Industry leaders write about their expectations from 2017 and factors that will affect various sectors
WORKING IN SILOS CAN KILL DREAMS; COLLABORATION CAN CREATE MAGIC
By Shashi Sinha
CEO, IPG Mediabrands India
In 2012, when the Interpublic Group launched IPG Mediabrands as an entity in India, Lodestar UM and Lintas Media Group were already strong independent media agency brands in the country. Therefore, seamless integration of these two companies under the same umbrella and aligning them with the larger vision of the holding company was a challenge. Four years hence, we have not only successfully integrated our media businesses but have also strengthened our business offerings by bringing in Interactive Avenues, Rapport, Ansible and several other allied services.
Moreover, since this consolidation we did not lost a single major account and have been meeting our business targets year-on-year. And we have now steered the company on the path of innovation, which will bring in the next phase of growth for IPG Mediabrands India. But all this was possible because of the power of collaboration. The art is not just about bringing diverse businesses under one umbrella. But it is about bringing together the strength of each and every company and navigating them towards a common goal; yet ensuring that individually they do not lose their brilliance and uniqueness. On one hand, one needs to unleash the talent and power of individuals, yet harness them to work collaboratively towards one common goal.
WORKING IN COLLABORATION
Success of any company is a journey and it’s a type of a collaborative problem-solving. Working in silos can kill dreams but working in collaboration can create magic. For IPG Mediabrands, it becomes even more imperative because only teamwork can lead to innovation. If you want to build an organization that can innovate and navigate through volatile times then you need to unlearn the age-old definition of leadership and learn to work collaboratively. Working in silos can both be a mis-step and a mistake.
The biggest testimony of this is the state of the measurement system of our country that used to works in silos. While TAM India started as a joint industry body, eventually it started operating like an autonomous entity and alienated the crucial stakeholders of the industry. The idea of BARC germinated from the need to collaborate and fill in the huge vacuum that TAM had created.
The media explosion had already started in India but TAM metrics were not reflecting that and hence all the stakeholders were getting misrepresented. Hence, Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) came together to form BARC. And it is only because of this collective effort that we managed to launch the world's largest measurement system with 25,000 panel homes which will grow to 50,000 panels in the coming years. BARC also introduced rural measurement, which is approximately upwards of 40% of the total TV viewership. Rural measurement is a huge step which has helped both broadcasters and advertisers. The growth of most FMCG companies is coming from rural India and rural markets are growing faster than the urban counterparts. All this could be achieved because of the collective effort of the industry and the alliances we made.
INDIA CAN TAKE A BIG LEAP
India can take a big leap and consolidate its leadership position in the space of media measurement if we work cohesively. The industry understands and admits the need for Digital measurement. As a fraternity, if we can take a few more steps to further improve the measurement system across media, then we will achieve our goal of a combined measurement system. As an industry, I think we need to have a single view of truth and make some amends. When we start Digital measurement there will be some kind of disruption, as panels alone aren’t enough to measure the medium and we need big data. So both BARC and the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) are currently approaching digital measurement separately. In ABC, while the testing phase is currently on, BARC is examining different big data sources which can enable the process of video measurement.
But finally to arrive at a common metric or to establish the single source of measurement the entire industry needs to come together and work towards achieving this. It is only this power of collaboration that will help India leave behind a legacy in the measurement system for the world to follow.
Feedback: @Shashimediabran
‘UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN ELEMENT CRUCIAL IN AN INCREASINGLY DATA-DRIVEN WORLD’
By Alok Lall
Executive Director, McCann Worldgroup India
The dominating demographic of India’s youth, with a high purchasing power, makes India’s consumer story compelling. Today, around 47% of India’s population is below the age of 25 years and the median age is around 27 years - a generation devoid of the scarcity and deprivation of the previous generation.
Various brands across categories have tapped the youth’s desire of “nowness” to experience independence and exercise choice – a far cry from pro-saving, need-based purchase behaviour of the older generation. All this, of course, came to a grinding halt with the Government’s announcement of demonetization and making upwards of 85% of currency null and void. Consumption, the main growth driver of the Indian economy, has been the biggest casualty. With demonetization- a sudden, forced introduction - deprivation has been imposed. Perhaps for the first time in this decade, a clear differentiation between needs and wants are being made, resulting in an unpredictable purchasing behaviour. From movie tickets to car sales, there has been a sudden drop in consumer spending.
CURRENT CONSUMER MINDSET
‘Buy now’ ? ‘Maybe Later’: Due to the ongoing liquidity crunch, consumers are likely to postpone spending for a while. The consumer’s urgency to cash in on lucrative sales\offers\deals across retail and e-commerce will be reined in short-term. This might lead to a momentary discount and deals fatigue.
The year 2017 is a year for brands to create ‘smart customization’ - aligning to customer need, to provide value at the lowest cost, instead of mindlessly bombarding the customer with generic sale notifications.
Experts predict a sizable dent to growth - Deutsche Bank forecasts India's overall growth to slow to 6.5% year-on-year in the current fiscal year – yet a ‘cashless’ thrust isn’t likely to curb the fast evolving Indian consumer’s demand for convenience, improved products and services and superior experiences.
THE WIDESPREAD USAGE OF MICRO ATMS
The micro-ATM solution enables the unbanked to easily access micro-banking services in a very effective manner. The micro-ATM shall be an important ‘last mile’ offering in 2017 for m-wallets and banks to reach out to the unbanked semi-urban and rural segment. With the kirana shop being an ATM, in 2017 various FMCG brands shall tie up with these micro-ATMS to fuel sales of convenience.
E-COMMERCE FOR ESSENTIALS
E-commerce is likely to eat into the kirana shopping list with e-players striving to deliver groceries, toiletries in two hours like the neighbourhood kirana stores. “In 2016,we have seen over a 300% growth and continue to grow by 10% on a month-on-month basis. We hope to triple revenues to Rs 2,000 crore by March 2017,” BigBasket co-founder Vipul Parekh was quoted as saying in media reports.
Year 2017 shall see a shift in e-commerce for whimsical products to e-shopping for necessities with a focus on utilitarian benefits of express delivery and benefits on bulk ordering, re-imagining the tedious, mundane task of grocery shopping in India.
PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP IN HOME-GROWN PRODUCTS
With #MakeInIndia popularized by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the aspirational value of foreign brands is likely to lower across categories - be it Patanjali vs HUL, Ola vs Uber, Paperboat vs Pepsi, Odonil vs Airwick or Indie labels vs Zara –- home-grown brands are capturing the Indian consumer’s attention and share of wallet.
Year 2017 shall witness Indian brands leveraging their ethnicity to build trust and confidence nationally as well as globally, skipping the exaggerated use of foreign names, models and imagery.
THE RISE OF WEB SITCOMS
With the arrival of video streaming providers such as Netflix and Amazon Prime with their exclusive content , a new entertainment ecosystem is shaping- free from constraints such as of a three-hour window for movies and 30-minutes time slot for TV shows, offering diverse content from the globe. The concept of live streaming original content kicks off this year as both Netflix and Amazon Prime have signed up with Bollywood and television directors to create exclusive content for the web.
In 2017, the urban consumer’s attention is likely to shift from English film and entertainment channels to these portals, making it an advertiser’s darling. Additionally, brands shall seek to strike meaningful connections with product placements and branded content.
EXPLOSION OF LIVE-VIDEO ON SOCIAL MEDIA
With the declining popularity of ‘selfie’, live video is likely to take over social platforms. With the rising popularity of Facebook Live, Instagram Stories, SnapChat, brands are likely to take up live video to ‘embrace’ human conversations with consumers. In 2017, it is essential for brands to be spontaneous and create ‘on-the-go’, skipping the carefully typed out social media posts to retain the customer’s interest.
SOCIAL SURROUND OF CONSUMER
The year 2016 saw some social media advancements included the debut of initiatives like Pokemon Go which captivated the world with augmented reality, WhatsApp launched video calling, Google launched Duo and Allo and Facebook introduced 360° photograph and video upload, Instagram launched stories . With evolved social media mechanisms, Indian marketers need to go beyond collecting ‘likes’ and followers, instead focus on ‘social surrounding’ the target audience through multiple social platforms to be all-pervasive.
