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Lessons and learnings from ad:tech New Delhi Part – 3

Advertising, Branding (personal), digital, Mobile Advertising, Online e-Commerce, social media, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The day 2 at ad:tech was another day of learning and also involved great discussions on Social Commerce and presentations on metrics with special reference to Social Media. There was a track on Spotlight, one on Mobile marketing and ofcourse on Search too.

The first keynote of the day was that of Pete Blackshaw, Global Head of Digital Marketing and Social Media, Nestle.

Prior to his being on stage, we were treated to a wonderful walk through of the last day’s events and learnings and even a look at the exhibition area by our Brad Berens who incidentally has become a rage for his special Good Morning New Delhi! Some of the Twitteratii felt he was giving our very own Vidya Balan of Lage Raho Munnabhai a run for her money – viz her Good Morning Mumbai!

As Pete started the sheer statistics of Maggi being sold than 1.2 Billion packs became quite a rage, I saw that was unintended but when it was compared to Indian population as a number it was in the news. He also unveiled what Nestle was doing differently with regards to the digital and how corporate communication is also being run under digital it makes for interesting take out. As he rolled out his ideas on Small is the new big in digital marketing, he also made it a point to reiterate that basics still matter in digital and social.

The Digital and social media strategy at Nestle is based on excellence in listening, engaging and inspiring. Moreover he also said that Nestle plans its digital strategy on the local scale and makes it a success. The strength has been that of decentralizing the digital marketing programme and it has been able to deliver excellent results across.

They call it Brand Building the Nestle Way – BBNW.

As the screens are getting smaller or say our screens are shrinking, we need to think harder about simplifying our messaging and serving the consumer. He also said the whole process got to be social by design. It had to be 24/7 sense and respond a tactical way to be engaging a consumer.

When the screens get smaller it is also a big challenge to get the attention span to yourself. He shared one of the most important point on a successful mobile phone application – it has to provide rich content, excellent service and consumer focus. His keynote brought back some of the boring basics to be taken seriously, and more so because in digital its the basics which still matter.

In one of the game changing context he said ‘Think about a way to take your big ideas on other media to digital. Digital strategy for any brand should not be isolated.”

As he concluded he was on target when he said ‘shrink, serve and simplify, and yes its great time to be in Marketing’. I am sure everyone out there seconded this statement and yes Pete made a lasting impression to kick start the days’s proceedings in a way that was unique to Pete and the brand Nestle.

The next speaker was Satyan Gajwani, Director, New Media, The Times Group with his keynote on the evolution of content, commerce and entertainment in the digital world.

He took us on a journey of how the Times Group was instrumental in identifying the consumer connect and of late has been having a great effort fructify with Gaana.com being a part of FB apps. He also said that now everything has to go social it has to be inherent by design and we cannot have two different stand alone strategies even when its content. With the social media becoming all pervasive, any initiative in digital has to be Social by design and cannot be a plug-in anymore.

It was true that inspite of low internet speeds videos still command a large chunk of the broadband traffic. This was very true of cricket videos being closely followed during important matches – especially IPL.

IPL he said will have a greater impact this year because it will have a lot of engaging features.

Satyan also unveiled the new initiative of TIL in BoxTV.com an answer to Hulu in India. He said that Indians have a penchant for watching online videos and it is only increasing day by day. If we can get them socially engaged with the same, it will be a great way to go futuristic.

He also said that there was a relook in the ecommerce part of the service offering and it could even make people sit up and take notice in the days to come. A visually seamless and thought provoking presentation from Satyan, and the day has had its perfect start.

The session on Mobile marketing gave real insights on how they need to actually see the fit in the first place, apart from SMS to making it an engaging platform. The marketers needed more of innovative solutions to engage and also how we could make it happen with different screens and the need to have a solution cut across the platforms.

In the next presentation session we were treated to extensive use of mobile application on retail and in-store and extended location based advertising using mobile.

So the mobile with its ever increasing penetration especially with smart phones or even with blue tooth connectivity can make a lot of difference while being on the move or sometimes being in store. Lot of retail brands have experienced successful engagement opportunities with some of the service providers with blue tooth and some have used Augmentative Reality to awesome effect and results.

