MxMIndia

Category: BLOGS

  • It is important that the co-founders have a common vision in the game. As the promoter of the business, you should clearly articulate your vision, says Rohit Sharma.

    5 things to keep in mind while starting an online venture

    By Rohit Sharma

     

    #1 “Be Frugal” should be your mantra

    It is very important to be extremely frugal. Cash is King and start-ups should keep their fixed costs as low as possible. Try multitasking. It is important to conserve cash and be completely stingy before you raise the required capital for the business. Ideally, you should have capital for next 18 months either ready or in the pipeline.

     

    #2 Team, a critical success factor

    It is all about the team – their motivation levels, dedication and perseverance to make it happen. It is important that the co-founders have a common vision in the game. One of the biggest challenges is to hire the right start-up team (excluding the founders/co-founders). The team needs to be extremely good in terms of skill-sets; one also can’t afford to hire very expensive people. As the promoter of the business, you should clearly articulate your vision so that the start team comes on board completely motivated and with a strong belief in you and the business.

     

    #3 Business Metrics: Get them right

    It is very important to get the key business metrics of your business right from day one. Have complete clarity in terms of key growth drivers, revenue drivers and cost drivers and continuously monitor track more efficiency in the business. Business plans should not be made for the VCs, but for yourself and for the growth of the business. If you have done that successfully, VCs will anyways buy in.

     

    #4 Don’t give up too soon

    It is important for the entrepreneur, especially in the digital space to be extremely nimble and flexible. Mainly because the environment is very dynamic, business models are continuously changing, new technologies/innovation keep on coming, so one should be prepared to quickly adapt to newer business models if required. You might not be doing exactly the same thing eventually that you started with. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you have created a sustainable growth model in your business.

     

    #5 There is no experience like good customer experience

    It is very important to focus on a great customer experience. It is all about the right product that the customer loves and it could be the biggest differentiator for the business. One needs to spend disproportionate time to deliver an outstanding customer experience across all the value-chain components of your business. A great product or customer experience can be your biggest marketing tool.

     

    Rohit Sharma is the Founder, Wopshop.com.

     

  • This ad is from the house of Fevicol, and these guys have set a very high benchmark for themselves. When you view the new ad in that context, it's a let-down

    Debrief: Where’s the Fevi magic?

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The makers of Fevicol have launched a new variant called Fevicol Speedx, and as the brand name suggests, the promise is speed of bonding. And I must say Fevicol has disappointed me this time, I have always been a huge fan of their ads. This one just doesn’t have the usual Fevicol spark.

     

    In the commercial, a man orders a bed to be custom-made, and the conversation with the furniture supplier happens over the telephone. The buyer has many specifications, but as soon as he finishes the call, the bed arrives. A lot faster than a mass produced pizza. Yes, the furniturewallah makes and delivers stuff at lightning speed, courtesy Fevicol Speedx, of course.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuNS-QSJuPk[/youtube]

    Now if you examine the TVC in isolation, there’s nothing really wrong with it. It’s catchy and it’s single minded. Usually, one would give such an ad decent points. But this ad is from the house of Fevicol, and these guys have set a very high benchmark for themselves. (Think of the ‘unbreakable egg’ and the ‘packed bus’ commercials from the past.) And when you view the new ad in that context, it’s a let-down. Sure, the exaggeration route has been used again, but this time the idea is much too literal and predictable. After the first exposure, the TVC has as much charm as a regular pizza ad. The commercial doesn’t pack in the X-factor we usually associate with Fevicol adverts.

     

    Not happening, I say. Looks like the ad agency literally lived up to the brand name, and speeded to the client’s office with the first storyboard.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 2.5. And that’s a very poor score for a Fevicol advert.

  • In Freaking News, which will now appear every Tuesday and Friday, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare in the morning papers and the nightly news. And sometimes the afternooners, the newsmags and all that's on the Web

    Freaking News: SP goes UP, Times Now went down

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    What a mouth-watering cornucopia of choice, you think, as you settle down to watch the election results unfolding at 8 am on Tuesday morning, what with so many TV channels to choose from. In a couple of hours of course, you’re weeping at the cacophony, the grand, sweeping statements and the sheer confusion caused by so many channels.