RETAINING THE ‘HUMAN ELEMENT’ IN THE AGE OF BIG DATA
Today, Big Data is the key to effective targeted communications, increasing the potential of growth in digital marketing – as seen the form of YouTube video clips, Facebook content, targeted e-mails, Instagram ads, etc. As most marketers have realized, a great brand experience is simply not created by gathering information on customers but gaining intelligent insight into what, why and when visitors and customers want the experience In 2017, the understanding of the ‘human element’ – underlying consumer motivations, tensions and emotions- is crucial in an increasingly data-driven world.
Feedback: @aloklall
MARKETERS WILL DEMAND RICHER, LOCATION-BASED EXPERIENCES TO GAIN GEN ALPHA’S ATTENTION…
By Arghya Chakravarty
CEO, Times Innovative Media Limited?
The Indian OOH industry has been showing a growth of around 8% and is expected to deliver similar growth rates next year. As per a Zenith report, the growth for Indian OOH industry would be between 7% and 12%. The growth as per the Group M report would be around 7.8% for the year 2016 and OOH industry is expected to grow at 8% next year. The OOH industry will witness good traction from sectors addressing rural audience and premium niche audiences.
In 2017, as per the Zenith report, certain categories such as mobile wallets, telecom 4G, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), mobile handsets, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and consumer durables (CD) are expected to see increased ad spends. There are certain events like State elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab and upcoming sports events like the Champions Trophy that will give a boost to advertising revenues.
The outlook for FMCG, which is the largest advertising category, is positive with intense competition (Patanjali and other food start-ups), increasing rural penetration and strong mix of premium products could all lead to good media demand on the one hand, while higher input prices along with inflationary impact of GST could dampen ad spends.
As per the GroupM report, e-commerce growth will taper down as players will consolidate and start-ups will struggle to raise funds. Auto volume will grow steadily aided by low penetration, cheap finance and growing disposable incomes. Telecom will grow due to tough competition, 4G spends and increased penetration of smartphones. BFSI sector will recover as public banks will clean up bad loans and recapitalize; as private investments pick up.
OOH industry growth will largely be driven by the transit segment where the target audience would largely be Sec-A and above. Sectors addressing the rural audience will show great traction and would provide an impetus to the OOH segment.
But, the focus for media owners has to be on technology. Exposure to DOOH is expected to increase to 56 minutes per week in 2017, increasing from 14 minutes in 2013 (PQ Media’s Digital Out-of-Home Exposure Index). This makes it the second fastest-growing advertising channel worldwide (after mobile). Key findings from Theoretical VirtuoCity Research by Posterscope into the effectiveness of the ‘dynamic difference’ showed that using dynamic DOOH delivers a more contextually relevant message and increases recall by a whopping 53%. Current marketing trends point to digital OOH. The role of dynamic OOH means that advertisers are able to deliver the right message at the right time in the right places for audiences.
Also, OOH should move beyond digital screens and embrace upcoming technologies too. New and emerging technology is changing the way OOH connects with people. Hyper-local wi-fi networks, beacons and 3D imagery are broadening the horizons of OOH. Contextual targeting and increasing convergence with mobile are allowing the industry to spark new interest around how OOH can connect brands and people. Technological advancements are integrating the digital and physical worlds into one. The likes of VR, AR are offering brands the opportunity to engage and interact with their consumers in new and exciting ways. In the past, OOH AR and VR experiences have lived in brand activations and one-off, media firsts. Today, I see the acceptance of this technology at the marketers’ end and as well as the consumers’ end. This kind of technology allows us to engage in new experiences and interact with alternative realities no matter where we are. A great example of how consumers worldwide have accepted the blending of the physical and virtual space was Pokémon Go (with 75 million downloads worldwide).
