium,” he reasons. Agreeing on that challenge, Shikha Kapur, Executive Director, Marketing – Studios, Disney, UTV, also feels that the main concern is whether digital is sufficient enough to reach out to all audience, especially for mass market films, which target SEC C audiences as well. “TV will remain the most significant medium for some time to come. However share of digital is rising sharply,” she reaffirms. Increasing spends Hence, movie makers should start considering digital in the scheme of things from the very inception of the movie. Nevertheless, most of the production houses are utilising the presence of such new media tools to reach out to their core TG. And spends have substantially increased over the years as digital marketing has become mainstream for any film’s marketing campaign. According to a research conducted by KPMG in 2011, digital ad spends reached approximately five per cent of the total media and entertainment industry advertising revenue. While the figures have definitely gone up, marketers have their own estimates and most say that spends depend on a case to case basis. For instance, for Hungama spends are between 8 to 15 per cent of the marketing budget, depending on the movie. However, according Ignitee’s Hegde, digital marketing today constitutes anywhere from 4-7 per cent of the entire movie marketing budgets. “This is line with the industry benchmark for other large category spends on digital,” he adds. Marketers from across the board also feel that the medium gives potential returns and is low in cost. For instance, Gurnani thinks that while the digital medium is great to premiere content and connect with consumers, it is also a platform where content can be monetized. It has become a significant source of revenue wherein the content from the film is monetized for eternity. He exemplifies his stance further and adds, “The views on all our film songs and scenes are ever increasing. Furthermore, the YRF

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

catalogue is also available online to view in a Rental model across various digital platforms like YouTube, Netflix, iTunes etc.” Without making a huge dent in the overall marketing budget, digital marketing is also fast evolving as the preferred mode of marketing. According to Roy, digital medium gives marketers the freedom to innovate and reach out to their audiences in an unparalleled way. It is cost effective too as Roy feels that in terms of measurability digital has always been a very transparent medium and it is easy to understand ROIs on the campaigns compared to any other traditional medium. UTV’s Kapur agrees that spends on digital have increased substantially from the negligible spends two years back. She feels that today movie producers spend on digital as a percentage of total marketing spends at a level that equals other industries such as FMCG. “Trailers and other promos are being broken on sites such as You Tube and Yahoo through paid

Movie marketers opine that cost per impression is much lower on digital. Plus, digital being interactive, they get instant feedback which helps them course correct campaigns. Mobile ads are also being used to reach the consumer and Social media is also being used very extensively by most studios these days. UTV Motion Pictures has very active community engagement on social media. We have a very high level of interaction on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. Our Klout score has risen to 81 from 65 some time back,” she shares. Marketers opine that cost per impression is much lower on digital. Plus, digital being interactive, they get instant feedback which helps them course correct. “Theatre going audience is skewed to the 16 – 30 year olds and digital is an effective medium to target this demographic,” adds Kapur.

Hegde further feels that the medium wins hands down on sheer interactivitywhich is the closest way one can bring consumers to interact with the product and the stars. “This one factor will drive the growth of spends here,” he adds. There is no biz like showbiz! The fact that the Indian cinema fraternity is fast moving to digital has to do much beyond spends. And the reasons are plenty. For instance, Roy believes that digital marketing is fast emerging as a mainstream marketing tool for Indian films as he feels that conventional marketing led by TV promotions is overcrowded and the viewer has the option to filter the content. Plus, content on the internet is far more flexible and interactive.

CASE STUDY Gangs of Wasseypur Objective: To create buzz around a nonmainstream Bollywood movie and engage audience with the characters of the film.

Idea: To create a world and identity for the movie across social media platforms. It extensively used social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and also created an exclusive website to extend the look and feel of the movie and characters to the audience. Execution: Digital agency Ignitee created an online “World of Wasseypur”. An app to generate a citizenship card was also created. Along with that poster making contests for the movie was one of the highlights of the interactive promotion on Facebook. The persona, feel and tone of the movie was further extended to Twitter, where characters from the movie had their own twitter handles and even online tabloids – Wasseypur I & II Patrika- were created. Moreover, the movie promotions created a cult of sorts with a ‘Gaali’ App, and a specially cut video of all the cuss Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

words used in the movie was launched on Youtube, which alone saw 30,000 hits. A spoof poster called ‘Gangs of Chorpur’ became so popular that it was later used by a political party to protest against another. A pseudo-election campaign also set the pace for the launch of the sequel.

Impact:Though designed for online promotion, the tabloids were taken offline

too due to their popularity later. The various campaigns across social media resulted in a following of over three lakh fans on Facebook, over 5,000 on Twitter, around 35 lakh views on Youtube and an impressive word of mouth publicity. Ignitee also won Silver in ‘The most effective Digital Media strategy’ at the Pitch Youth Marketing Summit 2012. n

COVER STORY BOLLYWOOD Additionally, as the internet and broadband penetration grows, Indians are accessing the internet for everything, from movie reviews to information gathering, listening to music to downloading content. In recent times, there has also been a shift in media consumption with many people consuming entertainment more over the internet and less on television. Gurnani of Yash Raj Films, agrees and shares that content for the biggest screen is consumed primarily via the smallest one, i.e. mobile phones. He also opines that along with internet and broadband penetration, there is also a paradigm shift in the communication channel with consumers, which is now two-way. He adds, “Earlier, it would be exhibition of content across online platforms, such as websites. Today, consumers respond instantly to content that is put out there and interaction is the key for us. You get to know immediately if the content is being ‘liked’ or not, which opens up the possibility to

“Movie marketers need to be very careful while designing an online campaign and be very clear of the objective” Prahlad Kakar Adman tailor your marketing campaign on the go with a quick turnaround time.” The push is being provided by celebs themselves as they turn into digital media publishers reaching out to the vast Indian

populace. The impetus has been provided not just by pre-release movie promotions online but by the movie community at large. Apart from devoted movie websites and music launches, filmmakers are leveraging the medium to generate more meaningful consumer interface. This includes innovative contests, blogs, high definition movie posters/wallpapers and much more. In fact innovation and experimentation are the buzz words that drive greater consumer connect with movie marketing on the digital platform. For instance, Y-Films did not have an international release of its movie - Mujhse Fraandship Karoge, but it managed to release the movie at same time, same date on YouTube where users could pay a rental fee of USD 4.99 and view the movie in full HD within a 72 hour window. Also, YRF follows two-pronged digital strategy, which focuses on consumers and brand partnerships. Gurnani gives an example here. “Prior to our movie “Ek Tha

CASE STUDY Barfi on You Tube Objective: To create an application that will convey the essence of the film, drive desirability & positive engagement for the film and increase chances of going more viral. And to tap the huge online fan base of Ranbir Kapoor. Idea: Barfi is a story of a deaf-mute young man played by Ranbir Kapoor. The insight for the campaign was that in India audience always expect melodrama not silence from films. The in house digital team at UTV Motion Pictures decided to take this as a challenge and created an app where Ranbir Kapoor (as Barfi) responded to people’s request in real time. The medium of communication was writing/ typing (on a computer keyboard). If people wanted to change Barfi’s mood or get flirting tips from him, all they needed to do was type it on their keyboard and the actor would respond.

Execution: Once UTV conceived the idea, it scripted the situations for the actor and employed two agencies - Glitch (to produce the videos) and Media2win (to design the interface & the coding that runs the app) to execute the app. Ranbir Kapoor shot for a day to create a large number of videos to be used in the app. The creation of the app from idea to final product took about

two months. Finally the app was ready on the 26th of Aug, 2012 and be accessed at www.youtube.com/barfi.

Impact: You Tube called this app the finest example of content marketing coming out of India in the past two years. The app has been covered extensively in media and more people are sharing the app. n Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Tiger”, digital content [songs, dialogues, and promos] from the movie were passed on to a Mobile content aggregator, which would then disburse it to Telcos”. With Ek Tha Tiger, Yash Raj Films distributed its content directly with the Telcos, in conjunction with our technical partner. “This helps us have greater control on the digital assets. Even on delivering greater value to our partners on the Brand Partnerships front. For example, Wheel detergents, a brand endorsed by Salman Khan was creating co-branded communication on the film. We took that further by providing dialogues voiced by Salman Khan. These assets were opened up to Wheel’s IVRS service where users called their toll free number and cut the call. The user then received a call with Salman Khan voicing his lines from the film. Wheel drove traffic to the toll free number using co-branded TVCs that ran across theatres where the movie played out, he shares. On the numbers front, this activity had almost 28 lakh calls, of which around 11 lakh were unique callers. Innovations In terms of innovations, the latest buzz word of taking digital experience to all new levels is augmented reality. Hungama Digital’s latest release Ferrari Ki Sawaari used an augmented reality campaign in two malls in Mumbai, which allowed the audience to drive a virtual sports car on the lines of the car used in the film. Roy asserts that this was the first time a Bollywood movie used augmented reality. “We took pictures of the users as they drove their virtual sports car, which they could instantly share on Facebook and keep a copy for themselves. In a span of five days, more than 2,500 people participated in the activity to drive the virtual car and shared their photos on Facebook. The same production house launched limited edition stocks of the movie – Housefull 2, on The Game of Fame, which is a virtual stock exchange for celebrities, where users could trade their favourite stars and movies. “The Game of Fame continues to attract new players in large numbers on a daily basis. As of

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

Fans need to be continually fed information about a film via various online touch-points and the buzz for a film needs to reach a crescendo by the time a movie is set to release July, 2012, the game had total number of 2,05,375 registered users in a span of five months,” adds Roy. One of the latest movie promotions doing the rounds on the digital platform is Ram Gopal Varma’s 3D horror flick, Bhoot Returns. The filmmaker has moved beyond traditional movie websites and has launched a Facebook integrated site that includes interactive elements like videos, downloads and ticket booking options. It has also launched a story writing contest for movie buffs to share their ghostly

“Digital has always been a very transparent medium and it is easy to understand ROIs on the campaigns” Siddhartha Roy COO, Consumer Business & Allied Services, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment

encounters and a chance to meet the director on the sets. The site has already received 33,793 likes and around 3,460 people talking about the movie (data as on 8th October, 2012). Similarly, a teaser trailer of the ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ was released along with the trailer of Ek Tha Tiger on YouTube on August 15, 2012, however, without divulging the name of the movie and

thereby creating consumer intrigue. The one and a half minute showed glimpses of Yash Chopra’s previous successful directorial ventures, followed by the highlights of the latest launch, without revealing the name and calling it as “A Yash Chopra Romance’. The teaser crossed more than 10 lakh views in three days. And when the final trailer was released a month later, it received 10 lakh views on the first day surpassing the record of the international movie – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. The Golden rule There are many more such examples that have strongly connected with the end consumer. (Please see case studies for reference). Some of the important factors as highlighted by most marketers in this industry is that fans need to be continually fed information about a film via various online touch-points and the buzz for a film needs to reach a crescendo by the time a movie is set to release. Like Hegde asserts, “I would follow only one golden rulemovies are about content and the starsget as much as integration between these aspects and the medium and you will have an awesome marketing campaign.” YRF’s Gurnani adds that the medium should not be treated as an add-on marketing medium, but should be looked at it individually for the opportunity it provides. “Look for returns purely not just on the financial front. Users invest emotionally too. The pay-off is sometimes far off, but it’s worth the wait, every penny of it,” he finally cautions marketers. With the staggering investments and innovative marketing strategies deployed by film-makers, marketers across the spectrum should take a learning from the optimal use of digital by the entertainment industry. n -ruchika@pitchonnet.com

COVER STORY COLUMNS

Measuring Happiness Online Measuring Happiness of Online Customer is highly critical for online retailers, as it helps in understanding customers’ end-to-end transaction and their likes and dislikes

t also provides an indication of how successful a company is at providing products/services to the online marketplace. It is important to note that placing orders online is only the start Deepak Bhatt of the experience and not the end Founder, Global Management (i.e. delivery). Successful compawritetodeepakbhatt@gmail.com nies gather customer feedback at all stages of the process – for @hellomrbhatt every online transaction. As markets shrink, companies are scrambling to boost customer happiness and keep their current customers rather than devoting additional resources to chase potential new customers. The claim that it costs five to eight times as much to get new customers than to hold on to old ones is key to understanding the drive toward benchmarking and tracking online customer happiness. Most companies say they believe in great online customer service, but few set up a system to insure that they provide it. Delivering great online customer service takes both understanding what your customers want and a way to see that they receive it. It is beyond the scope of this article to tell you how to deliver happy customer service to your customers. However, I can show you how to find out what your customers think is great service and why it is worth your while to gather that knowledge. As per research in U.S.A. (2011), 48% of online retailers run regular on-site surveys to measure visitor experience, while 16% of

the retailers run regular post purchase surveys to measure endto-end customer experience. Both, running on-site surveys & running post purchase surveys are best practices. Around 20% of online retailers request feedback after every customer website visits and 16% do not measure customer happiness, which is a bad practice. It’s widely accepted that it is at least five times more profitable to sell to an existing customer than to find a new customer. More important, the difference between satisfied customers and very satisfied customers can make a big difference in customer repeat business and your profits. For instance, Flipkart found that customers who rated them a 6 instead of a 5 on a 6-point satisfaction survey scale were six times more likely to buy more products! This means, first, that measuring client happiness is very important, and, second, that distinguishing between degrees of happiness by using customer surveys is crucial. Let’s see few examples: Amazon.com could easily afford to advertise more than it does; instead it channels its investments into free shipping, lower prices, and service enhancements. Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos have said, “If you do build a great online experience, customers tell each other about that.” Zappos.com the online shoe and apparel retailer followed a