Days are not far when shopping will be socially relevant and will be happening on the move may be time targeted to the core so as to make it absolutely engaging experience. You could be asked for a choice to order from a menu as you pass by a restaurant around noon! Chances are, if you updated you are ‘hungry’ you could get a call from one of those people delivering pizza near you!

During the Spotlight session, we saw how Angels are making their contribution in a fast growing internet economy if I may say so, and their contributions in terms of engaging with the startups has raised the high stakes game to better VC funding for the companies.

That will change the complexion of the game in terms of more angels coming in and making it easier for VCs to identify and support such ventures.

We also had a discussion on B2B marketing strategies and we saw how B2B brands are leveraging the internet and making successful contributions to the marketing plan. The targeting capabilities are making it easier for the B2B marketers to use the power of internet and deliver value in terms of leads sometimes build brands among the most important users.

The afternoon sessions on Social and Search was a mix of wonderful panel discussion and a presentation session.

The Social going commerce or Social commerce in the times of Facebook and twitter and now the coming of Pinterest will surely make it easy for brands to sell. The interesting part is that the shopping has also gone social in a way to make for an interesting ideal context wherein the influencers are friends and sometimes friends of friends.

The last word on whether we would love to do shopping on Facebook has not been said as yet and I think we will wait here in India to see if the global leads will confirm the users would love to keep shopping social but not entirely do shopping on Facebook.

The social media metrics getting an upper hand with the engagement being given importance was the key take way during the presentation on Social media metrics and measurement. Likes on a brand page do not translate to engagement or social talking in real sense. So if a brand x can garner 1000 likes and has over 900 talking about it then the ration of engagement is far higher than having 10000 likes and 10 people talking about it. Ofcourse the metrics is also looking at how positive and negative the influences have been in the social media which are now Facebook, twitter, discussion forums etc.

On the other side of Search we could see that even search is going social, simply because we find lot of people in the social side of the internet.

We saw how a decision like buying a car from a search would eventually become social with so many Facebook comments to twitter updates to reviews will make it more social in the days to come, though of course the starting point would have been search.

A very busy day for conferencing with loads of take away value to implement and experiment.

The final part of the day was the penultimate Keynote from Microsoft by Richard Dunmall, VP, Global Accounts & Agencies, Microsoft Advertising, finally to be followed by Kent Wertime of O & M Japan.

Richard took us on a journey of exploring the future of storytelling. Story telling as I see it will not be interesting unless it engages the user and most importantly how they can make the right connect for the brands to see it.

With Kinect and other gaming technology it has become all pervasive to be a part of everyone’s lives and we could see all the technology waiting to tell us stories of ourselves and the brand in the days to come. He extensively spoke about how everyone’s a storyteller and how digital is enabling them to do that. The future is digitally connected with humans and interacting things being the message and the message if I am put it that way.

The best is the human endeavour of touch and feel is getting translated to a mass technology and it will change the way we interact in the near future making human experience all the more important.

It ‘s all about you and how that is going to be the central point around which we have to make all our stories happen with the right people, at the right time and at the right place.

We also had a glimpse of what Kinect could do to engage brands and most importantly the possibilities are endless.

The closing Keynote of ad:tech New Delhi was by Kent Wertime, President and Representative Director & Chief Operating Officer, Ogilvy & Mather (Japan) K. K. & Ogilvy Asia Pacific

He took us on why this is the age of digital and the marketing will be called digimarketing in the days to come and what’s in store for the future.

Simply put the marketing has shifted from the brands being the center to consumers being in the center of the communication. Content will be the key again and it will possibly the most important part for any brand to connect with its consumers.

You cannot discard social since it will be at the center again. How we value data will also make it important for the brands to engage and how well can we mine them to use for the predictive models to tracking personal habits will be the key.

Its also about managing the consumer trust, making us go back in time on the basic premise that trust is essential in any communication.

