ITV

Category: Occasions

  • 70 companies, 1200 traders attend Global Content Bazar

    70 companies, 1200 traders attend Global Content Bazar

    MUMBAI: Around 70 companies and 1200 trade visitors from Asia, Europe and the Middle-East participated in Global Content Bazar 2018 which concluded here recently.

    High-quality trade and other visitors witnessed echoed a sentiment of highly beneficial exchanges with exhibitors and buyers at the bazaar which delivered on its assurance of showcasing the latest in content. India’s first-ever content market — Global Content Bazar 2017 — concluded in Mumbai recently. The show witnessed many eager visitors who echoed a sentiment of highly beneficial interactions with exhibitors, buyers, sellers and participants.

    As a professional trade show focused on content that powers India’s vast entertainment and infotainment industry, the content bazaar delivered on its promise of showcasing newest happenings in content for film, television, animation, docs & shorts, virtual reality, OTT-IPTV-VOD, 3D, music, radio, interactive gaming, mobile and more.

    The ‘Content Monetising Avenues Conference’ held on the show’s first day proved to be the highlight of the three-day event; with over 20 speakers presenting papers on the latest trends in the content industry and related subjects.

    Leading content providers, buyers and sellers such as Shanghai WingsMedia from China (with 10 prominent Chinese companies), Zee TV, Viacom 18, Sony Pictures Network, Doordarshan, DTV Turkey, ATV Turkey, Fight Globe, NH Studioz, Ultra Media & Entertainment, Creative Eye Ltd., WebTVAsia, Pocket Films, Green Gold Animation, Global One Enterprise, Qube Cinema and Fashion TV among others made their presence felt at the show and in the Indian content industry.

    Apart from India, companies from China, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Netherlands, the UAE, Turkey, France, Austria and Russia participated in the show this year.

    The Global Content Bazar 2018 is scheduled to be held at the World Trade Centre in mid-January.

  • Digital is nothing, says Havas Media’s Tom Goodwin

    Digital is nothing, says Havas Media’s Tom Goodwin

    NEW DELHI: Tom Goodwin is not happy with the way marketers have abused the word ‘digital.’ In fact, he doesn’t want the word to be used at all. To the roomful of marketing enthusiasts gathered at Zee MELT 2016, who anticipated a lecture on cutting edge technology and the disruption it brings to the brand world, this 37-year-old SVP of strategy and Innovation at Havas Media said: ‘Sorry, no change.’

    “Things have never changed so fast before, but it will never change so slowly again. If you look at the daily everyday lives of people in suburbs, not everything is changing. While it’s important to look ahead, we need to pay more attention to what is not changing,” Goodwin made it clear.

    One needs to be mindful of the human behaviour that has evolved from centuries, that won’t change so easily.

    Through a number of pictorial slides, Goodwin then took the audience to a time before the industrial revolution to point out how that big change had effected how we function, and its implication in the new world of disruption.

    Giving the analogy of how power plants looked almost the same before and after electricity was discovered, Goodwin implied that technology can be embraced at surface and at deeper levels. Only when the latter is done that real efficiency kicks in a system.

    Putting it in context with the current ‘digital’ onslaught, “currently businesses are trying new technology only at the fringes. Whenever something new comes up, they are tacking it on their existing system without rebuilding the entire structure,” Goodwin said.

    Goodwin then cautioned creative agencies from celebrating their so called ‘digital ads.’ “Simply sticking a TV ad on a pre roll before an online video, or publishing an ad on an online portal doesn’t make it digital. There is nothing new about using the same old ideas in different devices,” he said.

    Calling the current use of technology in marketing as a ‘digital garnish’ done mostly for PR attention rather than serving a functional purpose, Goodwin called said businesses were getting complacent on using digital in silos or add-ons.