Delivering great online customer service takes both understanding what your customers want and a way to see that they receive it 90

similar path. By avoiding investments in sales and marketing, Zappos was able to channel its resources into delivering a great customer experience. CEO Tony Hsieh’s strategy was to grow through repeat purchase and customer referral, which helped the company reach sales of more than $1 billion in just ten years. Amazon was so impressed with Zappos that it acquired the firm for $1.2 billion in 2009. Southwest Airlines doesn’t charge for online flight changes or for checked baggage; the carrier has also replaced the industry’s elaborately segmented pricing structure with a transparent pricing policy. Here are a few of the possible dimensions you could measure: • quality of service (i.e. humbleness of delivery man) • speed of service (product delivery time) • pricing (comparative with industry) • complaints or problems (after sales grievances) • trust in your vendors • your positioning in clients’ minds Companies now recognise that the new global economy has changed things forever. Increased competition, crowded markets with little product differentiation and years of continual sales growth followed by two decades of flattened sales curves have indicated to today’s sharp competitors that their focus must change.  The views expressed here are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Pitch

Pitch | Oct-Nov October 2012

October 12, 2012 | New Delhi

DETAILED REPORT INSIDE

Associate Sponsor

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

Knowledge Partner - Summit

Print Partner

Social Media Partner

Youth Partner

EVENTS

Rich & young is not a controversy Special Address: The Next Destination: Driving Youth to Luxury Speaker: MICHAEL PERSCHKE, Head, Audi India

ighlighting the importance of marketing for the youth, for the German luxury automobile brand in Audi, Perschke took lead from two facts. The first being that India is a growing knowledge economy with more English speaking graduates than the United States of America. Following this, he stated the often acknowledged and well known fact, that 50 per cent of India’s population is under 25 years of age. Perschke asserted that successful young Indians are going to be luxury buyers, be it for watches, cars or fashion. And for a brand like Audi, who might serve the absolute cream of customers, Perschke felt it was important to recognise that today rich and young is not a controversy anymore. “The young consumer is aspirational and wants to buy a beautiful car. And dependent on someone else’s ability to translate that aspiration into materialistic comfort, today’s youth has the power, even if they don’t have the money,” felt Perschke. He also stated, “The average age of the CEO and the wealthy Indian has dropped and India, thus, is getting younger. For them, later is a bad word and tomorrow is too late.” He took the latest campaign, which Audi has conceptualised for the launch of the Q3, as precedence for how the luxury market must, and can make space for this generation. Audi has based this campaign on a very simple premise- “Why wait to live the Q life until you’re 40 or 45?” Perschke explained that positioning the campaign as ‘Start Young’ is also supplemented by a clear identification of the fact that this audience needs to be given a lifestyle and not just a product. He added, “It’s a loud and fresh campaign and not a clean and stylish one. We’ve tried to use bright colours like saffron and orange and big letters in the communication.” And, this sure connects with a target audience which is flaunting, stylish and extroverted. Pershcke reckoned that either this audience will either buy itself a Q3 or get someone to buy it for them. Also, appreciating that music is an indispensable element in their

The average age of the CEO and the wealthy Indian has dropped and India, thus, is getting younger 92

life, integral to the campaign is a music video, called ‘This is Our Time’ featuring John Abraham. And, owing to the fact that the youth today is accelerating the Social Media Economy and the decision to buy is influenced by different channels, Perschke interestingly pointed out that the video stayed away from Television initially and was only put on the campaign’s microsite and Youtube as primary channels. As far as results went, the Q3 saw 500 bookings in five days and leveraging just the online space, the brand was able to create 6,800 leads for the car. “We knew that the payers of the cars are not going to be its users,” said Perschke. Even for the ‘others’ who were going to buy the car, the Q3 is positioned to make them feel young at heart. Perschke also took on some interesting questions from the audience. To the one, which was on the Quality vs. Quantity (of likes) crusade on Facebook and other Social Media platforms, he responded by saying that it is very important to establish brand connect on Social Media by assessing the amount of content that is being ‘shared’. He added that it essential to track the ‘social footprint’ of a follower or a fan to gauge how many responses are coming the right way via the right channel and to thereby establish the ‘lifetime value of a fan’. Perschke denied that there were dangers in defining a target audience so sharply (as is the case for the Q3). In fact, he went on to say, “A strong brand is a very clearly positioned brand. As a luxury brand, we’re positioned in a progressive audience and we want our core TG to follow us. We’re giving them strengths from their personality.” While concluding, he commented that even though it is very difficult to completely do without traditional channels of communication, the impact of standalone media is decreasing. Thus, while marketing for the youth, it is only vital that brands occupy ‘future spaces.’ 

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

Don’t ‘Define’ the youth Topic:

The Art of Engaging Youth: The Dos, Don’ts and Don’t Bothers

Speaker: SAMAR SINGH SHEIKHAWAT, Senior VP, Marketing, UB Group

heikhawat began by asserting that ‘only the youth can really understand the youth’. And, this is evident in the contrast in reactions towards movies like Delhi Belly, which lets one generation swallow the fact that ‘Shit Happens’ (which was the promotional tagline of the movie) and the successive one can’t seem to digest it. He then went on to say that ‘youth has no age’ and that everyone wants to be perceived as youth by being in opposition to their respective previous generations. In an organised format, Sheikhawat led the audiences through four prominent characteristics of the youth, backed them up buy citing examples of how these perceptions are true and then answered the imperative question of - What does the marketer need to do? The first trait that he pointed out was the ‘edginess’ of the young and their perpetual trial to push the envelope to an edge that only they can appreciate. And consequently to get their message across to the audience in question, brands give birth to concepts like Pepsi Badtameez. He emphasised, “The marketer must not give handles to edginess and must only do things that the real youth can appreciate.” He added that the attribute of ‘Hyper-competitiveness’ is obvious in the way the youth today faces competition in everything. “There’s a competition for desires and life is lived in parallel”, he shared. According to him, because of the intense competition that is canopying this generation, there exist ‘50 Shades of Grey Values’. He explained further with the examples of recent movies like Dostana, which broke the rules of conventional movie making and storylines. Sheikhawat felt that it’s very evident that the youth today has no qualms in bending the rules and allowing a ‘me-centric society’ to emerge. In this milieu, thus, the key for the marketer is to endorse this new value system and not be judgmental towards the action and/or inaction of the young. Advertisements like Fastrack’s ‘Wanna Move On?’ and Virgin Mobiles,

Marketers usually go wrong when they try to define the youth. Hence, they need to ‘un-define’ them Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

breaking age-old norms, are examples of how youth marketing is casting a fresh mold around these morals, which are compromised, yet intact. Sheikhawat felt that there is no denying the youth today is the pampered lot. “The youth are reacting to this with an uber-confidence and the marketer needs to respond to this situation by massaging the ego of the young”, he added. There also needs to be a conscious attempt to create a world of equals where the marketer must leverage the fact that youth feel that they have arrived, which Sheikhawat tagged as, the ‘Already Arrived Syndrome’. Another trend that Sheikhawat underlined was the ‘Rootlessness’ that the youth today encounters. “Their parents are their friends and there is a sense of a lack of an anchor to hold their life together. The generation’s response to this is leading to a ‘cult search’ as was have seen in the candle light marches for Jessica Lal. And an Airtel, thus, gets this right when they come up with a concept like ‘Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai’. That’s ideally, what the marketer should do,” he asserted. He also felt that marketers usually go wrong when they try to define the youth. According to him, they, hence, need to ‘un-define’ them because youth is no longer youth in the conventional sense of the word. “All the information on youth, thus, runs obsolete within no time. Start seeing the youth as brand developers. Find out what they’re upto, listen to them and let the youth ultimately decide what the brand should be,” he summed up. 

EVENTS

Indian youth is balanced Topic:

Reaching Youth by Segmenting and Targeting Smaller Niche in the Personal Care Category

Speaker: SATYAKI GHOSH, Director, Consumer Products Division, L’Oreal India

atyaki Ghosh started his session with a brief introduction about L’Oreal, which is positioned as accessible luxury and Garnier, which has a mass approach. The first five years of L’Oreal in India, according to him, were about driving the consumers up the value chain. The next five years were invested in enhancing relevance across consumer segments through accessible hair colour, shampoo, skin care range and men’s grooming category. Garnier was the first brand to introduce shampoo + oil, which was for the Indian women or youth who did not have the time to oil their hair. “The last couple of years have been about maximising reach with accessible innovations such as smaller packs, which L’Oreal worldwide had never thought about because we were quite a premium brand and we got into India relevant products like deodorants, kajal, small packs and face wash,” he said. He explained that the initial strategy has been to target the top of the pyramid, create new categories and drive image in the aspirational brand. L’Oreal targeted at the top of the pyramid, Garnier and Maybelline at SEC A&B, but the trend is changing. The extended target for Garnier and Maybelline is becoming the next level and Loreal Paris is also ready to come down. It is about targeting the middle of the pyramid now in addition to the top of the pyramid and enhancing accessibility. Ghosh said, “Our vision in India is to drive growth with our strong portfolio of aspirational and international brands targeting young aspiring Indians with the most relevant innovative propositions at the best value.” According to him, Garnier makes a perfect fit for India because India is a young country with a median age of 26 years and a large number of Indian households have at least one person in the age group of 16-25 years. It is tweaked in a way that it

has the best of the world along with features that are relevant to India. The brand did a detailed research keeping the consumers at the centre through meeting people, taking feedbacks, household panels, consumer connect programs where supply chain guys had to visit two households every six months. Ghosh feels that the youth are in a constant audition mode and they are constantly seeing whether they are better than somebody else or not. The desire to win and the sense of making the family proud by good acts is the key to the Indian youth. According to Ghosh, the Indian youth is balanced, social, confident, pragmatic, connected, tech savvy, ambitious, innovative family centric and global. Personal care products made in India do not have a negative connotation to them. Certain things that are not tolerated by the youth are body odour, bad breath, obesity, unkempt hair and dandruff. The biggest problem in India is hairfall. Hence, companies have capitalised on these opportunities in the Indian market. The newer categories like face wash, conditioners are growing faster among the youth. He pointed out that the youth is also conscious about what he/she pays and hence moving into small packs was a welcome move. Certain things that are not tolerated by He, also, explained the young nature of the brand Fructis, its communication strategy involving digital, youth festivals, onthe youth are body odour, bad breath, ground activations, cricket and football sponsorships and the evolution of the ads with Indian look and feel.  obesity, unkempt hair and dandruff

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

The PC+ era Topic:

Screenagers: Making Gadgets A Way of Life

Speaker: AJAY KAUL, Executive Director, Global Brand Communications and Marketing Services, Lenovo

aul began by emphasising the growing importance of smart devices and how the youth was constantly connecting via them. He explained that according to a Google report, 90 per cent of the daily media interaction is done through TV, Smartphone, tablet, PC, laptop and the rest of the 10 per cent is offline world. 81 per cent spend their time browsing the internet, 67 per cent spend their time in shopping online, 46 per cent spend time in managing finances and 43 per cent spend time planning a trip online. Kaul said that with the advancement of technology and the idea of ‘smart’ devices being introduced, 77 per cent of the traditional TV is watched through a Laptop or Smartphone. He added that Smartphones are being used not only in the field of traditional content grapple but also when it comes to shopping. He also shed light on the fact that 19 per cent of the planned buys and 81 per cent of the spontaneous buys are bought with instant browsing, which the Smartphones enable. By touching the topic of today’s youth is engrossed in multitasking, he explained that 81 per cent of the people are parallel processors, which means that they work on different devices at the same time. 66 per cent use Smartphones and laptops while watching TV and 66 per cent are involved in emails while watching TV. An average user, he says, spends two and a half hours online. While 72 per cent are on applications etc, only 21 per cent use Facebook to make announcements to their families. He said that the reason for all of the analytics and the changing trend is that content is becoming the driver for

PC is not going to vanish with the advent of new technology. It will rather witness innovations as India is still an underpenetrated market Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

the choice of device that people buy and use. An interesting observation he brought forward was that in a day a person wakes up to the alarm of a Smartphone, listens to music on the go either through the same device or a portable digital audio device; works on a laptop or PC; socialises on Facebook, twitter etc; browses through games and chats with friends while watching TV! He tagged this as the life of a ‘screenager’. Kaul laid open the fact that Lenovo does not believe that a traditional PC is not going to vanish with the advent of new technology. It will rather witness innovations as India is still an underpenetrated market. Moreover, he put forth a new term call the PC+ (plus) era and explained that in this era PC can be used for much more than its functional aspect, and so can the other devices like Smartphones, tablets, TVs and laptops; as they all have computing power. He added that technology brands will have to constantly innovate to manage power, move data, and applications. It will have to be environmentally conscious and drive big data for making better decisions. Kaul also explained how Lenovo is adapting the change with its punch line ‘for those who do’. He stressed that the company is focused on social media as that is what is driving the youth. The company is also focusing on cloud offering for integrating various media and platforms. 

