Author: Dr Bhaskar Das

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Q. We’ve seen companies like Netflix and Amazon investing heavily in AI-driven content recommendations and production. Do you think AI can fully replace human creativity, or is there a balance to be struck between technology and human input

A. There is no denying that AI has several distinctive advantages to enhance human productivity. It has, at the same time, some infirmities that prevent it from substituting/ replacing human creativity/ productivity. This implies that while it excels at certain tasks, it can’t replicate the emotional depth, intuition, and serendipitousness of human creative excellence.

Human beings are capable of  coming up with original ideas during a spark of brilliance/ eureka  moment. This aspect of human creativity enables us to think outside the box and generate innovative solutions to human problems. AI on the other hand, is confined to the limits of its existing data bases for pattern recognition and predictive analysis. It’s not future backwards in anticipating solutions that are rooted in empirical realities.

In view of the existence of both the realities, a synthesis of human intelligence , imagination and AI-led tech would be a realistic approach at this juncture.

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Q. The concept of ‘Brand Authenticity’ is gaining traction in the age of social media, where consumers value genuine and transparent communication from companies. How are Indian brands adapting to this trend? Are they successfully integrating authenticity into their marketing strategies, or is it still a challenge?

A. Let’s look at the ranking announced by a global research agency about most authentic brands in India:

1. Search engine giant Google
2. Microsoft,
3. Amazon,
4. Maruti Suzuki
5. Apple

(Ssource: New York-based global communications firm Cohn & Wolfe.)

Do these findings say any about Indian brands (though 4 out of 5 brands are global brands in India) in terms of their authentic perception?

Before I delve a tad deep on the subject, let’s be on the same page about what does authentic brand mean. In today’s polarised world it can have subjective definition. A few key parameters would be:

1. High moral standards to be followed consistently,
2. Honest, in every moments of Truth,
3. High standards of transparency,
4. Value driven , both internally and externally,
5. customer centricity in every touch point with an organisation’s addressable market
6. In the age of ubiquitous presence of social media and customer activism, an organisation needs to be in conversation with every customer type. approach at this juncture.

Now, given the above, an individual can decide which is an authentic brand. And I can confidently assert that there can be a variety of perceptions about which is an authentic brand. Every negative experience of an individual gets amplified through any media format. In the age of AI and deep fake, one doesn’t know how brand image can be under scrutiny constantly. Marketers constantly proclaim their commitment to consumers but then why there is such wide variation of consumer by brand, by experience. I don’t want to name any specific brand, it’s a nightmare to maintain consistency in authenticity of brands in the age of Earned Media. An organisation needs to work proactively in this space as a paranoid in the same indicative parameters, I mentioned above.

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Q. With the rise of streaming platforms (or OTTs as they are called in India), traditional linear TV viewership has seen a decline. How do you foresee the future of cable TV in India? Will it continue to coexist with streaming services, or is it destined for obsolescence?

A. At this juncture of the industry, the prospect of cable TV does not look very promising. It depends now on how fast they (the players) can innovate and integrate with emerging technologies which could balance traditional broadcasting and the digital era. Easier said than does as they need both perspective and investments. Besides, better comprehension of content across platforms is also critical for successful execution of a survival strategy of the cable television business.

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Q. While influencer marketing has gained ground, measuring ROI in influencer campaigns is challenging. But do you think metrics matter or is sales and share of voice enough to measure an influencer campaign?

A. Evaluation Metrics for any marketing initiative is a must. Marketing to influencers is no exception. As no third party data is available as of now, I shall try to put a few generic parameters for measuring effectiveness of Influencer Marketing which some marketers are following as I know it. Needless to say, the science of the Art is yet to be established and would get more algo driven in near future:

1. Audience engagement through content and design orchestration
2. Influencer Score vis-a-vis other influencers in the same space or in a space neutral way
3. Volume of mentions that the influencer generated organically
4. Pace of Audience growth of the Influencer’s content
5. Social media reach of the influencer
6. Website traffic and bounce rate
7. Earned media Sentiment about the Influencer
8. Conversion % for a brand
9. Revenue growth ( depending on the period of the existence of the Influencer
10. Share of Voice (SOV): usual metrics for a marketer
11. Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE) (ie quantum of media coverage)
12. Number of brand affiliation with the influencer’s circle of influence and the impact on a brand’s performance

The above should give a marketer enough indication of the ROI of investment in influencer marketing.