     

    For once, the loser is perhaps Times Now. The channel, which so often knows what India wants to know, appears to have overplayed its hand. Its bizarre desire to clock 100 hours of election coverage meant that it started long before the results day and created unnecessary boredom for the viewer. Plus an enormous range of “guests” some of whom were colour-coordinated (Vinod Mehta and Meghnad Desai on Monday night and Meghnad Desai and Neerja Chowdhury on Tuesday morning) and too much on-screen graphic hysteria made Times Now distracting and the remote more appealing.

     

    CNNIBN made large generalisations even as early trends were being reported and then hopped back and forth to little avail. If Times Now had too much, CNNIBN did not have enough.

     

    In the English news segment, the battle seemed to be between NDTV and Headlines Today. NDTV had Prannoy Roy and Dorab Sopariwalla, the old and trusted team, bolstered by words of wisdom from Indian Express editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta. Headlines Today had Mani Shankar Aiyar to add his considerable wit to the mix apart from a very eager energetic Rahul Kanwal.

     

    I have to be honest here – I preferred NDTV until Barkha Dutt arrived, which is when I switched to Headlines Today – which by the way also claimed that only its exit polls were correct (more on that in a bit).

     

    Of the Hindi channels, Aaj Tak was professional and easy to watch – although they all have a better ground presence in terms of reporters than the English channels. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha channels both had serious debates and less fluff than all the others combined.

     

    Mid-morning, the confusion between the channels reached its climax as each of them showed different trends, some almost at odds with each other. At which point, I switched everything off and went for a walk!

     

    **

     

    It’s now 12.55 pm and we have no results yet but some very strong trends. Most exit polls had decided that the Samajwadi Party would win UP, but the feeling was for a hung assembly where the permutations and alliances would be paramount. Right now, it seems like a clear win for the SP. The BJP has not done as well as it must have expected and nor has the Congress – but it has done better than before. Most channels have been debating this “failure” of Rahul Gandhi in UP although the numbers show a Congress gain.

     

    Punjab was tagged as a clear Congress win but instead the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance has retained power – although the BJP’s losses have been the Congress’s gains.Uttarakhand is still too close to call – but again, it was seen as a Congress win.

     

    Manipur has gone to the Congress – as expected and Goa seems to be heading to the BJP, again as expected.

     

    **

     

    Which means once more, the Indian voter has done her own thing and flummoxed everyone.

     

  • It's obvious that one of the reasons the industry produces such few media innovations is the break-down of the full service ad agency

    Anil Thakraney: Full service agencies must return

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    In my interview with Lodestar’s Shashi Sinha, we discussed how the advent of media buying global conglomerates has killed the media planner. Here’s a link to the interview, in case you missed it: http://www.mxmindia.com/2012/03/the-media-planner-has-become-a-zombie-shashi-sinha/

     

    What gives me heart is that Shashi believes integration is the best way to work, and that he will re-start that structure in Interface. Good luck to him. That discussion also brought back memories of my days in advertising. When the client servicing, the creative team and the media planner would work under one roof and operate as one unit. And how that bonding facilitated many opportunities to conceptualize and execute cool media innovations for clients. Having quit the ad world a long time ago, I personally cannot even imagine working in an ad agency where there’s no media planner I can discuss ideas with. And nag her into making my crazy creatives come to life in the media. I shall go to the extreme and say that I consider the cutting off of the media function to be like an amputation, the loss of a limb.

     

    In fact, so connected were we with the media planners back in my days as a young account exec at O&M (then called OBM), I vividly recall that one evening when the then fiery media chief, Rhoda Mehta, threw me out of her department, accusing me of spending too much time with the girls in the media. Yes, in those days the media department was packed with members of the fairer sex, and I must also confess it wasn’t just work that attracted many of us lads to that pretty department. So, Rhoda wasn’t exactly over-reacting, heheh.

     

    On a serious note, it’s obvious that one of the reasons the industry produces such few media innovations is the break-down of the full service ad agency. A way has to be found to reverse things, and bring people back under a single roof. I am not sure how that can happen in these days of independent media buying outfits, and, therefore, we must all keenly observe how Shashi goes about things at Interface.

     

    Like it happens in Karan Johar’s weepy flicks, the broken family must re-unite for the greater good.

     

    * * *

     

    PS: Blast from the past! One cannot even imagine that a marketer would run such an advert in these times of militant feminism. The brand would get skewered on the streets. And what if this ad appeared on March 8, International Women’s Day?

     

    The brand manager won’t live to tell his version of the story, haha.