EVENTS

Brands like movies should Panel Discussion: Learnings for Youth Marketers from Film Makers | Moderator: ARUN Pictures; SHIKHAR MOHAN, Head - Brand, HCL Infosystems; KUBER CHOPRA, Founder, Rasta;

am Mirchandani, CEO, Rampage Motion Pictures, started the discussion by showing movie clips from Vicky Donor highlighting the views of youth towards divorce and sex and Rang De Basanti, which triggered the candle light march against injustice. Arun Mehra agreed to the views of Ram Mirchandani and said that the Indian youth is not a

cities, research showed that the audience felt trapped behind many social, financial and professional decisions made by family and society on their behalf. Remarkably, popular films also threw up similar insights. “Films such as 3 Idiots for instance have chronicled the conflict between personal interests and expectations. ME Tablets used this insight to launch with

Twitter etc. could have a huge role to play in this.” Mohan encouraged brands to have such an offline conversation through Content Marketing. “Along with the usual ATL, brands should also engage the consumer in a conversation that serves his interest first, for instance by providing information she may require. Selling is an

ARUN MEHRA

RAM MIRCHANDANI

SHIKHAR MOHAN

rebel but adaptive to change and open to new ideas. He showed clips from the movie - Fashion that led to the adoption of various styles as shown in the movie by the Indian fashion fraternity. Mirchardani explained that it was, hence, important to be ahead of time, reposition style and learn from social media trends. Shikhar Mohan, Head - Brand, HCL Infosystems, felt that films are a goldmine of insights. He shared that when HCL was launching tablets aimed at youth in Tier-2

the campaign thought - ‘Aaj ki chaahat, mein hai kal ki life’. The campaign solved the conflict facing this audience by suggesting that professional and financial success demanded by its surroundings can be achieved best by pursuing passions close to its heart” said Mohan. Mohan added, “It is interesting to study stars like Shah Rukh Khan, who survive as brands despite delivering lemons. That Shah Rukh maintains an offline conversation with his fan base, through interviews,

incidental outcome of this approach,” he said. In his view, this will help brands survive incidents like product recalls and the odd failed campaign. Mohan also suggested that while films like Inception are understood by youth, marketers insist on idiot proofing their advertising. “Such an approach may be counterproductive. All good advertising leaves the loop open, and youth love applying themselves to complete an unsaid story, which would in turn increase engagement with brands using such an approach,” he added. Adding to that, Siddhartha M Jain, Producer, iRock explained that the films now are tailor made for the youth audience

Brands have so many identity elements but they end up using a brand ambassador and logos rather than using sound, smell etc 96

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

have clarity of proposition MEHRA, CEO, Talenthouse India; Panellists: RAM MIRCHANDANI, CEO, Rampage Motion SIDDHARTHA M JAIN, Producer@iRock; & SUBI CHATURVEDI, Filmmaker/Photographer/Curator and attract them through smart marketing. A new breed of young writers has sprung up including journalists and people from the ad world. The films are using the approach seen in the west and vampire series and chic flick zone is a hit among the youth. He explained that engagement with shock attracts their attention and comedy is also appreciated a lot. Most of these films are used to mar-

what is happening with cinema as well. For instance, Shah Rukh and Salman are aspirational while ‘Vicky Donor’, ‘Pyaar ka Punchnama’ and ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, are the ones who are talking to the youth. He suggested that brands should do that as well and marketers should make use of free media like the film makers. According to Chopra, brands have so many identity elements but they end

every possible opportunity that comes your way to connect with the youth,” said Chaturvedi. She added that it is important to build a brand, make it likeable and cool, have brand identification and recall, have a resonance and create ownership. She feels that language plays a very important role in establishing connect with the youth with clarity of thoughts and messages. She mentioned

KUBER CHOPRA

SIDDHARTHA M JAIN

SUBI CHATURVEDI

ket two-three brands in a subtle way. He summarised by saying that it is important for a marketer to target the youth, engage them and then sell them the product. But that too, requires intelligent communication planning. According to Kuber Chopra, Founder, Rasta, marketers need to move from messaging to story telling, which is done by films. Weaving a story makes it more engaging for the consumers. He stressed that brands, too, should create stories like Levi’s ‘Go Forth’ and trends like Pepsi attempted to do through its ‘My Can’ initiative. He explained that there are two categories, where marketing will fall and that is either it’s aspirational or it’s extremely real and that is

up using a brand ambassador and logos rather than using sound, smell etc. He gave examples of how Anand Mahindra and Vijay Mallya have been living with their brand that makes the brand more approachable and films do the same. Actors of the film are a film’s biggest brand ambassadors. Subi Chaturvedi, Film-maker/Photographer/Curator agreed with Kuber Chopra that brands need a story and she said that if a brand doesn’t have a story, it should either find one, create one or make one. “It is important that you understand your brand not just as a product but also as a person and try and engage in conversation and also leverage

that the youth needs to feel what the brand is about. Commenting on the way brands talk to consumers, Chaturvedi added, “Advertising needs to be able to make us move, smile, laugh, cry, essentially, respond and connect with us emotionally.” She also said that a trend or an idea will remain cool only till the time it doesn’t get mass. All brands need to be inclusive and have a multi-stake holder approach. According to her, a brand should not over promise and under deliver. It should get real and have clarity of proposition, the idea of identification, the idea of aspiration, multiple campaigns and increase visibility through music and humour. 

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

EVENTS

A youth brand stays cool Topic: Are Indian Marketers Using Social Media Effectively? Speaker: ASHWIN MUSHRAN, Actor, Stand-up Comedian & Tweeple

ddressing the audience, Ashwin Mushran said, “Most of the brands that exist today are on social networking sites, mainly on Facebook and Twitter. While all of them have millions of likes and comments flowing in from consumers, are they truly engaged as a brand, because engagement and interaction as a brand is extremely necessary?” Elaborating on youth-centric brands and how they connect with their audience Mushran explained the qualities that a youth brand should possess. According to him, “A youth brand is that which stays cool, delivers fresh products, and has a modern outlook and something people want to experience and as well want to be a part of.” He drew examples of two brands, Nike and Pepsi, and compared them on the basis of their effectiveness on the social media platform. According to him, although Nokia has made great TV commercials, it has faltered somewhere when it comes to engaging consumers online. For instance, the Nike football fan page consists of content related to cricket. On the other hand Pepsi’s Badtameezi campaign is what everybody is talking about. “They have targeted youth and the element of irreverence, something which the youth is comfortable about now,” he added. Thus, PepsiCo has read the minds of the young consumer, and gives away what the youth today wants and speaks the language of this generation. He referred to the list of top twenty youth brands as listed by Economic Times for the year 2011. These were Nokia, Coca Cola, Seven Up, Thums up, Mirinda, Maaza, Vodafone, Frooti, Spice, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Pepsi, Samsung, Airtel, Nestle Kitkat, Slice, Sprite, LG, Fanta, Hero and Limca. He observed that a lot of the brands were from the beverages and food industry, including confectionery, which reflected the popularity of these brands in a young Indian consumer’s life. With 11 soft drinks, four chocolate brands and around four telecom companies making into the top twenty, he added, that today’s youth wants to drink, eat and be connected on their mobile devices.

As a brand you should learn to laugh at yourself, it means you should take things lightly and sportingly 98

Further, Mushran also suggested few tips how a brand can get maximum attention on social media and also connect with the consumer. He said, “As a brand you should learn to laugh at yourself, it means you should take things lightly and sportingly and accept your faults, when there is criticism. Lastly, unleash various engagement strategies to get people back to your page.” He gave the example of two brands, one was a certain telecom operator, which had over reacted to a consumer’s negative feedback of the brand and the other was a popular music channel, which sportingly took up the issue and resolved it with a touch of humour. Moreover, he observed how brands are effectively using online media to address consumer grievances and were quicker in responding to consumer queries through tools like Twitter and Facebook. Explaining the new trend to contact a brand’s costumer care, he said “Brands are too quick on social media one doesn’t need to spend long hours waiting for a customer care executive to attend a phone call and respond as it’s a waste of time. If there is any such issue its better to connect with the company on their social account and get the problem solved.” Elaborating more on the consumer connectivity; he had two things to share. Firstly, a brand has to learn to target relevant people and secondly, it should be very concerned about handling its social media presence. “These two things are important because a consumer is replying or tweeting on behalf of the brand, which reflects the brand identity and consumer perspective of the brand. And one mistake from the brand or the brand manager, who is handling the account, can let down the image of the brand. In addition, the time of announcements via tweets should be kept in mind and relevant to consumer,” he summed up. 

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

The new 3Ps of Marketing Topic:

The Cool Quotient: Using Music to Resonate with Youth

Speakers: VIJAY NAIR, CEO, Only Much Louder; & TERRY MARDI, Chairman & Founder, Terry Mardi Group

hen the guy in the Beatles T-Shirt took stage along with the one in the casual hoodie, it was time for Vijay Nair, CEO of Only Much Louder (OML) and Terry Mardi, Chairman and Founder of Terry Mardi group to crack open “The Cool Quotient: Using Music to Resonate with the Youth”. The two struck conversation with each other to tell the audience about their work and how music was at the core of everything they did. Nair underlined OML’s association with ‘anything that’s not Bollywood’ and its specialisation in branded content with the help of content creation arms like NH7.in and Babble Fish Productions. Mardi took on after Nair stated that the average age of the employee at OML is 24-25 years. He expressed that communicating with people formed a strong base ever since 1999 when Br-Asian Media, his first company in the UK, was formed. Diving straight into answering the formidable question of ‘What is Cool?’, Nair talked about his experiences with brands that wanted to collaborate with a music property as part of their communication strategy. He shared, “I have always felt that if you really are trying to be cool, you can’t be trying that hard.” He also cited the example of ‘The Dewarists’, a musical television series produced by Babble Fish Productions and OML. He said that neither the network (Star World India) nor the brand (Dewar’s) tried to interfere with the creative

Nair humorously admitted that for him the 3Ps of Marketing are probably Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd and Pentagram Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

rendition of the show, wherein lay its success. The brand built The Dewarists to tell a story, which backed its message of ‘Some Things Are Worth Doing.’ “There was no product placement throughout the Season, which ran ten episodes and the brand underplayed itself brilliantly well,” said Nair. In the same breath, Mardi added and felt strongly about the fact that it’s important for brands to get involved at only the musical level. The brand, asserted Nair, cannot own a particular genre of music because that after all, belongs to the people. Nair also mentioned the Bacardi NH7 Weekender, which sits on an eight year contract between Bacardi and OML. He said, in this case, Bacardi was running with a clear mission of ‘Bringing People Together’ and the music festival was doing exactly that. “The festival is all about the experience and music here is only a catalyst,” he said. Nair humorously admitted that for him the 3Ps of Marketing are probably Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd and Pentagram. But, what he was certain about was the fact that brands need to be subservient and obedient in their approach when they’re trying to connect to audience through the tunnel of a performing art. And, highlighting a general human tendency, which fitted absolutely well as one of the end remarks, he said, “When you try to own something really badly, you end up losing it.” And, that’s where brands need to be weary while using something like music to ‘hit it off ’ with the audiences. 