Those were absolutely wonderful way to put across some of the most important points to ponder when we think digital is all about so many creative ways and engagement, but the basics remains the same. Those are all abstract forms for example in trust and engagement being one and another after effect.

A class of a presentation from an industry veteran brought the curtains down on what was absolutely engaging event for the digital marketers in the country and what ad:tech across the world is all about.

So will see you all next ad:tech soon in March 2013 and before that don’t forget ad:tech Bangalore makes a debut in September…

R Senthilkumar

This is the third of the 3 part article which appeared in imediaconnection.in you can see the original article here.

Lessons and learnings at ad:tech New Delhi 2012 – Part 2

Advertising, Branding (personal), digital, Mobile Advertising, Online e-Commerce, social media, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The day One at ad:tech was the most anticipated one with the keynote by Shiv Singh, Global Head of Digital, Pepsico Beverages. The day started off with the customary inaugural with lamp being lit, followed by welcome remarks by Susan Mac Dermid, President of Digital Marketing Division dmg :: Events and Rammohan Sundaram, CEO & Founder Networkplay.

Mr. Suresh Reddy, Chairman & CEO of Ybrant Digital, (the Platinum Sponsor of the event) also spoke on this occasion. It was delightful to hear him say how some year back Indian brands have looked at ad:tech as a mere participant especially Ybrant and today have come a long way to sponsor one such event in India in all glory. Almost summarises the way digital will be in the near future. India will have a role to play with its ever increasing internet population which is engaging heavily on the net via mobile.

Mr. Shiv Singh took us on a journey of Real Time marketing on digital platform especially with the combination of Facebook and Twitter which has redefined the way brands have started talking to its consumers.

He took an example of how a tweet by Lady Gaga can be a great marketing tool which incidentally reaches over 16 million followers online. Now the way marketers have to plug in their brand communication is with the relevance of what is happening online and probably react or recreate a magic of the brand riding on some of the updates on Facebook and twitter. To me it looked as if those days of pitching in for a client and making a strategic analysis and presenting them are all going to be pre historic in this digital age. How well can we make use of social media in a sense that makes brands the center of conversation across the platforms will be a challenge that has to be met head on.

So Real Time marketing involves realtime insights, response, co-creating content, distribution and engagement. It calls for a multi tasking environment for brands to succeed in this age of digital, and when you say digital its not just the internet but even involves the television and also even the packaging and distribution. The biggest challenge he feels is not technology but the data we can gather on consumer behavior especially the data that focus on consumer preference, his location, style etc probably all the four Ps now will have to be spoken of in terms of the consumer instead of the product and brand, where he is and how he is engaging will probably be the in-thing for brands to associate with.

Most important weave social through all things and this will be the rule than an example in the coming days. And no campaign can be stand alone but will have platforms where all the brand associations will be shared and will be made into an engaging way forward for the brand.

Measurement is and will be an integral part of all these initiatives. And when we say measure, we clearly know where the engagement is from. He also spoke on Location based marketing and mobile marketing becoming the key in all future campaigns.

An absolutely engaging presentation with an eye on the future especially coming from a hip and trendy brand like Pepsi which thrives being connected to the young and happening audience.

Next was the keynote presentation by Arvind Rajan, MD – APAC & Japan, Linkedin. For us at Networkplay, its been a brand without which we would not have scaled the heights we are in today. LI gave enough insights into what is in store for the brands in terms of talking to a select and affluent set of audience.

Its no more about just jobs, its how the brands can make use of the professional network and place themselves in a position to get more followers for the brands. He also dwelt at length how brand pages on LinkedIn can be a one stop destination to handle its communication to the discerning followers on how its making itself more relevant professionally. It is also again the most important way to engage in real-time. The brands could use a number of tools to generate responses and also engage with them positively and he also cited a lot of examples where brands have exploited the professional networking to great effect.

To summarise, data is at the heart of any social network. It will be in brands interest to mine the data and engage with the consumer effectively and of course the time will be of essence.

An absolutely fantastic start to a great day, with two wonderful keynotes and the ball set rolling for the panels and presentations to come. The Marketing Masters, the Innovation track were planned in the afternoon before the final Keynote of the day.