The role of OOH will become more expansive as technology strengthens in these areas and becomes lower in cost, with brands looking to hit niche OOH audiences alongside broadcast ones. As Gen Alpha matures, marketers will demand richer, location based experiences to gain their attention. Technology will be the key role changer for the outdoor industry as the scope for technology implementation in OOH domain is huge. The advertisers are constantly looking to innovate and stand out and with a growing pie of Internet and Cinema, OOH industry has to strive for innovation. Digital OOH and evolving technologies will play a pivotal role in years to come. Media owners need to invest in building capability for brighter outlook of the industry and truly bring the Indian OOH industry at par with the world.
Feedback: @arghyach
IN 2017, DO NOT INVEST IN DIGITAL MARKETING…
By Unny Radhakrishnan
Chief Digital Officer - South Asia, Maxus
In early 2000, a bunch of marketing, media, and technology folks kicked the grave of John Wanamaker and woke him up from his long sleep. John Wanamaker, who had died 78 years earlier, suddenly became the brand ambassador for digital advertising. For it was he who (apparently) said that half of his advertising was wasted, but he didn’t know which half. While there are some other claimants also for this quote, by the sheer number of times quoted, Wanamaker wins. For a few years since 2000, many digital presentations started with a slide with this quote and offered a magic bullet promising that in the new world, nothing will be wasted.
Sixteen years later, much water has flown under the bridge, and billions of cookies were baked, served, and crumbled. Adtech became part of the vocabulary. Platforms came and went. Standards, rule books, and best practice guides—all crafted with arts and science emerged. In many cases, by the time best practices were documented, the platform itself vanished or changed an algorithm, leaving the practitioners confused between best practice and next practice. There is a graveyard out there—of dead platforms, tools, and solutions. Along the way, an ominous underworld also developed—click farms, click baits, bots, invisible inventory, unseen videos, and so on. An underworld where encounter killing is absent.
While changes are happening every day, leading planners realize what running on the treadmill really means; the excitement of uncertainty and learning continues. Rapid learning, testing, and quickly moving on (or staying back) became the only certainty. In this rapidly moving and churning world, the saner advice is not to invest in digital marketing (or as wise people say, marketing in a digital world). Unless …
Unless, some ground rules are in place. None of these are new, and it might even raise some eyebrows and frowns, saying that all this is understood and taken care of. In reality, it is not. Maybe a very few brands do follow. Nevertheless, in this season of ‘listicles,’ here is one:
1. Stating objectives and tasks: While marketing objectives are articulated well at the start, more often than not, what is expected of a digital channel and how it will be measured are not stated. Clearly, state the task and decide on what will be measured and how it will be measured.
2.Creating communication or assets specifically made for the web/mobile: In most of the cases, it is merely an adaptation of a TVC or Print ad. It is not the best way. Create different formats, leveraging the strengths of platforms and medium and what the channel is expected to deliver.
3.Re-crafting the brief: Brand briefs are always about a specific target audience, defined by demographics or psychographics. With the availability of data and segmentation possibilities, it is possible to re-craft the brief, targeting sub-segments, creating communication, and delivering on relevant media for them.
4.Dynamic and multiple creatives: Experiment/test with multiple creatives (dynamic) based on external variables (from as basic as the geography to language to context to weather).
5. Call to action: Have a strong call to action on all communications and test different calls to action.
6. Defining the consumer journey in the channel and what data gets captured: What happens after the consumer sees the communication? Define which landing and final destinations, intermediate actions, what needs to be tracked and therefore tagged, what data can be captured, and what the related technical dependencies are.
7. The existential questions: Did the communication really get served and to the right audience or was it served to bots? Deploying tools for ad verification, human views, and in-target reach are now becoming norms.
8. Learning agenda: Have a learning agenda for each campaign, and create a hypothesis, test, and learn.
9.Fair ‘pay’ for digital marketing partners: Agencies are no more ‘agents’ who bought media placements for a commission. Talent with varied and rich skillsets are now part of marketing partners’ teams, and they are not easy to come by. Not to mention the operational intensity. Some clients do recognize this today and have a fair position on this.
As said earlier, nothing perhaps is new here. But everyone doing everything mentioned above is rarely happening. With more stakeholders, digital campaign planning in detail is time-consuming. But it’s worth the effort.
At least, half of Wanamaker’s ‘half problem’ would have got addressed.
Feedback: @unnyque
HOPE PR DOES SIGNIFICANT PR FOR ITSELF IN 2017!