EVENTS

Youth is rejecting old school Release of Pitch-TNS Youth Insights Report 2012 & Sharing of Key Highlights Speaker: SHRAVANI SEN, Executive Director & Qualitative Head, TNS India & Sri Lanka

hravani Sen, Executive Director and Qualitative Head, YNS India and Sri Lanka, released the Pitch TNS Youth Insights Report 2012 at the Pitch Youth Marketing Summit. She also shared some key highlights from the report. “We talk about the youth as one person but it is actually India as a whole,” said Sen, opening a new line of thinking on the subject. She rendered that the youth is forever changing, which makes it difficult to track how and what they are doing. She expressed the need to have youth among marketers so that they can understand whether it is real life engagement or just a lip service. According to the Pitch TNS Youth Insights Report 2012, there are 27 crore youngsters up to the age of 24 years in India. Sen quotes Pepsi’s ‘Youngistaan” and says that it is the true spirit of India and not just demographic data. Sen revealed an interesting trend about the youth saying that the middle class values are completely different for youth today because they are rejecting what is old school. “The BPO industry started the trend, where a youth would get tremendous purchasing power and at the age of 18 earned what the father would earn at the age of 40. This has also given a rise to the household income,” she added. Certain factors, according to her, have led to this optimistic approach of the youth, and one of them was technology. According to the Pitch TNS Report, 71 per cent of the SEC A teens feel that they can run the world better than adults. “Social media is integrated in to the lives of the youth and they are going to force us to change

100

the way content appears on TV, Radio and Newspapers. The roles and meanings of these things are going to become less important, as people don’t watch TV for the news that is on it but the thrills that you get out of it. That is how the role of media is going to change and challenge people,” she adds. Sen also spoke extensively on how brands, though maintaining their core essence, have moved on in terms of communication and brand messaging. She gave the example of Unilever that hasn’t changed the way it pitches Fair and Lovely, but has changed the way of expressing that. The imagery of a shy girl wanting to look better for her marriage has been replaced by a career oriented powerful woman of today.

Below are the findings of the Pitch TNS Youth Insights Report 2012:

2012 INTRODUCTION Context ndia youth are a direct reflection of rapid change. As the Indian economy has opened and accelerated, it has shaped a generation of young people who were born and have grown up in a completely different societal context compared to their parents. We all know that they are big in size (270 mn), have

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

tremendous purchase power, and are the new generation of consumers and employees. Being one of the most optimistic and driven generations in history of India, they are the main drivers of change in our society - A generation that has the potential to transform the world we live in. Do we really understand our youth? As marketers are we getting too much information? Is the information we are getting opening us up to ways of connecting that we never thought possible, or does it shut us off from the real experience of belonging to the Indian youth generation? Key Objectives In order to better understand Indian youth and how they connect with brands, we need to take a deep dive and look for the underlying changes in their attitudes and values shaped by a unique set of influences. The objective of this report is to provide a point of view on the above and how marketers can leverage it in 2012-13. Inputs used The following sources have been used as inputs: An annual global proprietary study amongst 12-19 years across 40 countries with a sample size of 3,655 in India, this covers the teens’ homes, education and work life; understands them as consumers; interaction with media; their attitudes towards family, friends, brands, leisure time; and their future outlook –TNS TRU 2011-12 An annual proprietary study on consumer attitudes and values (age 16-34) in India - the sample is 2,413 - TNS India Youth Trends - 2011-12. An examination of the macro factors impacting youth based on desk research.

CHANGE IN VALUES OF INDIAN YOUTH

eing part of a global generation the Indian youth share many characteristics with their counterparts across the world but at the same time there is something unique about them - distinctively

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

YOUTH’S RELIANCE ON TECHNOLOGY Internet allows me to stand out and be different

In the online world, I can express my feelings better

50 40

40 30

2011

16-19

20-24

2011

16-19

20-24

Source: TNS India Monitor 2011-12, The Futures Company, Global Monitor 2011-12. Scores are standardised, top 2 box, % agree

Indian. They come from a social context which is the hybrid of India’s history and future and the complexity of its 5,000 years of culture. What is the unique set of influences driving change While there are a set of macro factors driving change in the lives of the Indian consumer, a specific set of influences which impact the youth are: Social: Changing household structures are redefining youth’s definition of their identity; the importance of education as a step towards success (96% of Indian teens are planning to attend college) as well as

71%

of SEC A teens feel that they can run the world better than the adults

rising and more rounded levels of education; how society is becoming more permissive which encourages expression and creativity. In addition, with growing numbers of young men and women working increasingly long and irregular hours, there is an increased appreciation for family as a support system. Technology: As mobile phones have become an ever-more-pervasive part of youth lives, their ways of engaging with the world is less tangible. Rapid growth in communications technology has resulted in youth having the world at their finger tips with a growing desire to consume dif-

ferent experiences (62% of youth want to live their life to the maximum). The need to reorient themselves around new communications technology is critical now. Environmental: Youth are worried about tangible environmental change and growing pressure on resources (About 52% of youth would like to preserve the world for future generations). Low levels of trust in politics and business - (71% of SEC A teens feel that they can run the world better than the adults) is resulting in higher levels of self employment and entrepreneurial led change. Political: The increase of corruption and terrorism in civil society has resulted in further distrust of government and people wanting to take matters into their own hands Ethical issues are now staples in mainstream media and political debate with NGOs, celebrities like Anna Hazare (though his personal impact may have decreased) championing the ethical cause. Economic: The fact that India is predicted to take a lead position in the world economy by 2050 is giving the Indian youth a renewed sense of selfconfidence, leading them to celebrate that which is authentically Indian. More Indians are choosing to live and study in India as a result of the India growth story vs. global recession. With urbanisation on the rise and affluent levels growing, youth have abundant choices of domestic as well as international brands. Paradoxically this abundance of choice is also leading consumers to prize that which is truly authentic.

101

EVENTS IMPERFECT IS OK The youth is not afraid to admit to failure & is comfortable in being where he/she is

Attitudes

16-19 Years

20-24 Years

I am at peace with myself and my decisions

I have a strong sense of selfesteem and self-respect

I have the freedom to make my own choices in life

Source: TNS India Monitor 2011-12, The Futures Company, Global Monitor 2011-12. Scores are standardized, top 2 box, % agree

I call it WIP One of their key values is the acceptance of imperfection. The young consumer is not afraid to admit to failure and is quite comfortable in being where he/she is. Youth are at peace with themselves & their decisions. This is a reflection of their strong sense of self esteem which in the earlier years gave youth the confidence to pursue their personal passions. Today, it is about having the confidence of recognising stoppage. This ‘Work in Progress’ identity is built on is the oscillation between different directions. It is about: • Embracing diverse influences • Forging new identities (especially for girls) • Financial independence but emotional dependence: remaining emotionally dependent on parents despite economic independence • While family is still very important, it’s increasingly ‘friends first’ I push my status quo The youth live between ‘Status No’ and ‘Status New’. They are constantly pushing the boundaries of the status quo to differentiate and break away from the crowd. In order to do so, they rely on technology particularly digital. They know who they are/where are they /what they want to be & their key strengths & weaknesses. Irrespective of where they are, they believe they are entrepreneurial, possess the skills to be famous & ability to get rich!

102

Me & society – live & evolve – From an earlier stance of ‘live and let live’ the youth today believes in more of learning from each other/ from other cultures. Every second 16-19 year old & 20-24 years old appreciate the influence that other cultures have on our way of life in India. The motto today is ‘Let’s learn from each other’. The focus is not on imposing. It is a choice for the other whether they want to take it or not. 48% of 16-24 year olds are courageous to stand up to their beliefs & 46% of them strongly respect their traditions & customs hence they will make their own choices !The path to authenticity is through the art of

LIVE & EVOLVE I appreciate the influence that other cultures have on our way of life

BETWEEN ‘STATUS NO’ & ‘STATUS NEW’ I believe I will become famous in my lifetime 60 50 40 30 20 0

20-24

Age in years

40 30 20 0

2011

16-19

20-24

Age in years

I believe I will become rich in my lifetime

10 0

16-19

40 52

2011

I am the type of person who could go into a business of my own

50 2011

16-19

20-24

negotiation: respect different view points, be open to influences and cooperate. This is something we even find in teens -12-19 year olds. Teens are like trees, deeply rooted to their family, culture and country but constantly expanding themselves to embrace newer world cultures, lifestyles, technology and knowing that the sky is the limit.

Attitudinal Statements

12-19 Years

I’d rather live in India than any other country in the world

I’m interested in the cultures, attitudes, and lifestyles of other countries

Being able to speak more than one language is important for success

In years, life in my country - including politics and what’s socially/culturally acceptable will be different from the way it is today

I could run the world better than adults do

Source: TNS TRU Report -2011-12

30 20

2011

16-19

20-24

10 0

Age in years

Source: TNS India Monitor 2011-12, The Futures Company, Global Monitor 2011-12. Scores are standardised, top 2 box, % agree

Relationship = (Impact)moments Impact versus time – it is the moment that counts & not the time spent together. Yes, time/duration is important but it is not the only criteria. The ‘Impact’ of interaction is gaining importance… “How enjoyable is that ‘moment’ that we spend together has started defining the relationship” Technology plays a big role in helping to build ‘Support Networks’ - a trusted networks and individuals for mutual benefit and support. Creative and personal expression is enabled by internet

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

which allows to make connections with others. They look for brands which enable them to express their creativity and have an impact.

WHAT INFLUENCES MY RELATIONSHIPS & EXPRESSIONS The internet improves the relationship I have with other people

Network Power There is a significant step towards group mentality as a win-win situation. A realisation that the sum is greater than the parts. Youth are forming groups to create collective bargaining power. They are getting deals on all types of purchases by buying in bulk / leveraging power of the groups. Network power goes beyond creating virtual networks for commerce to using those same networks in different ways to get the things they need and want. They are using virtual networks for exchanging rather than buying, for amassing a group to buying things for less and to promote social good. They also indulge in Social retailing - Youth know the feeling. They can try on a on a shirt at the store and think they look pretty cool, but they need a second opinion. They can send a video to their friends’ cell phones and instantly get their vote.

TEEN SPENDING ON KEY CATEGORIES

eenagers are not big spenders by themselves but, together as a section of society, they offer huge potential for marketers. Clothes Make the Teen: With appearances all important, teens are ready to spend their own money on clothes. Techno Kid: Almost 4/5th of all Indian teens have spent money on electronics and technology in the past 1 month, reflecting the fast growth of the tech sector in India. Cell Phone Calls: Cell phone expenses eat deeply into a teen pocket, with the majority of money going into recharges and top-ups. Eating Out: Canteen spends, along with hanging out at other coffee shops / cafes etc, figure in the list of key spends for teens. There are two types of decisions that teenagers make. One is the personal, im-

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

2011

16-19

20-24

Role of Techonology: It keeps me connected with my family and friends 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Technology plays a big role in helping to build ‘Support Networks’

I am more likely to use brands that enable me to express my creativity 50 40 30

2011

16-19

20-24

20 10

2011

16-19

20-24

Source: TNS India Monitor 2011-12, The Futures Company, Global Monitor 2011-12. Scores are standardised, top 2 box, % agree

mediate sort of decision – what to wear, what to eat, where to hang out. These are taken independently, completely left to the teenager to decide. Friends may influence the decision but primarily taken by one self. Here fit with wallet and value for money are most sought after. A teenager who has a limited amount to spend would prefer brands and products that fit within the budget. Hence most affordable spends are attire, re-charges and eating out. The other being more impactful and futuristic that involves what to study, where to study and what career to choose. These decisions are taken by parents/family members and most of the teenagers need to abide by this decision. Since this is a decision that will impact their future teenagers also believe that parents know best. Turn over for the findings of the spending habits of teenagers.

103

EVENTS SPENDING HABITS Clothes account for the biggest spend among teens in India Question: How much money have you spent in the past 30 days in each of the following categories?