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Q. You were spotted on the streets of Paris. Can you sense that the city is hosting an event as big as the Olympics does it seem like just another ordinary day, much like when an IPL match takes place in Mumbai or Delhi?

A. Paris kicked off the 2024 Olympics with a groundbreaking opening ceremony on the Seine River on Friday. The excitement is palpable but isn’t articulated at all, specially where I am staying- Champs Élysées. There is massive bandobast (in Indian terminology) for the event.

Unlike previous Olympics, the Paris 2024 opening ceremony did not take place in a stadium. Instead, dozens of boats carried thousands of athletes and performers on a 6km route along the Seine, sailing by the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral and arrive near the Eiffel Tower, after passing under bridges and gateways, including the Pont des Arts and Pont Neuf, and near many of the French capital’s landmarks.

It appears that the organisers are taking advantage of the historic monuments, riverbanks of Paris and even the sky and water, with every riverbank or bridge filled with music, dance and performances.

The 2024 Games are being held in a country at war with itself following waves of anti-government conflict, growing tensions over immigration, religion and race, terrorism fears and the rise of the far right over the past 12 months in France.

The Mayor of Paris, had  said the city’s bid for the 2024 Olympics was seen as an opportunity for the French capital to rebound and heal following outrage at the 2015.

So it’s time to celebrate for France and I am also excited. Btw, how did you intrude my privacy? Guess in the digital age there is no privacy anyway 🙁

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Q. There are many who say content personaliation is key to engaging consumers effectively. But does it really matter? For years, media has proliferated without customisation?

A. In today’s world, personalisation is an imperative (apart from being a buzzword) for engaging with prospects, whether in virtual onnects like e-commerce or getting feedback about brands and services.

This can be achieved through a variety of means, such as recommending products based on previous purchases, customising the layout and content of a website based on user behavior, or providing personalized services through the use of AI.

Personalisation can be achieved through a variety of routes to enhance increased relevance and increased user satisfaction through retention.

There can be different routes to personalisation viz :

#Contextual personalisation,

#Behavioural personalisation

#Demographic personalisation

#Collaborative personalisation

#Predictive personalisation.

Needless to say, this kind of granularity of personalisation would make engagement with different type of customers very fruitful for businesses.

It may be useful to add a word of caution here that over-personalisation might ultimately leads to invasion of individual privacy and cause irritation. So, it needs to be done judiciously. One can’t forget that in the ultimate analysis, consumers are not just an algorithm and they have unique feelings and emotions too.

Hence, while personalisation can lead to an engaged customer and hence their retention, it can boomerang and generate customer irritation too. The skill is to be sensitive about how far is too far.

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Q. The role of a CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) is evolving rapidly with the advent of digital marketing. What new skills and attributes do you think are essential for a CMO to succeed in today’s marketing landscape?

A. Yes, the role change of the CMOs is very evident. I sometime wonder if one CMO can attend to all the tasks that are expected from her/him. Let’s look at the list of tasks keeping in mind the rising complexity of the job. For example, an organisation requires one CMO for thorough understanding of the product/ services to prepare a compelling and customer-friendly narrative, one CMO for understanding consumers by various age cohorts as the days of the homogeneous consumer are over. The heterogeneity is the new homogeneity. And understanding each type of consumer cohort isn’t a function of algorithm only. It involves ethnography also.

Thirdly, another CMO has to be comfortable with technology to innovate with the tech team to create not only to serve consumers but also to create a unique competitive advantage.

Fourthly, another CMO has to first decode third and zero party data to use it for micro marketing by consumer cohorts and by region for ensuring personalisation at scale.

Fifthly, the next CMO has to understand media very well. S/he has to be platform-agnostic in understanding the consumers’ media consumption habits but s/he has to vertically understand each medium’s uniqueness for leveraging user immersion.

The sixth CMO has to be expert in monetisation of all assets as that’s what rings the cash box. And creativity, like all others, in innovating different routes of monetisation would be critical differentiator.

The last CMO has to understand content very well as ultimately any narrative is about content that engages a consumer in a positive way within 8 seconds, which is the new normal of consumer attention.

Needless to say, while the uniqueness of each task has to be followed, the collective wisdom of each CMO would have the impact equivalent to a philharmonic orchestra. Territorial pettiness would make the organisation a loser.

