Continuing our series of interviews with media marketers, this week we talk to Aditya Tandon, Head – Brand Marketing, CNN-News18 & IBN7. He says it is critical for a brand promise to becompletely in sync with product delivery and experience on a 24x7 basis
Q] How has the role of the marketer evolved in the media industry?
The media landscape is evolving at a never before pace. Content is ubiquitous and the choice available to the consumer is quite literally endless. Touch-points have proliferated. Tastes and preferences are forever changing. New spaces for conversing with the consumers are constantly being created. As a marketer, one needs to recognize and leverage these trends as they happen, with messaging and immersive experiences that are consistent and deliver value. Doing so is more crucial today than ever before to ensure that the brand not only remains relevant but continues to be preferred by its audiences.
Q] What are the challenges in marketing for a media company?
The interesting thing about marketing for a media company and especially news brands such as CNN-News18 & IBN7 is that these are “live” – the product is being created every minute. Consumers get to see and experience this as it happens, and form their perceptions and opinions on the basis of this. Ensuring that the brand promise is completely in sync with the product delivery and experience on a 24x7 basis thus becomes critical. This alignment is necessary to ensure that there is no consumer dissonance and traction for the brand remains high.
Q] Can you list three points of change you foresee in the marketing sphere for the media industry?
One can clearly discern an interesting interplay in our consumers today between social influence and the need to assert one’s individuality. While decision-making in many cases has become an overtly social process impacted by our peers and other influencers, there is equally a desire in our consumers to be one of a kind. Media brands will need to learn to manage this dichotomy. The ability to personalize experiences, to involve the consumer in the product as well as the ability to integrate with communities and to participate in & influence social conversations will be crucial for success. Marketing metrics will also need to evolve to reflect this reality.
Q] Can you recount a career defining moment in your journey so far?
The experience of setting something up from scratch is something that is hugely enriching. I have been fortunate in having had the opportunity of leading many such mandates – from launching newspapers in Nepal and Mauritius, to launching an Internet play in India. These experiences have of course played a key role in shaping me as a professional, but my stint at IBN has possibly been the most defining. Re-launching brands, strategic show campaigns, brand sustenance communication, the sheer scope and pace of work at IBN has constantly forced me to push the envelope and rediscover myself as a professional. The recent refresh of CNN-IBN to CNN-News18 was particularly satisfying since it required a 360-degree involvement in redefining the brand, upgrading the product and driving the communication mandate.
Q] Name some marketing initiatives or campaigns that you are proud of and what makes them special...
Marketing is a journey where you try many things - some work out well, others end up teaching you well. At IBN, there are several campaigns that we have successfully executed in the past few years including channel re-launch campaigns – many of them award-winning such as Putting Journalism First (for CNN-IBN, now CNN-News18) and Hausla Hai (IBN7). Others such as Hum Toh Poochenge were tactical campaigns that delivered on the specific tasks that were set for them. Another award-winning campaign that I remember with great fondness was the one that I executed for Bigrock.com – this was a category first and successfully used humour to establish a new brand.
Q] Name five brand campaigns that you associate with personally.
I tend to relate well to ads that are high on humour or are quirky (Mentos, Fevicol, Fasttrack, Bigrock.com, Vodafone ZooZoos).
Q] Name a marketer whom you greatly admire...
There are a galaxy of advertising “super men” – Gerson Da Cunha, Piyush Pandey, Mohammed Khan, Prasoon Joshi, etc... who I have great respect for. These individuals have transformed Indian advertising with their understanding of the Indian consumer and their iconic messaging that have built brands. Another group of marketers I admire are our Bollywood stars – the way they market themselves and their films, how they connect with their audiences, the marketing innovations that they do and how they maximize business results given the short window of opportunity that they get is something that one can learn a lot from.