Amount Spent in the Last 30 Days (in INR) Total

TOTAL Males Female 12-15Yrs 16-19 Yrs SEC A

SEC B

SEC C

Clothing and apparel

294

295

293

250

332

294

292

295

Cell/Mobile phone (like minutes, texts, downloads)

134

137

126

102

150

145

127

133

Going out to eat at casual/expensive restaurants

117

107

134

133

109

117

Going out to eat at fast food restaurants (to go or take-away)

102

104

116

110

100

Electronics and technology

101

119

116

100

108

Transportation

107

116

120

Home entertainment

102

106

102

Fast food restaurants (to go or take-away)

110

Health & beauty aids

107

113

Sweet / Salty snacks

Soft Drinks

338 98 68

Amount (in INR) spent by a 16-19 year old on clothes in the last 30 days Amount (in INR) spent by a teen on transportation in the last 30 days Percentage of teens having spent money on eating out at casual/expensive restaurant in the last 30 days

Teenagers are not big spenders by themselves but, together as a section of society, they offer huge potential for marketers

Bold denotes significant difference

THE FAVOURITE STARS Salman Khan while is the favourite actor, Sachin Tendulkar emerges as the favourite sportsperson

Top 10 Movie / TV Stars

Top 10 Sports Stars TOTAL

Males

Girls

Salman Khan

Shah Rukh Khan

Shahid Kapoor

Katrina Kaif

Aamir Khan

Akshay Kumar

Hrithik Roshan

TOTAL

Males

Girls

Sachin Tendulkar

MS Dhoni

Virender Sehwag

Yuvraj Singh

Sania Mirza

Saurav Ganguly

Rahul Dravid

Amitabh Bachchan

Cristiano Ronaldo

Joseph Vijay

Harbhajan Singh

Ranbir Kapoor

Irfan Pathan

Khan vs Khan

SRK has handed over the King Khan title to Salman, at least for now. SRK hasn’t had a hot for a long while, while Salman’s all movies have been a hit in the recent past

104

Captain Courageous

MSD’s super-success as captain for India’s bigest team suport makes him a pin-up for both sexes. Plus, he comes from a small town, which makes him all the more real

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

Spending on Various Categories (%) Total

TOTAL Males

Female

12-15Yrs

16-19 Yrs

SEC A

SEC B

SEC C

Sweet/Salty snacks

Soft Drinks

Transportation

Going out to eat at fast food restaurants (eating in )

Cell/Mobile Phone (like minutes, texts, downloads)

Clothing and apparel

Going out to eat at casual / expensive restaurants

Health & beauty aids

Entertainment

Going out to eat at fast food restaurants (to go or take-away)

Home entertainment

Electronics and technology

With appearances all important, teens are ready to spend their own money on clothes

Techno Kid

Almost 4/5th of all Indian teens have spent money on electronics and technology in the past 1 month, reflecting the fast growth of the tech sector in India

Cell Phone Calls

Cell phone expenses eat deeply into a teen pocket, with the majority of money going into recharges and top-ups

Eating Out

hile releasing the Pitch-TNS Youth Insights Report 2012, at the Pitch Youth Marketing Summit 2012, Shravani Sen, Executive Director & Qualitative Head, TNS India & Sri Lanka, said that certain areas that work for the youth are social, political, technological and economic changes and challenges. She said that these are changing the basic ground rules that constituted the Indian culture. She further stressed that socially one is moving into a smaller nuclear family. Within that the mother and father think differently and the kids are the drivers of decision making and change. Within one family there are multiple needs. “About 86 per cent of the youth think that education is important because it empowers them and helps them make informed decisions. Parents are more acceptable of their kids taking up different vocations, they are fine if the kids are dropping out of school to pursue

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

Fashion statement

something different; as a result the whole family has taken a different meaning,” she appended. The next drivers of change, which are technology and environment, have also evolved, she says. Rapid communication and instant communication is changing the game. Today the new generation is genuinely concerned about the environment around them. Sen says, “Youth is constantly on the move and always connected. The WWW trend has opened the world for all kinds of people, they can express their views and are using this to learn more and empower themselves.” She said that there is far more confidence in what they do and what they buy. They are not swayed by the emotional pitch that is given to them as they see the functional and rational aspects. People are open to various influences and expressions and this is happening be-

Canteen spends, along with hanging out at other coffee shops/cafes etc, figure in the list of key spends for a teen

cause of social media and TV reality shows. She expressed that teens are like trees because on one hand they are rooted, which she believes won’t change in India. “Teens also want to branch out, they want marketers to help them branch out and help find creative expressions and different ways of empowerment for themselves. That is why it is very important to not treat the youth as one type of person,” she added. Sen claimed that the network power of the youth is huge and therefore, the power of viral marketing is huge. “Earlier the companies would do physical viral marketing but today all you need to do is pass it on to the next person. Whether one is advertising on the social media is not important but the message that you are trying to give. The offline and the online are equally important and to understand the youth we have to tap both. There has to be a 360 degree approach,” she added. 

105

EVENTS

‘I reject censorship’ Keynote Address: Role of Digital & Social Media in Connecting with Young India Speaker: SHASHI THAROOR, Member of Indian Parliament

alking about social media today in India, I think it’s important to start off with some global basics. The first is of course is that the freedom of expression is fundamental. That’s my belief and commitment as a writer and as a politician, and as somebody who uses all media, social and otherwise -- social and anti-social! Freedom of expression is the mortar that binds together the bricks of our freedom and it’s also the open window embedded in those bricks. We need freedom of expression to guarantee all of our other acts. In this country we are all entitled to receive and send information thorough electronic networks, to share information, whether through the newspaper, the TV screen or online websites and to do so without censorship and restriction. This is fundamental to the kind of world which we all live in. As a writer and a politician, I am conscious how fortunate we are to live in a country that guarantees us that right. Writers in some developing countries have to contend with the argument that development and freedom of expression are incompatible – that the media, for instance, must serve the ends of development as defined by the government, or operate only within the boundaries of what the social and religious authorities define as permissible. The developing world is full of writers, artists and journalists who have to function in societies which do not grant them this freedom. For them freedom of expression is the oxygen of their own survival, and that of their society, but they are stifled. In countries where truth is what the government or the religious establishment says is true, freedom of expression is essential to depict alternative truths which the society needs to accommodate in order to survive. And yet it is all too often absent, because in many countries, there are those who question the value of freedom of speech in their societies; those who argue that it threatens stability and endangers progress; those who still consider freedom of speech a Western import, an imposition from abroad and not the indigenous expression of every people’s demand for freedom. What has always struck me about this argument is that it is never made by the people, but by governments; never by the powerless but by the powerful; never by the voiceless, but by those

106

whose voices are all that can be heard. Let us put this argument once and for all to the only test that matters: the choice of every people, to know more or know less, to be heard or be silenced, to stand up or kneel down. Only freedom of expression will allow the world’s oppressed and underprivileged a way out of the darkness that shrouds their voices, and their hopes. The Internet has been giving them this choice as never before. But then beyond that, and beyond the way in which social media reflects our freedom of expression, we have to go into how the information society of the 21st century provides citizens with full information to allow democratic participation at all levels in determining their own future.

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

Technology has become the biggest asset for those who seek to promote and protect freedom of expression around the world. The exciting thing about social media is that the new digital technology offers great possibilities for enhancing traditional media and combining them with new media. The Internet has been made possible by advances in technology that have also transformed the traditional media. Traditional media, and especially radio and television, remain the sole form of access to the information society for much of the world’s population, including the very poor and the illiterate. The poorest, and the illiterate, have not yet been able to use social media and the internet. But even the rest of us rely on traditional media, we can’t wish them away. There is increasing convergence between television and the internet and soon we can try and see how we can marry modern technologies to actually make serious progress in the world. Today, however, our focus is on social media. Look at the extraordinary transformation that is happening. Just a day after he was sworn in as our President, Pranab Mukherjee announced that he would be opening a Facebook account to receive and respond to the queries from the public. In fact, his fellow Bengali, Mamata Banerjee, has beaten him to it, with a popular and widely read website that the media mines daily for new stories about her views. Just three years ago, as Rahul was pointing out, when I first went on social media, it was fashionable for Indian politicians to sneer at the use of social media. Today our own President made it clear that these are essential tools for clear, accountable and credible political leadership. The governments of the world or the big institutions of power have become more vulnerable today because of the fact that the new media technology has exposed them to the uncontrolled impact of instant news. And so the fact is that when we speak about the social media, we can’t get away from understanding the impact of new technology on the way the world is working. Technology is such that everybody has a mobile phone in her or his pocket and you can do far more than when you could have first acquired a mobile phone. Now, you

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

can take pictures, you can take videos, you can transmit them and go on the internet. Something like 5 billion people worldwide, including 84% of Americans, more than 70% of Chinese and at least 60% of Indians, today use mobile phones. You can all get your messages out more rapidly. The strength of this is that you can enable ordinary people to issue and disseminate even raw footage or compellingly authentic images before the mainstream media or the government can actually do so. So you can open up a social media space even not being a professional media person. Increasingly, a cheap camera or mobile phone that is easily portable in a pocket can undermine the credibility of a government despite the latter’s massive human and financial resources. China learned this when video footage taken on somebody’s cellphone of a shootout involving Uighur separatists in 2008 made it to the world media despite the gov-

circumvent both government control and the restraints that are normally observed by traditional media. In the old days, governments assumed that they could command the information high ground, and traditional media saw themselves as the gatekeepers. The high ground has gone, the gatekeepers have been overtaken. That is the change of social media today. Take a look at the Arab Spring. The role of social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Google, You Tube, and Skype in the political revolutions of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, which caused further ripples in the Middle East, has given new impetus to the discussion of social media in world politics. Many say the Arab Spring is a social media revolution, while others respond that unless you can prove that these revolutions wouldn’t have occurred without social media, then the proposition is not valid. I personally come out somewhere in between. I feel social media was the part of the story

Increasingly, a cheap camera or mobile phone that is easily portable in a pocket can undermine the credibility of a govt despite the latter’s massive human and financial resources ernment’s attempts to push it under the carpet. They tried to avoid the bad news before the Olympics but it came out there for the world to see on social media. For the social media, the pressure of the 24/7 news cycle can build up not just over a few hours but over a few minutes. As images, facts and allegations emanating from cellphones and digital cameras go viral, they undermine and discredit official versions, present an alternative reality in the face of Government denials and, fuelled by dissenters and expatriates, rebound onto the evolution of the situation itself. Twitter and digital cameras had a huge impact on the Iranian protests after the disputed re-election of Mohammed Ahmedinejad as president, despite Tehran’s attempt to manage the crisis. Social media kept the protest alive. With such instant scrutiny, governmental power is rendered far more vulnerable. The Wikileaks saga demonstrated that the publication of classified material on the internet can

but not the whole story. Certainly, television, satellite TVs showing images of the Tunisian hawker’s suicide in Libya and Egypt, SMS messages to gather at the Tahrir square to protest -- all of these also had an impact and role. But the fact is that social media has an unparalleled impact on the reach and spread of the word of any uprising. The turmoil that we know as the Arab Spring had significant influence from social media in making it possible. Facebook sites, Twitter messages, You Tube films, all played a crucial role in mobilizing protests, in sustaining them and in fuelling their intensity. This is why China pays particular attention in censoring the internet. They employ 40,000 cyber police to monitor blogging sites, shutting any down they deem subversive; they have restricted Google and of course banned Twitter. A Chinese language blogger in the USA called for a Jasmine revolution in China. The Great Firewall of China

107

EVENTS blocked all searches for the word Jasmine, even if you were merely looking for Jasmine tea or the Disney princess. Clearly the authoritarians in Beijing are quite aware of the enormous potential of social media to disrupt even their politics. Moving on to India, people from the North-East were intimidated by hate messages on social media sites, distorted images of alleged atrocities committed in the north-east against Muslims and threats by sms, frightening them to a point that caused them to flee their homes in Mumbai and Bangalore entirely. It was a sobering reminder that when these social media messages go viral there is no filter, no way of controlling the spread of their dangerous messages. On a more encouraging note, there can be a more positive and non-confrontational use of social media in a crisis, as we saw with the catastrophe of the tsunami, earthquake and nuclear accident in Japan. Social media has transformed humanitarian actions. Millions of Twitter messages went

to crises around the world. They may have been designed largely for online socializing and just for having fun, but such sites and others have empowered people caught up in crises. Their strength is that they enable people to share vivid, real-time unfiltered images and text reports before any other source, including governments or traditional media, can do so. In the week following the earthquake and tsunami, people viewed more than 40 million disaster-related items. On any given day, people are sending about 140 million Twitter messages -about a billion tweets every week. There are two ways to look at it, as a simple case of information overload or that it represents a huge audience of information generators and consumers that people in positions of public responsibility ignore only at their peril. As you can imagine, I am inclined to the latter view. Social media is bound to gain as the prospects of e-government are improving by the day. There is a Bill pending in parliament,

I keep pointing out that this is not a country that believes in media censorship.What little action that has been taken by the govt has usually been targeted at preventing law-and-order problems out immediately after the earthquake in Haiti, and after the tsunami in Japan. Faced with these tragedies that displaced millions of people, Google established a “Person Finder” system which enabled people to use social media to trace missing persons. After the Japanese nuclear disaster, people contacted the US Ambassador on Twitter and used this direct access to him to get him to alert the US military and the Japanese self-defence forces and evacuate patients from a hospital which was in the radiation zone of the Fukushima nuclear plant. In other words: Twitter mobilized troops in Japan. This is something that is possible today and was not possible in the past. Just a few years ago, before he opened his twitter account, how could ordinary people have contacted the US Ambassador so easily, directly and urgently? Japan’s disaster has spotlighted the critical role that social media websites such as Twitter are increasingly playing in responses