    “That Dominos ad with drones delivering pizza was an attractive piece of content but we still await a drone to deliver pizza at our doorstep. British Airways went all high tech and introduced Neuroblankets that would gauge its passenger’s emotions for collecting data, when its website doesn’t have an email address to write to! That’s a perfect waste of marketing spends when the same purpose could be served if they get their basics right,” Goodwin advised.

    In order for business to get these basics right, Goodwin suggested a few pointers. To start with “we need to stop getting awed by digital like we are still in the 90s, as if it is some place to go to. In today’s world there is no concept of ‘online’ or ‘offline.’ An 11 year old boy who has grown up with Internet, doesn’t go to shop ‘online on his smart phone’, he simply shops. Marketers need to understand this concept of ‘disappearing of digital world,’ and stop introducing new ‘digital arms’ in their respective organisations,” Goodwin explained.

    “People really don’t care about how a product gets to them, they don’t want to understand what is radio, print, digital, display, out of home, television or streaming, so marketers too should stop overanalysing over the different channels,” he said.

    Marketers should be mindful of the new realities like virtual reality augmented reality, chat bots and even AI; but ensure that technology or tools aren’t limiting their imagination and growth. “There is a famous saying that goes ‘we shape tools and then they shape us.’ Hotel lobbies still use a giant desk to separate the consumer from the staff, when it was a product of pre digital age and can be done without off now,” cited Goodwin.

    Goodwin sees huge potential in the use of anticipatory computing in advertising where contextual information on how a consumer lives his or her day can help brands target them with meaningful and relevant advertising. “The goal of an advertiser is to make people’s life easier. Brand building can play a huge role in this. Advertising should help us navigate through life not woo us at points with cool tech toys,” Goodwin opined.

    Lastly, Goodwin left the room with a thought: Digital is nothing. It is vital but noticeable only through its absence. This mad race to add another ‘digital’ silo to our business isn’t challenging any system, but following it. No changes there.

  • Digital is nothing, says Havas Media’s Tom Goodwin

    Digital is nothing, says Havas Media’s Tom Goodwin

    NEW DELHI: Tom Goodwin is not happy with the way marketers have abused the word ‘digital.’ In fact, he doesn’t want the word to be used at all. To the roomful of marketing enthusiasts gathered at Zee MELT 2016, who anticipated a lecture on cutting edge technology and the disruption it brings to the brand world, this 37-year-old SVP of strategy and Innovation at Havas Media said: ‘Sorry, no change.’

    “Things have never changed so fast before, but it will never change so slowly again. If you look at the daily everyday lives of people in suburbs, not everything is changing. While it’s important to look ahead, we need to pay more attention to what is not changing,” Goodwin made it clear.

    One needs to be mindful of the human behaviour that has evolved from centuries, that won’t change so easily.

    Through a number of pictorial slides, Goodwin then took the audience to a time before the industrial revolution to point out how that big change had effected how we function, and its implication in the new world of disruption.

    Giving the analogy of how power plants looked almost the same before and after electricity was discovered, Goodwin implied that technology can be embraced at surface and at deeper levels. Only when the latter is done that real efficiency kicks in a system.

    Putting it in context with the current ‘digital’ onslaught, “currently businesses are trying new technology only at the fringes. Whenever something new comes up, they are tacking it on their existing system without rebuilding the entire structure,” Goodwin said.

    Goodwin then cautioned creative agencies from celebrating their so called ‘digital ads.’ “Simply sticking a TV ad on a pre roll before an online video, or publishing an ad on an online portal doesn’t make it digital. There is nothing new about using the same old ideas in different devices,” he said.

    Calling the current use of technology in marketing as a ‘digital garnish’ done mostly for PR attention rather than serving a functional purpose, Goodwin called said businesses were getting complacent on using digital in silos or add-ons.

    “That Dominos ad with drones delivering pizza was an attractive piece of content but we still await a drone to deliver pizza at our doorstep. British Airways went all high tech and introduced Neuroblankets that would gauge its passenger’s emotions for collecting data, when its website doesn’t have an email address to write to! That’s a perfect waste of marketing spends when the same purpose could be served if they get their basics right,” Goodwin advised.