     

  • Having it all also means doing it all – and since you can't have three heads and six pairs of hands, Apurva Purohit has a few tips on managing your life and staying sane.

    The Anchor: 5 ways women can swing the work-life balance

    By Apurva Purohit

     

    #1 Learning to prioritize: We can’t be great moms and wives and great professionals, and have an active social life and learn painting and scuba diving all at the same time. So we need to make tough choices about what is essential and what is not. For years my husband and I didn’t socialize at all because whatever time we could spare from work was spent at home with our son.

     

    #2 Living with guilt: We have all dealt with the guilt of leaving a cranky child or an ailing parent at home while we rushed off to complete that presentation. Or with the guilt of missing an important office event to manage a household crisis. It is a fact that Indian moms have an exaggerated sense of guilt. My son doesn’t seem to have any emotional scars that I left him with his grandmom when he had chickenpox, but I carry along big welts 11 years later!

     

    #3 Asking for help: You know the biggest issue women have in asking for help? That it often accompanies loss of control. Losing control of the kitchen to your mother-in-law, or of the upbringing of your child to your mother. If you are prepared to let go, you can build a really powerful support system around you.

     

    #4 Hard work is a given: Finally, we all need to work exceptionally hard to manage both parts of our lives. As soon as the office shift gets over, the other shift of cooking/feeding/dealing with homework starts. I had morning, afternoon and evening sickness throughout the nine months of my pregnancy. But I just carried plastic bags and boarded the train for the one-hour journey to work every single day. And I know a lot of women friends and colleagues who dealt with similar issues without batting an eyelid.

     

    #5 Keep your foot on the pedal: At critical junctures in their lives, like marriage and babies, women need to make sure that they remain as focused on their career as they are on family. And use whatever support they can get – organization, parents, husband, in-laws – but keep their foot firmly on the pedal. It requires working doubly hard but it is worth the effort.

     

    Apurva Purohit is CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM.

     

  • The idea taps into the single-game malaise this nation suffers from, and it's time the other games got some attention. The TVC reflects the opinion of many, and so it's a good consumer insight.

    Debrief: Pepsi: Game changer

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Ah, so Pepsi wants to totally change the game for the upcoming summer. Previously their ‘change the game’ ads involved cricketers doing offbeat stuff. This time cricket itself is gone; it’s time for some football action.

     

    In the new TVC (and I suppose there will be many more as the heat picks up), brand ambassador Ranbir Kapoor asks a lad to forget practising his football skills, and instead opt for playing cricket. But the boy keeps ignoring him. Then they reach a non-functional Pepsi vending machine which Kapoor is unable to operate. The boy heads the ball onto the machine and a bottle pops out. Voila! Game changed!

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ior6SXL35NY[/youtube]

    Yes, it works for me. The idea taps into the single-game malaise this nation suffers from, and it’s time the other games got some attention. In that sense, the TVC reflects the opinion of many, and so it’s a good consumer insight. Also, the creative treatment is simple and fun, so that’s fine too.

     

    However, on a personal note, I wish Pepsi had changed the game to hockey, which is our national game and which is languishing big-time. It definitely needs all the attention it can get. Perhaps Pepsi will take that on in another commercial in this series, we’ll have to wait and watch. However, it must be said Pepsi has opened its innings on a promising note this summer.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 3. Moving away from thakela cricket refreshes the campaign.

     

  • In Freaking News, which will now appear every Tuesday and Friday, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare in the morning papers and the nightly news. And sometimes the afternooners, the newsmags and all that's on the Web

    Freaking News: It’s business as usual after the election euphoria

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Of course the media was to blame for the Bahujan Samaj Party’s loss in UP’s assembly elections. Sure, the Samajwadi Party, Congress and BJP were also involved but the media certainly played a role in the rout of Mayawati. Thankfully – perhaps – the former chief minister of UP did not blame the people, as Prakash Karat, chief dictator of the CPM did, after the Left managed to lose West Bengal to Mamata Banerjee.

     

    After the results were declared, TV land went into a sort of decline. Having expended this enormous amount of energy on getting the results out to the people in the usual frenzied fashion, the day after was a probably inevitable anti-climax. The arrival of Holi did not help either, because everyone went into holiday mood which for most TV channels means showing a stream of Hindi film songs (no point asking) and other fillers.