108

which requires government departments to provide government services through electronic means, essentially on social media. Increasingly, we will get those services not only on computers but also mobile phones. Mobile phones are perhaps the most effective way we can reach out to people -- everything from banking services, even voting perhaps one day and certainly for the delivery of e-governance information. I read on Twitter that Indian Railways now has a site, where you can actually log in and follow the real time progress of an actual train. So now, you no longer have to wait for 6 hours at the station, you can know on the internet if it is running late. Delhi Post helps you trace your parcels on Twitter, The Pune Municipal Corporation advices people on garbage disposal on Twitter. This is a new world dawning across India. Yet, there has been controversy about the alleged desire on the part of the gov-

ernment to censor social media, which is completely exaggerated. I spoke to Kapil Sibal when he was under attack for doing this and he said look, we are not trying to censor social media or control political attacks on us, what we are trying to do is to ensure that religious incitement, and inflammatory communal messages are not allowed. Perhaps the government was not so good in its messaging. Kapil Sibal got a lot of negative publicity – as did the government again because of its reactions to the episode involving the North Easterners. I keep pointing out that this is not a country that believes in media censorship. What little action that has been taken by the government has usually been targeted at preventing law-and-order problems, and incitement to violence, which are illegal anyway. I am, as I said at the beginning, staunchly committed to freedom of speech. But – and free speech advocates hate that “but”! – every society recognises some sensible restraints on how free speech is exercised. Those restraints almost always relate to the collectivity; they arise when the freedom of the individual to say what he wants causes more harm to more people in society than restricting his freedom would. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the US, put it memorably when he said that freedom of speech does not extend to the right to shout “fire!” in a crowded theatre. (After all, that could cause a stampede, in which people could get trampled upon, injured and even killed, and the theatre’s property destroyed – all consequences that outweigh the individual’s right to say what he likes.) Since societies vary in their cultural and political traditions, the boundaries vary from place to place. Free speech absolutists tend to say that freedom is a universal right that must not be abridged in the name of culture. But in practice such abridgement often takes place, if not by law then by convention. No American editor would allow the “n” word to be used to describe Black Americans, not because it’s against the law, but because it would cause such offence as to be unacceptable to use. Just as the commonplace practice of women taking off their bikini tops at St Tropez, Copacabana or Bondi Beach could not be replicated on the beaches of

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

Goa, Dubai or Karachi without risking assault or arrest, so also things might be said in the former set of places that would not pass muster in the latter. It’s no use pretending such differences (of culture, politics and sensitivity) don’t exist. They do, and they’re the reason why free speech in, say, Sweden isn’t the same as free speech in Singapore. The challenge is that social media is a public forum for the expression of private thoughts. In fact social media’s biggest asset is its biggest threat. Any young person with the basic literacy to operate a keyboard can express his or her opinion, create information, whether video or text, and communicate it immediately, without the delays or filters that are normally brought about by the editorial controls, cross-checking or even the synthesizing that occurs in a “mainstream” media newsroom. My son works for Time magazine in New York. His work involves rigorous fact-checking, because if something goes wrong, it will damage the reputation of Time magazine. But if you put up something on your own blog, it is simply you and your reputation that is at stake; the only standards you need to meet are your own yardsticks, and that of course can have very serious consequences. That gives social media an advantage over regular media as a disseminator of public opinion. If you wanted to express your views in, say, a newspaper, you would have write something well enough to pass editorial muster; your facts and opinions would be checked, vetted and challenged; your prose might be cut for space reasons (or mere editorial whim); and you might have to wait days, if not weeks, to see your words in print. None of that applies to social media. You can write all you want, as you want, in the words you want, on a blog or a Facebook page, put it up with a Twitter link, click a mouse and instantly watch it all go viral. It’s a 21st century freedom that no democratic political leader would wish to confront. And yet this very freedom is its own biggest threat. It means anyone can say literally anything, and inevitably, many do. Lies, distortions and calumny go into cyberspace unchallenged; hatred, pornography and slander are routinely aired. There is no fact-checking, no institutional reputa-

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

tion for reliability to defend. The anonymity permitted by social media encourages even more irresponsibility: people hidden behind pseudonyms feel free to hurl abuses they would never dare to utter to the recipients’ faces. The borderline between legitimate creative expression and “disparaging, inflammatory or defamatory content” becomes more difficult to draw. Kapil Sibal’s main concern was not with politics, but with scurrilous material about certain religions that could have incited retaliatory violence by their adherents.

basically what we have to do: deal firmly with those who use social media to incite violence, hatred and law-breaking so that the rest of us can enjoy our freedom to air our views undisturbed. But I’m far from sure that prosecuting Facebook or Google is the right way to go about it. After all, could you sue the phone companies for someone sending a defamatory or obscene SMS? The analogy to a newspaper is wrong – these social network sites are more like the postman carrying the newspaper to your door. You would prosecute the newspaper for publishing legally actionable material, but you would not prosecute the postal service. Our learned judges are now examining the matter but I hope they will take into account these realities of the Internet era. That said, let me affirm how useful social media is in our society. Social media can be employed to create knowledge networks, disseminate information and keep track of the world around you well beyond what is available in our daily newspapers. I suppose, I was the first government official in India who engaged with the general public online on Twitter, though in all

I’m far from sure that prosecuting Facebook or Google is the right way to go about it.After all, could you sue the phone companies for someone sending a defamatory or obscene SMS? People say or depict things on social media that might be bad enough in their living rooms, but are positively dangerous in a public space. The challenge of regulating social media is that the person writing or drawing such things does so in the privacy of his home but releases them into the global commons. My own yardstick is very clear: I reject censorship. Art, literature and political opinion are to me sacrosanct. But publishing or circulating inflammatory material to incite communal feelings is akin to dropping a lighted match at a petrol pump. No society can afford to tolerate it, and no responsible government of India would allow it. I would rather snuff out the match rather than shut down the petrol pump. And that’s

fairness, LK Advani’s web page had already created a lot of buzz during the last elections. More and more politicians are online today, including Sushma Swaraj and Narendra Modi of the BJP, and Digvijay Singh, Anil Shastri, Naveen Jindal, Manish Tewari and Hamdullah Sayeed of the Congress, with politicians issuing their own bulletins and actually answering individual questions online. Sometimes this creates its own challenges: the Leader of the Opposition in the Indian Lower House, Sushma Swaraj has already blamed Twitter’s 140-character limit for an imprecisely-worded message about the Prime Minister that created political ripples within the BJP. Of course, there is the safety net that politicians can always type, delete and retype before pressing

109

EVENTS enter – but Ms Swaraj reportedly dictates her Twitter messages, so perhaps that is more difficult for her. Indian bureaucrats are following suit, with the best known example probably being former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. She in turn may well have been inspired by the success of the Ministry of External Affairs’ Public Diplomacy Division, whose officials, with my active encouragement, set up a Twitter page and have been pursuing social media strategies, including a Facebook page and a YouTube channel, to let people know about what the ministry and diplomatic missions do. This has enabled them to promote India’s soft power (even within the country) by creating goodwill among social media users in general, whether in India or abroad. To me the MEA’s initiative was excellent: It put India on a par with the Western democracies which have already adopted social media sites as an instrument of outreach.

out propaganda. It is also about listening. It rests on the recognition that the public is entitled to be informed about what a government is doing in international affairs, and is also entitled to responsiveness from those in authority to their concerns on foreign policy. Successful public diplomacy involves an active engagement with the public in a manner that builds, over a period of time, a relationship of trust and credibility. This is why social media is so useful. The pitfalls of using social media are the ever-present risk that something said on a social network could itself be taken out of context or misused by our critics. Recently, well-wishers urged Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to delete a light-hearted remark that could have been maliciously distorted by his political enemies. He did so, with the curious result that the advice to delete can still be found on Twitter, but the potentially offending re-

There is this whole experience that even older people are finding, that to connect to the young people, who are the majority of the world, they need to be on social media Many foreign countries not only have had government officials tweeting at all levels, but a large number of my foreign minister friends are on Twitter. It is important to see that the interaction Twitter offers complements the other forms of engagement they have with the public. Many foreign services require their ambassadors to set up a web page and actually go on Twitter. There is this whole experience that even older people are finding, that to connect to the young people, who are the majority of the world, they need to be on social media themselves. They also proactively encourage their diplomats to blog, so that they can populate the discussion forums with sympathetic points of view. In doing so, they are acutely aware of the effectiveness with which terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and many other militant organizations have harnessed the full power of Web 2.0 tools to propagate their message. Public diplomacy is not just about communicating your point of view or putting

110

mark itself has disappeared! I wish somebody would have done that to me with the cattle class remark. Responses to questions are particularly vulnerable to being issued in haste and without the usual careful vetting that more formal statements undergo. The nature of the medium calls for speedy issuance of information and instant reaction, neither of which Government processes are designed for! Just issuing public press releases is not the wisest use of social media. So, we really have to reach young Indians through Facebook, Twitter, Orkut. There is no good reason why an IT powerhouse like India should not be in the forefront of social media using 21st century technologies and communications practices. Not to deploy social media tools effectively is to abdicate a channel of contact not only with the millions of young Indians who use Facebook, Twitter and Orkut, but also to the huge Indian diaspora that tends to have such an active presence on the net on Indian issues

and in turn wields a disproportionate influence on international perceptions of India. To place matters in perspective, Facebook alone currently has over a billion subscribers, 50% of whom access the site on any given day, and a unique ability to disseminate information virally among its system and beyond through its networks of friends, fans and those who share their information. The average Facebook user has 130 friends, and each of those has 130 more, and so on, so when you actually send out a message to one of them you are multiplying your message’s capacity to reach the world. My own experience with Twitter has had its positive and negatives, but in my view the positives outweigh the negatives. It is an extraordinary interactive broadcast medium -- an interactive Akashwani. With one message today, I can reach 1.4 million people, and that number keeps expanding every day. As I discovered during my time in Government, I can also use it to put out information the mainstream media may not be interested in. My visit to Liberia, for example, was the first ministerial visit in 38 years to that African country. It was ignored here in India by the mainstream media but through my updates and a couple of links I posted, India’s Africa diplomacy got more widely known because of Twitter. Similarly, when I went to Haiti post the earthquake, I was one of the first foreign leaders to express solidarity with the Haitian people on the spot and to boost the morale of the Indians there affected by the earthquake. Zero reporting in the mainstream media (I would love to ask Rahul a couple of questions about what animates their coverage!). In another example, a girl from my constituency who was amputated in both legs after a railway accident is now getting offers of help from across the world because I tweeted about her. I believe that during my ten months in government, I was able to use social media to demystify governance and sensitise people to the daily life of a minister. And after leaving office I have been able to expand my conversation with politicallyengaged people around the globe. Of course, I have never shared any sensitive information from any political or

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

government meetings on Twitter, but politicians all over the world are tweeting. President Obama has millions of “followers” on Twitter and Hillary Clinton, or someone from her staff, was tweeting eight to ten times a day when she was on an official visit to India. The UK Government encourages frequent use of Twitter and even issues guidelines on effective tweeting; the new British High Commissioner told me the other day he had been instructed by London to start tweeting and was bracing himself to do so immediately after his summer holidays! The former Australian PM Kevin Rudd and Canada’s former Leader of the Opposition Michael Ignatieff tweet regularly. A whole slew of Foreign Ministers – Rudd himself, Norway’s Jonas Store, Bahrain’s Khalid al-Khalifa, Sweden’s Carl Bildt, the UK’s William Hague and many others – are regular tweeters. In my view, a democratic politician should not resist a new communications medium. The name Twitter initially put me off, and has led people to suggest that it is not a suitable medium for a serious politician – the BJP’s Venkaiah Naidu even presciently warned me that “too much tweeting can lead to quitting”. But I suppose his colleagues have, like me, come to realise that Google and Yahoo were also silly names that are now household terms. I am convinced that a large number of politicians in 21st century democracies -- including India -- will be tweeting within ten years from now. Those who are ahead of the curve are rarely appreciated. Twitter is only a vehicle - the message

Dr Tharoor during a ‘Q&A Session’ with Rahul Kanwal, Managing Editor, Headlines Today are able to connect to them, you able expand your connection with people around the globe and in this process you are actually able to be more accountable, which is what democratic politics is all about. Young people whom I speak to, one thing that they want is more of a sense of connection to those who are in positions of power. Young people often say, how do we manage to have access to you politicians? Well, social media gives you that access. At the end of the day, young people are the users of the social media. And in a country as young as ours, where 65% of the population is under 35 years of age, every

I believe that many politicians increasingly understand that what I am doing brings into the party’s ambit a large number of people who would otherwise be indifferent to politics is the issue, not the medium. I believe that many politicians increasingly understand that what I am doing brings into the party’s ambit a large number of people who would otherwise be indifferent to politics and the Congress. I just need to take care to ensure that the message is not misunderstood. You are able to reach out to people, you

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

sensible politician wants to connect with young people. Young people have already demonstrated how youth from different geographic and social backgrounds have been brought together by social media. Students who attended an Indo-Pakistan youth peace conference, who were affected by the big

shutdown in the relationship between our countries after 26/11, started communicating on social media. They started using digital media to stay connected and have even invited others from their campuses to join the conversations. The ultimate clinching argument might well come from the marketplace, in the dizzying valuations of social media sites which go way beyond their earnings or dividends. Every week, one of the new social media firms seems to attract a sky-high valuation. Profitless Twitter is said to be worth $10bn. This was of course dwarfed when Facebook, the poster child of the new social media frenzy, went public earlier this year at $106 billion, though today’s news is that Facebook has lost $34 billion in value since its debut in May. At its current stock market price, Facebook’s value is still higher than that of real-world businesses like Ford ($38 bn) and Mastercard ($60 bn). But that’s still less than a third of Google’s value. The mind boggles at where both will be in the years to come. In other words, in the era of the Internet, freedom of expression through social media is here to stay, and we need to live with it. Quite simply, we will not be able to live without it. Let’s make the most of it! 