    In order for business to get these basics right, Goodwin suggested a few pointers. To start with “we need to stop getting awed by digital like we are still in the 90s, as if it is some place to go to. In today’s world there is no concept of ‘online’ or ‘offline.’ An 11 year old boy who has grown up with Internet, doesn’t go to shop ‘online on his smart phone’, he simply shops. Marketers need to understand this concept of ‘disappearing of digital world,’ and stop introducing new ‘digital arms’ in their respective organisations,” Goodwin explained.

    “People really don’t care about how a product gets to them, they don’t want to understand what is radio, print, digital, display, out of home, television or streaming, so marketers too should stop overanalysing over the different channels,” he said.

    Marketers should be mindful of the new realities like virtual reality augmented reality, chat bots and even AI; but ensure that technology or tools aren’t limiting their imagination and growth. “There is a famous saying that goes ‘we shape tools and then they shape us.’ Hotel lobbies still use a giant desk to separate the consumer from the staff, when it was a product of pre digital age and can be done without off now,” cited Goodwin.

    Goodwin sees huge potential in the use of anticipatory computing in advertising where contextual information on how a consumer lives his or her day can help brands target them with meaningful and relevant advertising. “The goal of an advertiser is to make people’s life easier. Brand building can play a huge role in this. Advertising should help us navigate through life not woo us at points with cool tech toys,” Goodwin opined.

    Lastly, Goodwin left the room with a thought: Digital is nothing. It is vital but noticeable only through its absence. This mad race to add another ‘digital’ silo to our business isn’t challenging any system, but following it. No changes there.

  • Ads low in print with greater customer feedback in digital mediums

    Ads low in print with greater customer feedback in digital mediums

    NEW DELHI: There was a growth of forty per cent in advertising in the United Kingdom in fifiteen years from the turn of the millennium, but the the print medium saw a fall of 65 per cent in advertising in the same period.

    Online advertising is the dominant source in the UK cornering 74 per cent, according to Financial Times Chief Data Officer Tom Betts.

    In a presentation on Data Insights: Disrupting News at the just concluded ZEEMelt, Betts said however, that sixty per cent do not remember what they read on the social media and agreed with a comment that the digital medium had sight and sound but the touch was missing and that was why the primt medium continued to grow in many countries.

    However, it was equally true that there is very little feedback in the print medium unlike the data driven growth in digital technologies. “Customer data is at the centre” and was the customer DNA in digital platforms, he said.

    “It is really exciting times for news just as it is for advertising”, he said, with mobiles and i-pads providing competition to the print medium.

    Digital technology has also helped to bring personal finance to the top and the advertising wold has to cater to that.

    But customer engagement comes from ‘Recency, Frquency, and Volume’ and advertising is analytically power driven through personalised products and data-supported discovery often depending on what he termed as ‘digital serendipity.’

    Echoing these same sentiments in another session on ‘The future oif storytelling’, Conde Nast Digital Director Gaurav Mishra said today’s consumer wanted on-the-go content.

    As a result, interest graphs were narrowing as the consumer only wanted to see what interested him.There was also ‘digital serendipity’ resulting in a lot of sharing on the social platforms. This led to a shared purpose and passion.

  • Ads low in print with greater customer feedback in digital mediums

    Ads low in print with greater customer feedback in digital mediums

    NEW DELHI: There was a growth of forty per cent in advertising in the United Kingdom in fifiteen years from the turn of the millennium, but the the print medium saw a fall of 65 per cent in advertising in the same period.

    Online advertising is the dominant source in the UK cornering 74 per cent, according to Financial Times Chief Data Officer Tom Betts.

    In a presentation on Data Insights: Disrupting News at the just concluded ZEEMelt, Betts said however, that sixty per cent do not remember what they read on the social media and agreed with a comment that the digital medium had sight and sound but the touch was missing and that was why the primt medium continued to grow in many countries.

    However, it was equally true that there is very little feedback in the print medium unlike the data driven growth in digital technologies. “Customer data is at the centre” and was the customer DNA in digital platforms, he said.

    “It is really exciting times for news just as it is for advertising”, he said, with mobiles and i-pads providing competition to the print medium.

    Digital technology has also helped to bring personal finance to the top and the advertising wold has to cater to that.

    But customer engagement comes from ‘Recency, Frquency, and Volume’ and advertising is analytically power driven through personalised products and data-supported discovery often depending on what he termed as ‘digital serendipity.’

    Echoing these same sentiments in another session on ‘The future oif storytelling’, Conde Nast Digital Director Gaurav Mishra said today’s consumer wanted on-the-go content.

    As a result, interest graphs were narrowing as the consumer only wanted to see what interested him.There was also ‘digital serendipity’ resulting in a lot of sharing on the social platforms. This led to a shared purpose and passion.

  • Introducing digital measurement is more a political hurdle, than technical

    Introducing digital measurement is more a political hurdle, than technical

    NEW DELHI: Who is afraid of the yardstick, and an authentic one? The digital media has been a victim of many a misnomers. “Easily measurable” media, for example. The assumption stems from advertisers taking their campaigns’ ‘views’ or social media numbers at face value, and not questioning agencies on the effectiveness of paid or inorganic reach gained through proxies or hoax accounts.

    This fundamental lack of understanding or ignorance of duping digital figures comes in the way of measuring effective digital media consumption — an issue that the four-person panel gathered at Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India’s session at Zee MELT were keen to address.

    The panelists were — Integral Ad Science product management VP Brian Murphy, comScore strategic partnerships SVP Paul Goode, Moat APAC director Guy Barbier, and BARC India CEO Partho Dasgupta.

    To put the panel discussion in context, BARC India is on an ambitious mission to roll out digital ratings in the country based on viewability in a few months. The aim is to measure unduplicated audiences across all devices and platforms together through a neutral third-party monitor. If that were achieved, BARC India will become the first rating agency to provide a TV+ digital viewership measurement service across the globe.

    Introducing a standard digital measurability in India was a high mountain hall, thankfully, the country could fast-forward the progress by learning from other mature markets such as the US, and Europe, Murphy suggested.

    “The first lesson learned is to accept that third-party javascript is not commonplace with publishers. There are both, policy and technological limitations,” he said. Secondly, Murphy observed, the stakeholders needed to be open about what could and could not be measured.

    The measurability standards need to be based on a realistic picture, after all.

    The panel also raised concerns that are perhaps unique to emerging markets such as India. From an advertiser’s perspective, a lot of the current digital traffic can be dismissed as invalid (due to duplication or its irrelevance to the brand). Given the fact that India is still at a nascent stage when it comes to digital marketing, will it deter advertisers from investing into the medium? Or else, advertisers can continue to rely on their existing media options that have been fruitful, and avoid the digital medium.

    While India has a relatively cleaner slate, it has already set out on the digital transformation path, however smaller it may be. Thus, there was no turning back for brands, Murphy noted. The real challenge would be to bring brands and publishers to come to terms if the standard measurement data, when rolled out, was below their expectations. “Coming to terms with the fact that you weren’t really getting the numbers you thought you were, is the real challenge,” Goode pointed out.

    The uneven brands-platforms power ratio was discussed as well, keeping in mind the growing digital ecosystem in India. “Those with the advertisement dollars will always have an upper hand. Its true for any market,” said Barbier, adding a global perspective. Traditional TV advertisers in India too are known to flex their muscle when it comes to getting their money’s worth. Advertisers buying spots during cricket matches sometimes refuse to pay the full worth of a spot if a part of the advertisement was cut out due to live coverage limitations, the panel cited.