     

    Life was not different for newspapers as Holi meant holidays on different days across India. Was this a conspiracy by the Election Commission? If I were Mayawati or Salman Khurshid, I would certainly think so.

     

    The Times of India’s early edition for Dehra Dun on March 7 (more on the perils of being stuck with a mofussil edition coming soon) headlined the results as ‘UP has spoken, no Rahul Maya’, with the ‘sp’ of spoken in red. Other puns were also in evidence (Sonrise for Akhilesh and Bad Heir Day for Rahul Gandhi). The Hindustan Times went for ‘Akhilesh Pradesh’, DNA Mumbai had a bit of fun with ‘Rahul knocked down by cycle’.

     

    * * *

     

    Newspaper editorials summed up the results quite cogently. The Hindu argued that just depending on anti-incumbency isn’t enough; parties have to make more effort that expecting the other person to lose. The Times of India emphasised the fact that the Indian voter knows when someone is trying to take them for a ride and rather than traditional promises, deliverance and governance are the keys. Several commentators also pointed out that corruption at the Centre had an impact on local polls, which is bad news for the UPA and Anna Hazare, his team and Baba Ramdev had a little chuckle here. No one missed the fact that the regional parties had trumped the big two in UP either. The forthcoming perils for the UPA and the BJP have both been underlined.

     

    As expected, it takes print to make sense of anything and TV would do well to develop some expertise and analytical skills of its own.

     

    * * *

     

    By the time the euphoria died down, it was business as usual and the Samajwadi Party was up to its usual tricks which TV jumped on with alacrity – a young boy killed, journalists under siege, houses burnt. An IPS officer was killed in Madhya Pradesh, apparently by the mining mafia, several people in Mumbai were hospitalised by poisonous Holi colours and BS Yeddurappa wants his job back!

     

  • Media Planning adds D.R.A.M.A to every creative to make it larger. Karthik Lakshminarayan cites some examples

    5 reasons why behind every good creative is an even better media plan

    By Karthik Lakshminarayan

     

    #1 Media plans ‘Demonstrate’ brand promise

    People are increasingly becoming health-conscious these days and one cannot get past a dinner with family and friends without having a conversation around how everyone is watching what they eat or are trying hard to lose weight and maintain a ‘healthy heart’. Hence, when an oil brand which stood for heart health took the simple route of making an RJ lose weight ‘live’ on radio by adopting the brand, it helped ‘Demonstrate’ what the brand stands for, and took the creative forward and helped it work harder for the brand.

     

    #2 Media plans help brands promise become a ‘Reality’

    When a chocolate brand started celebrating every happy moment in our lives with chocolate, it was only a matter of time before passing exams became a part of the same. Hence, when the brand celebrated that and we had exam results available on the mobile platform, it was a media plan that made this promise a ‘Reality’ and every single student who passed his exam and looked up his results on the WAP platform had the brand message being dished out to them. This media plan won accolades across the globe!

     

    #3 Media plans show ‘Applicability’ in consumers’ lives

    The first time Indian Idol came about, it was a huge success and everyone remembers the hype and popularity the show created. However, to be able to reach each and every nook and corner of the country for auditions was physically impossible and hence evolved the concept of ‘Telecom Partner’, which helped people audition by recording themselves in specially designed booths and sending it to the channel.

    The ‘Applicability’ of the telecom partner was strengthened and helped people realise that telecoms help connecting people with not just people but also with their dreams.

     

    #4 Media plan help brands ‘Magnify’ their status

    Not so recently, when I was part of Colors and we launched the channel close on the heels of the high-profile launch of 9X and Imagine, we had to ‘Magnify’ the brand and what we stood for to consumers and woo them to our channel. The media plan was designed to Magnify the brand by using network strength and riding every single ad-break on the network with top and tail promos of brand Colors. This magnified the brand promise many times and the intrigue generated was high enough for the channel to be a part of the consideration set amongst viewers and more than magnified the creative of some of the lead shows like Fear Factor and Balika Vadhu.

     

    #5 Media plans that help brands ‘Amplify’ their promise

    Who can forget the famous ‘Kodak’ moments and how each and every happy moment is captured even today with these rather famous words – ‘Its a Kodak Moment’. The media plan that sought to ‘Amplify’ this promise rode on the largest media channel and the largest Bollywood award show of its time and the aptness is something which will be cherished for years to come.

     

    Karthik Lakshminarayan is the COO, