MUMBAI: India’s homegrown media brand focused on millennials, The Quint, recently launched a new youth marketing platform with the first edition of ‘Marketing to Millennials’held in Bangalore.Future editions are in the works for Delhi and Mumbai.
The highlight of the event was anengaging panel discussion featuring industry heavyweights, disruptors and respected content creators. The panel included Gaurav Jeet Singh, GM, Media Services, South Asia at Unilever, representing a media buyers’ perspective; Dhanya Rajendran, Editor in Chief, The News Minute and Umang Bedi, President at Daily Hunt, representing content publishers and aggregators; Siddharth Nambiar, Head, Amazon Prime Now, representing the e-commerce landscape; and Sudarshan Gangrade, Founder, Lo!Foods, and former CMO of Ola Cabs, representing disruptive start-ups trying to win loyalty among millennials.The panel was moderated by Ankit Dhadda, Head of Marketing for The Quint & BloombergQuint.
The discussion kicked off with a key concern that almost every product or service faces with millennials – how to build loyalty in this seemingly fickle target group with short attention spans. With a range of perspectives coming in, all voices seemed to converge in their opinions to state that loyalty was perhaps a bit overrated. Gaurav Jeet Singh used a very real example when he mentioned that even a simple product like body soap has never been a constant in his life. However, loyalty remains a vital aim for marketers and today needs to be viewed from the perspective of ensuring repeat purchases from the same buyer.
The discussion also touched upon touchy topics such as tackling social media backlash, what with the recent backlash against Surf Excel over a television spot; as well as topics like the role of Indic languages to create wider reach;understanding the realm of influencers in marketing, etc.
The key takeaway from the panel discussion was the fact that brands need to focus on producing original, fun and engaging content to truly capture the imagination of millennial audiences. Both Siddharth Nambiar and Dhanya Rajendran emphasized that if content is authentic and has great quality there is very little that needs to be added and embellished from that point on.
Summing up his forward mission based on the discussion, Umang Bedi said, “Connection with millennials has to be deep and impactful. Honest. Not based on time spent but in impact created.” He added, “To make something go viral one must create a connection that is common and transcends geographies, language, race and creed.”
Sudarshan Gangrade,formerly with Aadhar and Ola Cabs and who has now ventured into a start-up that focuses on the insight that the millennial generation is the most health-conscious in history said,
“Which channels to engage with millennials is a media and distribution problem. Solving it will always be difficult due to the multitude of channels, mediums and screens. The sheer number of channels to engage make it more important than ever that the brand has a simple, clear and single message and consistently at that.” He added that brand owners targeting millennials shouldn’t indulge in short term or frivolous content because millennials can see through fake messages. “Don't associate with social causes, just so that you can look good as a brand. Consumers see through it when the messaging changes from one brand manager to another.”
While small brands may have more room for experimentation than large, established brands, the professionals on the panel all seemed to agree that the basic tenets of marketing remain the same for all consumers – millennial or not.The hooks to engage a consumerremain the same – identify what is important to themand connect through that. The panelists also felt that understanding changing consumer behavior is getting extremely challenging not only because of a multitude of channels but also a natural evolution in how people communicate.
Commenting on the highly engaging panel discussion, Ankit Dhadda said, “The Quint’s Marketing to Millennials workshop had an exceptionally talented and experienced panel where everybody eagerly jumped in to address the challenges that are often put forth in board rooms across corporate India today. We are glad that our learning at The Quint & BloombergQuint is now compounded by the knowledge shared by our esteemed panelists. I’m looking forward to the next edition of Marketing to Millennials to continue this conversation.”