By Sujit M Patil
VP & Head - Corporate Communications, Godrej Industries Limited and associate companies
Year 2016 has been PR-intensive. India Inc. always understood the importance of PR but realized how indispensable it is after a few high level corporate mishaps. This has brought back focus on reputation management with renewed vigour. While 2016 taught us a number of lessons, I feel absolutely bullish about PR in 2017. Here are some trends that will take prominence with the rest (read traditional PR and media relations):
Online reputation management (ORM) will become indispensable – With large prevalence of online platforms and the power to frame brand narratives in the hands of the common man, “listening” will garner huge importance. I am excited about this as I personally witnessed real time alerts from our ORM tool at Godrej delivering significantly, mitigating a few potential crises.
Digital PR will garner more significance - Having defined it as ‘Earned Social Media’, our experiments with digital PR have yielded significant results. In fact, this has become one of our key modes for launching products and creating a digital safety net for brands and related causes. The ability to reach a significant number of social platforms through compelling content (videos, infographics, text, images) has become a reality and will only grow further.
Influencer engagement will be key – Influencers (read bloggers, KOL, etc.) have started to become contributors to your brand narratives. The power of well-informed influencers/advocates who can connect their followers with your brand is unmatched. In fact, I feel that just the way PR agencies used to maintain databases of journalists, the time has come to start maintaining lists of bloggers and influencers.
VR (Virtual reality) in PR will be the buzzword – My own experiments with VR gives me the confidence to say that with right technology partners, right equipment and content, VR will emerge as one of the most powerful tools for experiential communications. Content is any which ways considered ‘king’ but if it becomes immersive and audiences are able to get a touch and feel of it, it can be an emperor! VR can possibly transcend space and time and in a near realistic way transport people to destinations or interact with brands in a manner that is more inclusive.
Simulation of crisis during trainings could be done more effectively and the attributes of consumer durables can be explained in a more holistic manner. It can be a huge enabler to communicate brand narratives in a more convincing manner.
Research-based PR narratives will reign – Research not only adds to the authenticity but also credibility to claims made by a brand. With the amount of clutter we see in the media, research-based narratives that have a direct bearing on consumers will be essential to get covered. A majority of the Godrej campaigns have been based on research data that validates the claims of our brands. This has ensured a dramatic rise not only in coverage but also right messaging and tonality.
Video - live or otherwise - will be a key driver – As our media consumption patterns change, video has emerged as a key mode to establish narratives. It has been predicted that over 70% of mobile traffic will be video by 2020. Live video has actually exploded in 2016 with Facebook live, Periscope and many other social platforms opening up live streaming. Brands that have made compelling videos around their purpose and USP’s have immensely benefited with a never before reach and downloads. This will only grow.
Measurement conundrum will continue, focus will shift from ROI to ROO - With multiple stakeholders across multiple businesses and geographies; within and outside the organization, enabled by a global information landscape, the PR measurement conundrum can be complicated. Trying to quantify could be worse. Can one quantify the cost of reputation saved due to effective PR? Can we assign a monetary value to it or the frequent crises a PR team mitigates silently and claim it as the ROI?
While the traditional quantitative and qualitative measures must continue, the best way for a PR function to create and showcase value is to align its strategy to the top organizational goals, articulate business/brand-related PR objectives, set the expectations right with the C-suite by jointly agreeing on the objectives and measures of success and then go all out to ensure that the objectives are met, hence demonstrating maximum return on objectives (ROO).
PR for PR will go up! (I hope it does!!) - In a fast-evolving business environment with multiple external stimuli and disruptive modes of communication, the operative scope of PR has favourably amplified. Today, we significantly impact multiple levers – corporate reputation, employee retention, crisis mitigation, sales, product brands, stock price, stakeholder engagement and many more. We as a PR community (and even Marketing, Finance, Strategy, Sales, HR and other functions) know it with conviction that PR works. Then, why do we seem so apologetic? One reason could be that we have not done enough PR for PR, the way we have done PR for other functions. I hope PR does significant PR for itself in 2017!
Feedback: @Sujitpatil