The track on Brand Strategy looked at two different issues at hand – 1.How to leverage digital and 2. How the brands are now becoming publishers.

The Brand side on the panel was looking forward to spending more on digital and invariably has budgets which are now really numbers to reckon with brand marketers promising to hike it up if the publishers came with real metrics and engagement solutions. It was a cracker of a panel with brands and publishers and technology enablers giving their take on how to leverage digital to the max.

The second panel looked at how brands are telling stories with their own content. The final word on content story has not been said as yet. And when you have Coca Cola and MTV in the same panel it will be a session to watch out for. So today apart from mainstream publishers its also the brands which are creating content to a large extent and how! As much as a brand would love to talk about itself today it has become imperative to turn to the earned media to play the content owner in a way they have never done before.

The Marketing Masters had some of the most wonderful brands present their cases in digital and how they had been able to connect and engage in variety of platforms and end up adding to the bottomline. There were cases of interest from Kotak Mahindra Bank, to IBM to Ford which incidentally launched their Ford Fiesta entirely on digital. Also we had Nokia and dealsandyou making it a great set of presentations at the Marketing Masters. Interesting as it may seem the brands gave clear insights on how they have started thinking in digital right from the word go, while yesteryears the digital was an extension of the offline campaigns. It was very good news and most importantly the way forward for the betterment of the ecosystem.

The Innovation track also had presentations in three sets viz., on how technology can increase engagement with users and on how brands can gamify their brand experiences. It also had a session on how video is driving user engagement and advertiser engagement. Clear take away for brands to indulge in technology and games and the next biggest inventory available as yet the video.

The day ended with the third Keynote and the final one for the day by Gian Fulgoni, Chairman and Co-Founder, comScore.

Gian had everyone listening to his magic of numbers and also unveiled some of the most important learning from digital especially with reference to the Indian Internet ecosystem.

Some of the notable points during his keynote included:

US was no longer the centre of the online universe. In 2011, US internet population versus the Rest of the World internet population was a 13 percent vs. 87 percent

Asia continues significant growth in the size of internet audience. Growth has slowed in North America and the European growth is mostly driven by Russia.

Indian internet users are much younger than global average. 75 percent of audience is under 35 years compared to 52 percent of the world and 55 percent of the region and India’s internet usage is relatively low compared to similarly sized countries

Young people drive internet consumption in India today, suggesting future overall usage will rise dramatically. India’s heaviest internet users are in the age group of 26 to 34 years.

He also made it a point to see things beyond just clicks and may be that will be a mindset that will revolutionise the industry

Great insights and makes it all the more interesting because India was central to all these data points. For me personally the way he presented for once I started to love the numbers. Probably the way the masters have a way with words.

A great day of learning at ad:tech New Delhi ended with a wonderful keynote.

R Senthilkumar

This is the second of the 3 part article which appeared in imediaconnection.in you can see the original article here.

ad:tech New Delhi – an event for digital marketers

Advertising, Branding (personal), Management, Mobile Advertising, social media, , , ,

Till last year India’s digital fraternity used to attend ad:tech a global digital marketing event away from India. It is a place for the digital marketing professionals to get a sense of what is happening and how technology is changing and the way brands are positioning themselves with an increasing digital mass audience, but this changed with the 1st edition in New Delhi last April. The event is a brand in itself with a decade of keeping abreast of the changes happening in the technology side of business and marketing and has been in the forefront leading the challenge in the internet and digital industry.

At the inaugural Indian edition, we saw some of the best technology in practice being displayed and some of the innovations showcased on internet and mobile and digital as a whole. India with its ever increasing internet population which at presently an estimated 120 Million active users and fast growing into the largest medium to which advertisers can target their marketing communication. The challenge it proposes is the interactivity and the closeness, in social media front has been a steep learning curve. Brands will have to go social and be in the midst of the mind space with more time spent on the Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. The content has become the king and for brands the first time it has given them an opportunity to own the content as media itself.