I am conscious that I am proposing so many CMOs in an organisation and I can be assassinated by the current CMOs. But if you look at the task, as enumerated above, will it be possible to be a vertical expert on every subject? I believe that when one can’t change the game, it’s better to change the rules by playing the game differently.

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Q. A recent job ad for the EA of a vice chairman of a media conglomerate said the candidate should be in cahoots with English and a passout from a college like St Stephen’s or St Xavier’s? In a country ruled by the likes of Messrs Modi, Ambani and Adani, is this job requirement a fair ask?

A. I loved the advertisement. It has an attitude… not the usual boring recruitment ads. Since I had the opportunity of working with the Giant of a Man at BCCL many moons back, I know that one needs exceptional brilliance (I am not boasting that I brilliant, my being there was more due to a cosmic design and due to the generosity of the owner) and exceptional capability and copability to deliver a variety of outcomes (not outputs). I would hasten to add that the operating contexts are very different now from the one I operated.

All the qualities required for the job would only make the selected candidate more competent (through osmosis also) in the ever-evolving workspace in the new world order. So, it’s very fair for the biggest print media company to ask for such a talent to accentuate its growth agenda with the exceptional intellectual capability of the visionary Leader.

Coming to M-A-A, how do you know they (A-A) don’t own such talents? They are in the comity of the most successful companies in this country, if not in the world. They must be doing a lot of things right and they must have a high market share of exceptional talent  in the organisation and in diverse fields in which they operate. M has exceptional leadership capabilities. Hence, one needn’t always publicise to flaunt. After all, a tree is known by its fruits. And if wealth generation is one of the indicators of such a fruit, it implies that they have been on the right track.

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Q. It was Friendship Day yesterday (Sunday, August 4). Any one friend – other than your immediate family – who you would say contributed immensely to what you are today?

A. For me everyday is a Friendship Day as I am imbued on a principle of Vasudaiva Kurumbakam (read dostokam). One life is too short for nurturing hatred. Love for all is an easier route for mental peace.

This Friendship Day, I remembered all, including you, for making my journey on earth a memorable one. I am just a tourist on earth after all.

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Q. Come September and there is always talk of Indian media and entertainment players being copycats (given that many songs have been inspired from the film Come September’s popular song). What’s your view? Are we a nation of copycats?

A. I have a feeling that a ‘copycat’ sobriquet to Indians wouldn’t be fully fair. There are countries (eg in the north of India) who are known for being such copycats. Indians may use a different term – inspired – for justifying such copying.

I am not denying that some/many in the Indian startup ecosystem are known for copying. But by that logic even global tech giants are known for such copying. One obvious fall-out of a copycat mentality is that it stifles innovation bones amongst entrepreneurs. Copying saves the trouble of solving real-life problems of real people. But it’s also time-consuming and getting the eureka moment may not happen frequently and business opportunities might be squandered. I know, and sadly so, there are many who defend the copying by saying that imitation is the best form of flattery.

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Q. Last week, two associations of news broadcasters met the Prime Minister. Do you think it’s a good idea for news journalists to be appealing for sops and thereby compromising their editorial independence?

A. It’s a pattern in most of the countries: that is to approach the government to bail out an Industry/ organisation for its inefficiencies through sops. It’s a fact that the tax structure, import duties etc do affect the cost structure of all media companies but who audits the operational efficiencies of companies. Exorbitant cost structures affect profitability of companies and then the government has to bail them out. Government sops and media independence are contradictory in terms though ostensible platitudes about freedom of expression are always maintained even when a sop is accepted. It’s a vicious circle. So it’s not about good or bad idea when one approaches the government for sops, unitedly. But two bodies for one goal: I wonder if it’s a contradiction in terms.

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Q. This is the time when some of the trade associations elect/appoint new heads. Do the fresh appointments excite you with the prospects of changes and a whiff of fresh air?

A. Trade Associations have periodic rotation (generally two years) of leadership. So, there is nothing unusual about this. Secondly, the leadership team ensures a practice of continuity with change. Consequently, any leadership change would not result in a dramatically revised approach. The overall approach, in most cases, has been pro-industry and progressive. And they operate within the overall vision of the association. As members of such an association for quite some time, and I have remained energetic always with the approach of the new leadership.