    When it comes to programmatic media management, the assumption that the digital inventory is endless has been a hindrance to bringing in the advertisement dollars for premium inventory.

    Advertisement blocking was the elephant in the room that the panel dared to address. The panel established the fact that irresponsibly placing advertisement that causes the viewer inconvenience doesn’t serve anyone, be it the publisher or the advertiser. A huge advertisement that dominates the entire screen may not be able to provide an advertiser the desired viewability. On the contrary, it may put off the viewer from the publisher’s content. Success metrics can be driven by content and context, instead of blindly maximizing visibility of a campaign.

    Queuing back to introduction of digital measurement in a new market, the moderator raises the question: on which factors does the success of a digital measurement system depend? Threatened by the disruption that digital measurement may bring into their businesses, several publishers are bound to resist the introduction of a new digital currency, afraid that it will devalue their inventories.

    Broadcasters too are concerned that their metrics may not be able to keep up with that of digital, if both the mediums were to be judged on the basis of viewability numbers.

    Therefore, even after establishing the technological backbone for the measurement system, it cannot take off. This was seen in the case of Spain. Thus, establishing a digital measurement standard is a bigger political challenge than technological.

    When it comes to India, Dasgupta is optimistic that the level of resistance will not hinder the progress of the initiative in the market. “When it comes to videos, our confidence in the system comes from the number of major broadcasting partners that have signed up for this system. Moreover, the biggest push is coming from big brands and the Levers of the world who want an apple to apple comparison between television and digital videos,” Dasgupta concluded on an optimistic note.

  • Introducing digital measurement is more a political hurdle, than technical

    Introducing digital measurement is more a political hurdle, than technical

    NEW DELHI: Who is afraid of the yardstick, and an authentic one? The digital media has been a victim of many a misnomers. “Easily measurable” media, for example. The assumption stems from advertisers taking their campaigns’ ‘views’ or social media numbers at face value, and not questioning agencies on the effectiveness of paid or inorganic reach gained through proxies or hoax accounts.

    This fundamental lack of understanding or ignorance of duping digital figures comes in the way of measuring effective digital media consumption — an issue that the four-person panel gathered at Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India’s session at Zee MELT were keen to address.

    The panelists were — Integral Ad Science product management VP Brian Murphy, comScore strategic partnerships SVP Paul Goode, Moat APAC director Guy Barbier, and BARC India CEO Partho Dasgupta.

    To put the panel discussion in context, BARC India is on an ambitious mission to roll out digital ratings in the country based on viewability in a few months. The aim is to measure unduplicated audiences across all devices and platforms together through a neutral third-party monitor. If that were achieved, BARC India will become the first rating agency to provide a TV+ digital viewership measurement service across the globe.

    Introducing a standard digital measurability in India was a high mountain hall, thankfully, the country could fast-forward the progress by learning from other mature markets such as the US, and Europe, Murphy suggested.

    “The first lesson learned is to accept that third-party javascript is not commonplace with publishers. There are both, policy and technological limitations,” he said. Secondly, Murphy observed, the stakeholders needed to be open about what could and could not be measured.

    The measurability standards need to be based on a realistic picture, after all.

    The panel also raised concerns that are perhaps unique to emerging markets such as India. From an advertiser’s perspective, a lot of the current digital traffic can be dismissed as invalid (due to duplication or its irrelevance to the brand). Given the fact that India is still at a nascent stage when it comes to digital marketing, will it deter advertisers from investing into the medium? Or else, advertisers can continue to rely on their existing media options that have been fruitful, and avoid the digital medium.

    While India has a relatively cleaner slate, it has already set out on the digital transformation path, however smaller it may be. Thus, there was no turning back for brands, Murphy noted. The real challenge would be to bring brands and publishers to come to terms if the standard measurement data, when rolled out, was below their expectations. “Coming to terms with the fact that you weren’t really getting the numbers you thought you were, is the real challenge,” Goode pointed out.