111

EVENTS

CONGRATULATIONS!

Veni, Vidi, Vici! The Pitch Youth Marketing Awards culminated in New Delhi recently and saw some of the most successful initiatives, which have redefined the space of Youth Marketing. Running in their first edition, the Awards were given in 10 categories, two out of which were excellence awards. Congratulations to the winners! Best Youth Marketer of the Year 2012

MTV

Best Youth Agency of Year 2012

Mindshare

Metal

Agency

Brand

Company

Campaign

Most Effective Digital Media Strategy GOLD

ViaCom 18 Media

MTV Roadies

ViaCom 18 Media

MTV Roadies

SILVER

Ignitee Digital Services

Gangs Of Wasseypur

ViaCom 18 Motion Pictures

Gangs Of Wasseypur

SILVER

FoxyMoron Media Solutions

Maybelline

L’Oreal

WTF Campaign

Most Effective Activation Strategy GOLD

BBDO India, Mudra Max

7UP

PepsiCo

7Up Lemon Pattalam “Dance for me”

SILVER

ViaCom 18 Media

MTV (Drive With MTV)

ViaCom 18 Media

Drive With MTV

ViaCom 18 Media

Drive With MTV

ViaCom 18 Media

MTV Roadies

Most Effective Sponsorship & Branded Content SILVER

ViaCom 18 Media

MTV (Drive With MTV)

Best Sustained Youth Brand Campaign GOLD

ViaCom 18 Media

MTV Roadies

Best Usage of a Celebrity Brand Endorser GOLD

Mindshare

Lay’s

PepsiCo India holding (Frito Lay Division)

Lay’s - Pal Banaye Magical

SILVER

Mindshare

Pepsi

PepsiCo India holding

Rockstar Ranbir Changed Big B’s Game

Most Innovative Youth Product/Service Launch Of the Year GOLD

Mindshare

Lay’s Baked

PepsiCo India holding (Frito Lay Division)

Story of a Successful Sibling Rivalry

SILVER

Creativeland Asia

Hippo

Parle Agro

Hippo Momline

Fastrack

Titan Industries Limited

Tees

Vh1

ViaCom 18 Media

Vh1

Boldest Youth Brand Of The Year SILVER

Titian Industries Limited

Best Media Youth Brand SILVER 112

ViaCom 18 Media

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

Pitch Best Youth Marketer of the Year

(LEFT) The Viacom 18 team with the Pitch Best Youth Marketer of the Year Award. Viacom 18 also won two Golds in the ‘Best

Effective Digital Media Strategy’ & ‘Best Sustained Youth Brand Campaign’ categories - both for MTV Roadies. It also won three Silvers. Its Drive with MTV campaign won two silvers in ‘Most Effective Activation Strategy’ & ‘Most Effective Sponsorship & Branded Content’ categories. Also in the picture are Ram Mirchandani of Rampage Motion Pictures; Ajay Kaul of Lenovo; Navroze Dhondy of Creatigies Communications; & Jamal Shaikh of Men’s Health magazine. (RIGHT) The third Silver was won for Vh1 in the ‘Best Media Youth Brand’ category. Also in the picture are Arun Mehra of Talenthouse India; & Ajay Kaul of Lenovo

Pitch Best Youth Agency of the Year

The Mindshare team with the Pitch Best Youth Agency of the Year Award. Mindshare also won Golds in two categories Best ‘Usage of a Celebrity Brand Endorser’ & ‘Most Innovative Youth Product/Service Launch Of the Year’ for Lay’s - Pal Banaye Magical & Story of a Successful Sibling Rivalry, campaigns respectively. The Agency, also won one Silver in the ‘Best Usage of a Celebrity Brand Endorser’ category for Pepsi’s Rockstar Ranbir Changed Big B’s Game campaign. Also in the picture are Arun Mehra of Talenthouse India; & Jamal Shaikh of Men’s Health magazine

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

113

EVENTS Most Effective Activation Strategy

The BBDO India & Mudra Max teams with their Gold for 7Up Lemon Pattalam “Dance for Me” campaign. Also in the picture are Markand Adhikari of Sri Adhikari Brothers; & Member of Parliament, Rajeev Shukla

Boldest Youth Brand Of The Year

The Titan Industries team with its Silver for Fastrack - Tees

Most Effective Digital Media Strategy

A FoxyMoron Media Solutions’ team member, with a Silver for Maybelline’s WTF campaign. Also in the picture are Harrish M Bhatia of My FM, Member of Parliament, Rajeev Shukla; Jamal Shaikh of Men’s Health magazine; & Markand Adhikari of Sri Adhikari Brothers

Most Effective Digital Media Strategy

The Ignitee Digital Services’ team with its Silver for Gangs Of Wasseypur online campaign. Also in the picture are Markand Adhikari of Sri Adhikari Brothers; & Jamal Shaikh of Men’s Health magazine

114

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

COLUMN POWERED BY

The Sight of Vision! Titan Eye Plus introduces a suave and simple option to vision check online to beat consumer inertia!

Smitha Sarma Ranganathan Professor, Marketing Management, IBS Business School, Bangalore sarma.smitha@ibsindia.org

hile eyewear – both cosmetic and prescription is increasingly being considered as fashion statements, marketers of eyewear in India often deal with the challenge of ‘consumer inertia’. That is, the lack of drive by consumers to convert a purchase intent into a real transaction. Despite being a high involvement purchase, the decision for buying eyewear is often a postponed one, for several reasons. The only exception to this phenomenon is perhaps when our only pair of surviving prescription glasses suffers irreparable damage, compromising function on key aspects. For those of us who have been serial ignorers of the “recommended practice” of ‘visiting an ophthalmologist/certified optometrist periodically” there may be hope in sight. The online Vision Check by Titan Eye Plus, is an intelligently modelled CRM touch point floated by the optical chain of Titan Industries. Vision Check, a self administering vision gauging application is interesting for multiple reasons. The Vision check application reports results on a set of parameters such as – Duo chrome, Clock Dial, Near Vision and Distance Vision, relevant to both left and right eye sight. While this is not meant to replace an evaluation by a

certified professional, it helps register the ‘cause of vision evaluation’ in the minds of the target group. This aspect may help bust the marketers’ challenge of consumer inertia to a great extent. Furthermore, the sheer novelty and utility of this do-ityourself application assures the brand of positive customer engagement besides strong brand reinforcement. The fascinating aspect of this tool from a marketers’ point of view is in the way the application is designed. The test opens

The fascinating aspect of this tool from a marketers’ point of view is in the way the application is designed. The test opens up with a screen that makes information on name and age as compulsory feeds Pitch | October Oct-Nov 2012 2012

up with a screen that makes information on name and age as compulsory feeds. The vision test results get reported only after the user’s email id and mobile number are shared, on to which a verification code is sent, that needs to be keyed in to access the test result. The post test screen also lists out the Titan Eye Plus stores in the city, which prompts the consumer to choose the closest point of purchase. Interestingly, Vision Check is being positioned as a ‘free-test’ that is convenient and easy to use by anybody over six years of age. This in fact is a bright modus for collating precious data that facilitates consumer profiling and targeting. Every brand invests its resources to engage and influence consumers when they are about to make a purchase decision. No matter what consumers were thinking of buying, the right engagement can pull them to another brand. With Vision check as a brand lever, Titan Eye Plus not just attempts to pull the prospect in its direction, it actually goes in propelling the customer to the “Last Mile” – the final stop in the consumer’s decision to purchase, which is the Titan Eye Plus retail outlet! 

The views expressed here are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Pitch

115

Volume

X Issue

1 & 2 | OctNov 2012

` 75

Detailed Report inside

TERM

ISSUES

PRICE

WHAT YOU PAY

SAVING

One Year

Rs. 900

Rs. 675

Rs. 225 (25%)

Two Year

Rs. 1800

Rs. 1260

Rs. 540 (30%)

I will pay via:

Demand Draft

Cheque (At Par)

DELIG IHTA FUL

The Indi an digital story is with ad a delight reve ful one, is the gra nues growing at ph understan headed? Do mar 30%. Where d the plat keters form eno ugh?

STORY

dig al repit ort BROUGH T TO YOU

Cash

My Personal Details: Name: ............................................................. Address:

Residence

Ofﬁce: ...............................................

...................................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................................... City: .............................................................................................................................................................................. PIN: ...................................................................... Phone (Residence): ..................................................................... Phone (Ofﬁce): .................................................................. Email: .............................................................................. Please draw Demand Draft (Payable in New Delhi) in favour of: Adsert Web Solutions Private Limited B-20, Sector-57, Noida - 201301 Ph: 0120 4007700

Terms & Conditions

Rates and offer are valid in India only. Please allow 3-4 weeks time for the delivery of magazine through courier / registered post. Indicate your name and address on the reverse side of the DD. Offer is for a limited period. Publisher will not be responsible for delays or non delivery of the magazine. For subscription related queries please contact: 0120-4007700 (Delhi); 022-26403303/3303/3309/3314/3316/3319 (Mumbai) or email: subscription@exchange4media.com |

116

Pitch September 2012

COLUMN

What’s your EQ? The changes that really delight and surprise the customers are the ones that are high on EQ – and may be more non-technology value adds

pple surpassed all records and became the richest company valued at over $500 billion. And do you know why? The answer is one word: versions. That is also how Bill Gates became the wealthiest man. iPhone 5 is but another testimony to that frenzy each new version causes in the market. What is the brouhaha all about? Why are people so gadget crazy these days? Everyone has a gadget they cannot do without in life. For some it is their iPad, for some it is their Blackberry or Galaxy Note or HTC or, of course, their iPhone. For some it is their Bose Wave player and for some the Xbox 360 Arcade and to some their LG 3D LED TV or Samsung Smart TV or even their fully automatic washing machine that talks back. Is it because some people use more of these gadgets and hence expect them to perform more? Or is it that some people look for a different feature than a few others? The answer goes beyond mere features and benefits. Each gadget has a different affinity for a different life stage. The youth maybe completely taken up with their mobile phones and the model of television may be the last thing on earth that may interest them. The converse may be true for the older generation where TV and TV buying may be a more involved and engaging process as compared to buy-

Shalini Rawla

Managing Consultant, The Key shalini@thekey.co.in @sherryrawla

ing an MP3 player. What laptop is to the younger generation, TV is to the old. The top of mind association for Sony amongst the older generation is with the Bravia while it is the Play Station for the young. Apple’s is iPod or iPhone for the young and Macbook or iPad for the old. But even if the affinity for a gadget may differ for different ages, fundamentally we are all looking for the same thing from each gadget that interests us at any life stage – be it a utility gadget or a lifestyle one. The decision to buy a Rs 45,000 washing machine is shorter and quicker than purchasing a tablet for the same or even lesser price. The equation between high-ticket purchase, high involvement and more time spent in buying is getting re-calibrated keeping in mind the entertainment dimension of the gadget. The higher the frequency of usage and entertainment quotient of a gadget, the more the time spent on its purchase. Mobile phones, laptops and televisions are high on entertainment and on frequency of usage. Cameras and camcorders on the other hand while being entertaining are low on frequency of usage. Guess for which one do we do more search for – offline or online, do more trials of, exchange usage experiences of, visit more stores more often for a ‘first’ look and feel before signing off on the charge slip? Of course, for the more enter-

The decision to buy a Rs 45,000 washing machine is shorter and quicker than purchasing a tablet for the same or even lesser price Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

taining ones used more often. The path to purchase from ‘thought to bought’ for utility gadgets on the other hand is much shorter – perhaps one store visit versus three for the more entertaining ones). And by launching newer versions, marketers are unwittingly lengthening the path to purchase and simultaneously cleverly using that anticipation period to research and develop the next version. And really the next new upgrade or version has infinitesimal changes. Changing the technical specifications of course is hygiene and expected. They are the usual F&Bs (Feature and Benefits) and not the tipping points of purchase. The changes that really delight and surprise the customers are the ones that are, again, high on EQ – and may be more nontechnology value adds. This is what happened with Dell Inspiron which inspired people to personalize their laptops by changing the skins; Sony Cybershot was liked for its smile detector and the LG washing machine for its talk back feature. Siri in iPhone could have worked had it delivered on its basic promise. Imagine a Siri on TV. It would be no surprise if Apple TV is going to have that entertainment dimension. For, Apple has mastered the art of giving true digital entertainment to customers. So the next time you are launching or re-launching a gadget, ask yourself this simple question – What is my EQ for this version? 