The event also brought into light how technologists are turning creative directors with creative and engaging mobile applications and augmented reality making its presence in the traditional domain. A great amount of exposure and learning is in store at ad:tech New Delhi where the best of technology brands and marketing case studies are shared with the audience. Thus making it possible for others in the digital space to embrace the technical knowhow and exploit it to engage with the consumer, be it on social, search or mobile.

It’s a new era where marketing meets technology is the buzzword and ad:tech is poised to take it to the next level in India. Mobile with its penetration and mass reach will also be a challenge for brands to engage effectively. The smart phones which are growing fast with the prices going south and features being loaded by the minute will soon become the most important medium. Mobile applications fondly called apps are changing the way people use their phones from being a simple communication device to an engaging branding console. Getting to make the best use of the technology and the latest in location based services which is making a lot of advancement in making a connect to the user at a particular location making him glocally available for brands to communicate.

So the game is on the most empowered consumer today because of his being connected and  internet being available on multiple platforms the desktop, his laptop, the mobile and the all new internet powered TV. Following him wherever he goes and that too without being seen as intrusive, a marketing miracle which will be a success to replicate.

So, while the reach of the digital has removed the concept of “distance” with a keystroke or a touch, it’s never been more important to physically connect with friends, colleagues, business associates, trade journalists and the growing base of marketing experts that have come to represent ad:tech’s expanding network.

With such a background, ad:tech New Delhi’s 2nd edition in February 2012 will be a platform for all stakeholders to get updated, share, network and do business.

R Senthilkumar

ad:tech New Delhi 2012 gets bigger, better and bolder

Advertising, Just about it, Mobile Advertising, social media, , ,

Announces two more industry heavy weights as keynote speakers along with the global execs from PepsiCo and comScore

ad:tech, world’s No.1 Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising event, has announced that the upcoming event in February next year will live up to its promise of being bigger and better. The first Indian edition of ad:tech held earlier this year was hugely oversubscribed with as many as 2500 delegates attending the event. With the promise of getting bigger, better, and bolder, the second edition will feature more number of tracks and sessions in the conference, a larger exposition area, and will be held over three days instead of two days. ad:tech New Delhi 2012 will also showcase more than 80 industry stalwarts as speakers, including 7 ground breaking keynotes.

ad:tech New Delhi has announced a lineup of  global thought leaders as keynotes for the 2012 edition including Shiv Singh, Global Head of Digital, PepsiCo Beverages and Gian M. Fulgoni, Executive Chairman & Co-Founder, comScore, Inc. Arvind Rajan,  Managing Director & Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, LinkedIn, and Kent Wertime, Chief Operating Office, Ogilvy Asia Pacific and also President and Representative Director, Ogilvy & Mather (Japan) K. K.

Commenting on ad:tech New Delhi 2012 Rammohan Sundaram, Event Chairman, ad:tech India and Founder, CEO & Managing Director, Networkplay Media Pvt Ltd. said “Just like the last edition, we promise to make ad:tech New Delhi 2012 a confluence of leading global digital marketing experts. The event will cater to the best in marketing, advertising, digital, media and communications industries to empower organizations with knowledge to adapt to the ever changing digital marketing ecosystem. With continued growth in technology and use of social media, the event will present an interactive platform for marketers to discuss and share strategies that will shape the digital landscape of tomorrow.”

The agenda for ad:tech New Delhi 2012 includes two parallel tracks of insightful panel discussions with 18 sessions conducted by experts from the advertising, media and marketing industry. “It is ad:tech New Delhi’s earnest attempt to provide an ideal networking platform for like-minded professionals to facilitate meaningful conversations to explore new avenues in the digital advertising arena,” adds Ram.

The last edition in April 2011 included presentations by global experts like Babs Rangaiah, VP Global Communications Planning Unilever, Yahoo’s CMO, Elisa Steele, Google’s India MD, Rajan Anandan, among several others. It was at ad:tech New Delhi 2011 that David Fischer, VP of Advertising and Global Operations officially announced that the social networking site Facebook had crossed 25 million users in India.