    The uneven brands-platforms power ratio was discussed as well, keeping in mind the growing digital ecosystem in India. “Those with the advertisement dollars will always have an upper hand. Its true for any market,” said Barbier, adding a global perspective. Traditional TV advertisers in India too are known to flex their muscle when it comes to getting their money’s worth. Advertisers buying spots during cricket matches sometimes refuse to pay the full worth of a spot if a part of the advertisement was cut out due to live coverage limitations, the panel cited.

    When it comes to programmatic media management, the assumption that the digital inventory is endless has been a hindrance to bringing in the advertisement dollars for premium inventory.

    Advertisement blocking was the elephant in the room that the panel dared to address. The panel established the fact that irresponsibly placing advertisement that causes the viewer inconvenience doesn’t serve anyone, be it the publisher or the advertiser. A huge advertisement that dominates the entire screen may not be able to provide an advertiser the desired viewability. On the contrary, it may put off the viewer from the publisher’s content. Success metrics can be driven by content and context, instead of blindly maximizing visibility of a campaign.

    Queuing back to introduction of digital measurement in a new market, the moderator raises the question: on which factors does the success of a digital measurement system depend? Threatened by the disruption that digital measurement may bring into their businesses, several publishers are bound to resist the introduction of a new digital currency, afraid that it will devalue their inventories.

    Broadcasters too are concerned that their metrics may not be able to keep up with that of digital, if both the mediums were to be judged on the basis of viewability numbers.

    Therefore, even after establishing the technological backbone for the measurement system, it cannot take off. This was seen in the case of Spain. Thus, establishing a digital measurement standard is a bigger political challenge than technological.

    When it comes to India, Dasgupta is optimistic that the level of resistance will not hinder the progress of the initiative in the market. “When it comes to videos, our confidence in the system comes from the number of major broadcasting partners that have signed up for this system. Moreover, the biggest push is coming from big brands and the Levers of the world who want an apple to apple comparison between television and digital videos,” Dasgupta concluded on an optimistic note.

  • Six principles vital for acceptance of branded content: Vanessa Clifford

    Six principles vital for acceptance of branded content: Vanessa Clifford

    NEW DELHI: It’s the business of consumer connect, realistically. Noting that there was a dearth of good branded content and the British media invested 350,000 pounds sterling towards that every year, Newsworks deputy chief executive Vanessa Clifford said the aim should be to provide value to the consumer.

    Talking about opportunities for branded content at the session “All News is Good News” at ZEE Melt here, she listed six guiding principles for branded content.

    She said that the first was clearly the audience interest. One needed to attract the right kind of audience for a particular brand that one planned to sell through a specific advertisement, she said.

    There was need to plan the communication idea keeping the target audience and the platform – online or print – in mind. Secondly, the print medium was important as its expertise and heritage were built on reputation, she said.

    Trust and transparency was the third on Vanessa’s list of principles. She demonstrated examples of how a reader and viewer’s trust had been won in different advertisement campaigns.

    It was necessary for the advertiser and the media, she said, to set the right goals so that the objective of the campaign was fulfilled.

    Collaboration between the advertiser and the medium was of prime significance so that the message was conveyed perfectly well, Vanessa felt.

    Finally, Vanessa said, there was need to ‘create stories’ that kept the interest of the audience alive.

    Earlier, speaking in the same session on “The Role of Print”, Vanessa said that her experience in the United Kingdom had shown that the impact of the print medium was higher in the long-term and national newspapers drove news brands.

    She quoted Arthur Miller to say that a good newspaper was like a nation talking to itself.

    The print medium delivers results better than any other medium, and campaigners using the print news delivered stronger effects on businesses. News brands command a higher level of attention and 60% of that was focused on newspapers as against 57% on television.

    Referring to branding content, she said that there was greater engagement, trust and personal identification. She observed that advertisements worked on ‘sight and sound’ but often forgot the ‘touch’ aspect which actually drove brands, and this was achieved through the print medium.

    Furthermore, she said that physical interaction in researches had shown that 66% of the consumers considered buying or subscribing to a product if they saw it in print. The return on investments (ROI) by advertisers through the print medium was three times better than any other medium. The print also commanded a higher level of attention.

    Answering a question, she said credibility was higher in the print medium despite the influx of newer online media. Age of the consumer was not a consideration as far as the print medium was concerned, she noted.

    Speaking on “Brands and Marketers” in the age of democratized story-telling, News Corp Senior Vice President-Strategy Raju Narisetti said user-generated content (UGC) used by advertisers had greater effect than a commercial where it was clear that it was being enacted.

    “Everyone is creating content these days, and around 400 hours of content is produced on YouTube every minute,” he said. Democratized story-telling showed that anyone could tell a story through the mobile.

    Raju referred to studies that had shown that 92% consumers were more likely to trust their peers than an advertisement. But, he said, the challenges before UGC was volume, accuracy, acceptance and acquisition.

    There was need to align, identify, verify and license, and deploy before using technology for UGC, Raju concluded.

  • Six principles vital for acceptance of branded content: Vanessa Clifford

    Six principles vital for acceptance of branded content: Vanessa Clifford

    NEW DELHI: It’s the business of consumer connect, realistically. Noting that there was a dearth of good branded content and the British media invested 350,000 pounds sterling towards that every year, Newsworks deputy chief executive Vanessa Clifford said the aim should be to provide value to the consumer.

    Talking about opportunities for branded content at the session “All News is Good News” at ZEE Melt here, she listed six guiding principles for branded content.

    She said that the first was clearly the audience interest. One needed to attract the right kind of audience for a particular brand that one planned to sell through a specific advertisement, she said.

    There was need to plan the communication idea keeping the target audience and the platform – online or print – in mind. Secondly, the print medium was important as its expertise and heritage were built on reputation, she said.

    Trust and transparency was the third on Vanessa’s list of principles. She demonstrated examples of how a reader and viewer’s trust had been won in different advertisement campaigns.

    It was necessary for the advertiser and the media, she said, to set the right goals so that the objective of the campaign was fulfilled.

    Collaboration between the advertiser and the medium was of prime significance so that the message was conveyed perfectly well, Vanessa felt.

    Finally, Vanessa said, there was need to ‘create stories’ that kept the interest of the audience alive.

    Earlier, speaking in the same session on “The Role of Print”, Vanessa said that her experience in the United Kingdom had shown that the impact of the print medium was higher in the long-term and national newspapers drove news brands.

    She quoted Arthur Miller to say that a good newspaper was like a nation talking to itself.

    The print medium delivers results better than any other medium, and campaigners using the print news delivered stronger effects on businesses. News brands command a higher level of attention and 60% of that was focused on newspapers as against 57% on television.

    Referring to branding content, she said that there was greater engagement, trust and personal identification. She observed that advertisements worked on ‘sight and sound’ but often forgot the ‘touch’ aspect which actually drove brands, and this was achieved through the print medium.

    Furthermore, she said that physical interaction in researches had shown that 66% of the consumers considered buying or subscribing to a product if they saw it in print. The return on investments (ROI) by advertisers through the print medium was three times better than any other medium. The print also commanded a higher level of attention.

    Answering a question, she said credibility was higher in the print medium despite the influx of newer online media. Age of the consumer was not a consideration as far as the print medium was concerned, she noted.

    Speaking on “Brands and Marketers” in the age of democratized story-telling, News Corp Senior Vice President-Strategy Raju Narisetti said user-generated content (UGC) used by advertisers had greater effect than a commercial where it was clear that it was being enacted.

    “Everyone is creating content these days, and around 400 hours of content is produced on YouTube every minute,” he said. Democratized story-telling showed that anyone could tell a story through the mobile.

    Raju referred to studies that had shown that 92% consumers were more likely to trust their peers than an advertisement. But, he said, the challenges before UGC was volume, accuracy, acceptance and acquisition.

    There was need to align, identify, verify and license, and deploy before using technology for UGC, Raju concluded.

  • Ten commandments for agencies to stay in business: GroupM’s CVL Srinivas

    Ten commandments for agencies to stay in business: GroupM’s CVL Srinivas

    MUMBAI: It was hard hitting, the way CVL Srinivas began his address at Zee MELT 2016. With a satirical audio-visual titled ‘The Last Agency On Earth’ (2010), the GroupM south Asia CEO laid down the fundamentals of the ‘change or perish’ ecosystem today’s agencies exist in; bringing down the media behemoths from their high horses and urging them to face the reality.

    If an agency needs a reality check on where it stands in this era of disruption it needs a clear understanding of where its client stands. It needs to ask itself ‘What keeps my clients up at night?’ Srinivas insisted.

    “Clients are being witness to this disruption all across – be it the value chain, the consumer chain, supply chain. This introduces a lot more cost pressure on the advertisers, and pressure on procurement as well. Not to mention the planning cycle is getting shorter as well. From an annual plan, the clients are moving to quarterly evaluations,” Srinivas shared, adding that managing multiple partners could be the most challenging issue for these clients.

    While the agency has to deal with newer business for clients, the same disruption within the clients adds more pressure on it. Positioned between the client and the consumer the agency has to stay updated with every new development that might translate into an insight.

    “Therefore the contents of the ‘agency survival kit’ consist of the will to contemporising traditional or existing models, building speed and adaptability and staying relevant and farsighted,” Srinivas said.

    In spite of all this talk of data, digital insight, tools and technical support, the clients still judge an agency on an excel spread sheet and ask ‘at what rate can you buy media for me?’ : Srinivas painted the sad picture.

    So what are agencies to do to be relevant to its clients and ensure a revenue generating future? Follow these ten rules, of course.

    1. Turning one’s weakness to strength is a first step in overcoming any major challenge and the media management world is no exception. Touting ‘tech’ to be the industry’s Achilles’ heel, Srinivas advised all to brainstorm into aggressively adapting new technology. No going forward until this is achieved.

    2. Tracing media agencies back to the roots, the business was mostly trade centric. “Those days are gone, now you have to be data centric, in whatever form you acquire it,” Srinivas simply put.

    3. Agencies must constantly question themselves on their relevance to client and the market, as a lot of the grunt work that was part of the daily chore has been automated. So how else can an agency add value to stay relevant?

    4. Adaptive marketing: There is no room for settlement and creating routines if you ask Srinivas. Giving an example of PepsiCo’s ‘Pressure is good’ campaign using real-time data, he showcased what wonders a truly nimble and adaptive agency can create.

    And let’s not forget the holy trinity of timing, content and authenticity.

    5. Srinivas encouraged agencies to keep an ‘open source’ mindset that lends itself to various partnerships and collaborations. The Cannes Lions 2016 Grand Prix winner ‘Six Pack band’ initiative by Brooke Bond Red Label was the result of that.

    6. Keeping a fluid structure within the organisation can help internal processes from becoming bottle necks sometimes.

    7. Talent diversity is the key, Srinivas said. “Earlier you either had math men or mad men in the organisation. Now the skills sets are more diversified.”

    8. Breaking hierarchies within the organisation can help an agency from becoming rusty as fresh ideas are encouraged. “We must ensure contribution from the junior level as they may be better placed to take calls in certain issues in this digital world.”

    9. All the above points would fall flat if not for an’ Integrated system,’ which keeps an agency tied to its data center while connecting it to several other touch points like pricing platform etc.

    10. All that jazz about data still can’t displace ‘creativity’ from being the key focus of any agency. “Ultimately we are in the creative business,” Srinivas concluded.