The views expressed here are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Pitch

117

Jobs from exchange4media.com Entertainment Network (India) Ltd. (Radio Mirchi)Requires: Programming Head (only Telugu speaking candidates) for their Hyderabad location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com ABC ENTERTAINMENT PVT LTD Requires: Buying head – Print, Radio and Cinema Operations Manager Manager – Marketing Services for their Mumbai location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com Portrait Advertising & Marketing (P) Ltd. Requires: Asst. Manager/ Manager- Business Development for their Delhi & Mumbai location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com ABP Majha Requires: Brand Manager for ABP Majha for their Mumbai location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com BBC NEWS Requires: Editor, BBC Hindi for their Delhi location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com Dainik Bhaskar(Jabalpur Group) Requires: GENERAL MANAGER (Marketing)

SENIOR MANAGER (Marketing) for their Nagpur location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com Loginworks Softwares Requires: Senior Web Developer Test engineer for their Ghaziabad location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com IMAGES MULTIMEDIA PVT. LTD Requires: AVP (Beauty) AGM/DGM/General Manager/Sr. GM – Marketing Sr.Correspondent Executive or Asst. Manager Bureau Chief Asst Manager EXECUTIVE/MANAGING EDITOR: Fashion & Lifestyle Department EXECUTIVE/MANAGING EDITOR: Fashion Chief Copy Editor Copy Editor Cum Correspondent Asst. Manager (Marketing), Sr.Correspondent For details log on to www.exchange4media.com Franchise Plus Requires: Regional Head Ad Sales Manager/ Asst. Sales Manager Ad Sales Executive for their Noida location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com

Charson Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. Requires: Senior Account Executive Account Executive Receptionist for their Chennai/ Delhi/ Mumbai location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com Value Research Requires: Copy Editors for their Noida loaction For details log on to www.exchange4media.com Vikram Bawa Photography Requires: Senior Manager- Marketing For their Mumbai location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com The Hindu Group Requires: Advertisement Officer ( Code : HR/AO/Mumbai ) Advertisement Executive/Senior Advertisement Executive( Code : HR/AE/Mumbai ) Marketing Executive ( Code : HR/ME/Mumbai ) MIS Officer ( Code : HR/MIS/Mumbai ) For their Mumbai location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com exchange4media Group Requires: Asst. Manager For their Mumbai location For details log on to www.exchange4media.com

For more jobs from exchange4media log on to: http://www.exchange4media.com/jobscareer/microsite/index.htm

Jobs From

Post: Head - Ad Sales/Space Selling Company: Carzonrent (India) Pvt Ltd Profile: Will be building Network with advertising agencies and advertisers as well as pipeline of prospective customers. Exp: 8-13 Location: Delhi/NCR Email: humanresources@carzonrent.com Post: Head/ Associate Director Company: Media Moments

Profile: Will be responsible for generating topline and bottom line and drive organization direction and culture to generate long term sustainable value. Exp: 8-10 Location: Delhi/NCR Email: mediamoments@ymail.com Post: Sr.Client Servicing Manager Company: Flags Communications Pvt Ltd Profile: Should be passionate about advertis-

ing having an in-depth understanding of ATL/ BTL communication. Exp: 7-10 Location: Delhi Email: careers@flagscommunications.com Post: Account Director- Sales & Marketing Company: RC&M Pvt Ltd Profile: Responsible for new Business development with a good understanding of the Advertising or BTL agency and generate new

Flock amongst the best.

The biggest gathering of jobs above ` 15 Lakhs CTC. 10

Visit:

For Advertising on Jobs & Career Mail to: abdulla@exchange4media.com or Call +919871609348

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

in association with

ideas/services for the client. Exp: 6-9 Location: Mumbai Email: hrd@rcmindia.com Post: Key Account Manager Company: Matrix Direct Communication Pvt Ltd Profile: The main role is to create and maintain relationship between the agency and its clients. Prior experiance in an advertisement agency or any media house is mandatory. Exp: 5-10 Location: Kolkata Email: hr@matrixdirect.in Post: Project Manager Company: Finedge India Pvt Ltd Profile: Applicant having experience in FMCG/ Promotions/ BTL activities/ Logistics desired. Exp: 5-7 Location: Delhi/NCR Email: info@finedgeindia.com Post: Business Development Manager Company: Sensations Marcom Pvt. Ltd. Profile: Should have experience in Event management company having complete end to end knowledge of managing big events. Exp: 5-7 Location: Delhi Email: piyush@sensations.co.in Post: Account Director Company: Candid Marketing Profile: Responsible for Client Relationship Management by proposing customized brand activation solutions to client. Exp: 4-9 Location: Mumbai Email: tuhi@candidmarketing.com Post: Sr.Project Manager Company: United Business Media Profile: Any Graduate, MBA preferred will be responsible for strategizing, developing and executing marketing activities to drive space selling for conference/exhibition. Exp: 3-8 Location: Delhi Email: hr.india@ubm.com

Post: Business Development ManagerExibitions Company: Craft World Events Pvt Ltd Profile: Will be responsible for Revenue generation through new account development & key account management. Exp: 3-8 Location: Mumbai Email: hr@cwe.in Post: Brand Manager Company: Bigshoebazaar India Pvt. Ltd. Profile: Accountable for branding of all the private labels-converting private labels into national Brands and closely dealing with merchandisers. Exp: 2-7 Location: Gurgaon Email: tania.sadiq@yebhi.com Post: International Business Development Manager Company: CommissionEmpire LLC Profile: Will be responsible for creating business with our existing US clients as well as will be looking for new avenues of advertising. Exp: 2-6 Location: Delhi/NCR Email: sam@commissionempire.com Post: Social Media Marketing Manager Company: HGS Interactive Profile: Experience in the social media marketing domain should have strong expertise in various social media marketing techniques. Exp: 2-6 Location: Mumbai Email: brian@hgsinteractive.com Post: Manager - Client Service Company: Collective Heads Profile: Events and communication professional with relevant experience in handling events and BTL projects should have worked with large brand. Exp: 2-6 Location: Mumbai Email: hr@collectiveheads.net Post: Asst.Sales Manager - Media Solutions Company: GETIT Infoservices Ltd.

Profile: Experience in sales management should have strong understanding of customer and market dynamics. Exp: 2-6 Location: Chennai Email: simon@freeads.in Post: Manager - Sales & Marketing Company: Witch Crafts Travel and Events Profile: Applicant should be having prior experience in Event/Travel as an industry. Exp: 2-5 Location: Delhi Email: jobs@witchcrafts.in Post: Business Development Executive Company: Sunny Advertising Profile: Candidate should be having 2-4 years of relevant experience and must be a hard worker on field. Exp: 2-4 Location: Mumbai Email: saba@sunnyadvertising.com Post: Business Development Manager Company: Oxygen Media Services Profile: Must understand the products and services of the company that it provides in design and development of marketing communication. Exp: 2-4 Location: Mumbai Email: poonam@oxygenhealthcom.com Post: Business Development Manager Company: Trax Media Solutions Pvt Ltd Profile: Responsibilities include making presentation to media buying agencies, advertising agencies and brands, booking orders and collecting payments. Exp: 1-5 Location: Chennai Email: hr@traxmedia.in Post: Public Relations Officer Company: RGM Signs And Displays Pvt. Ltd. Profile: Responsible to coordinate jobs with existing corporate clients, involving travelling and meetings within specified area. Exp: 0-2 Location: Delhi/NCR Email: rgmsign2012@gmail.com

Flock amongst the best.

The biggest gathering of jobs above ` 15 Lakhs CTC. Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

Visit:

For Advertising Contact Us Landline: 91-120-4041700,India Toll Free: 1860 500 5558, Email: support@naukri.com

COLUMN ANNURAG BATRA

Digital inﬂexion point Digital is no longer niche in India. Digital is mainstream and will finally move from so to say ‘dog wagging the tail’ to ‘tail wagging the dog’

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

any people see technology as the problem behind the so-called digital divide. Others see it as the solution. Technology is neither. It must operate in conjunction with business, economic, political and social system,“ said Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Two weeks back, I was in Silicon Valley and had the good fortune of visiting the headquarters of Microsoft, Google, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. I have been talking of convergence for last six years where technology, advertising and movies are really becoming one. I really experienced what we and I have been talking in conferences as something that was in full motion. Silicon Valley, Madison Avenue and Hollywood are becoming intertwined like never before. In fact most Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and billionaires are buying swanky houses in Hollywood and are becoming part of Hollywood royalty. It has implications for India and India advertising and media. Will the same phenomenon of advertising, Bollywood and technology create new business models and disruptions? Data and technology are no longer the domain of CIOs

and CTOs and more and more CMOs are spending time trying to decipher consumer trends using data. So we in India will go from less than five percent in digital spends to say ten percent in next twenty four months and say twenty percent in next five years. My emphatic answer is yes. In fact the Pitch-Mindshare Digital Report shows increasing spends on digital media but I think the inflexion point has come and from here on digital media will grow at a pace that none of us have imagined. I met Dick Costello of Twitter and his senior team full of ex-Facebookers and ex-google like Mike Brown and Melissa and Akash, the head of engineering. Silicon Valley even in media and advertising is dominated by Indians. Dick Costello has been saying on various media platforms that the future of Twitter is being the second screen. Recently adage.com ran an article on Fred Graver, Twitter’s New Head of TV. “Twitter is positioning its business to a significant extent around the user engagement it drives around so-called tentpole events like the Olympics and the presidential debates, as well as regularly programmed shows,” says the article.

So we in India will go from less than five percent in digital spends to say ten percent in next twenty four months and say twenty percent in next five years. My emphatic answer is yes. 120

Graver’s job is to develop the platform as a live-TV companion, a new TV Guide and a new TV rating mechanism. “The dirty secret in TV is that one day you’re going to get cancelled, so get your million followers before then,” Graver had told Ad Age. Describing the goal to make Twitter into a new TV Guide, he told the leading media, marketing and advertising magazine in the USA, that it’s already a place where fans go to discuss themes from their favourite shows and dissect the latest episodes, and that apps built on top of Twitter like Trendrr and Get Glue contribute to that discussion. If these trends were to get replicated to some extent in India it has implications for all TV networks and even newspaper companies. In fact digital media and social media is a good companion of main stream media. They go hand in hand. The multiplier effect now works in a new manner. Digital is no longer niche in India. Digital is mainstream and will finally move from so to say ‘dog wagging the tail’ to ‘tail wagging the dog’ as in digital leading mainstream media in next two years. Not sure what John Dyer said about digital, is true for India, “Digital media has destroyed much of the magic and mystery of the medium.” In fact digital media might just resurrect it. 

Pitch | Oct-Nov 2012

THIS DIWALI COMPLIMENT

*SPECIMEN*

your customers, channel partners, employees and business associates with rewards and incentives that matter

When you take the efforts to design rewards and incentive programs, the least you expect is the rewards you give should make the recipients happy and feel motivated. This Diwali turn each reward and incentive you give into a real and well-deserved compliment for your rewards and incentive beneficiaries, which will be appreciated by them. With Ticket Compliments® Gift Vouchers, while the beneficiaries enjoy the unmatched freedom of choice, you save on the time, effort and cost of sourcing, inventory and logistics, associated with merchandise and other rewards.

Ticket Compliments® Gift Vouchers are the most convenient and preferred gifting option • Customer rewards and loyalty programs, channel partner incentive programs • Festival and annual event gifting for your employees and business associates • Employee Rewards, Bonus, Incentive and Recognition Programs • Welcomed at 11,000+ outlets across 2,000+ cities, towns and locations in India • Freedom to choose from 5,000+ brands across 80+ product categories:

Order Now! To order Ticket Compliments® Gift Vouchers contact us on our E assist help lines below:

1860-233-5555 / 022-2545 5555 and many more... • Unmatched range of variants to meet your every requirement, be it gifting business associates during special occasions with jewellery vouchers, rewarding your customers and channel partners with premium gift vouchers and holiday vouchers or even incentivizing your employees with health & wellness vouchers

Compliments Carnival from Ticket Compliments® Gift Vouchers (August 27th – December 31st 2012)

assist-IN@edenred.com

Compliments

CARNIV

*SPECIMEN*

Earn double points on your Diwali orders.

Samsung Galaxy Tabs, Blackberry Phones and iPod Shuffles every month

Compliment Points for every order of Ticket Compliments® Gift Vouchers

Your rewards & incentive beneficiaries stand a chance to win gifts upto ` 1,00,000/-

To know more on Compliments Carnival, log on to www.complimentscarnival.com

International Leaders and India’s Foremost in Work-Life Benefits, Rewards and Loyalty Solutions

T&C apply

| November 2012 Pitchedenred.co.in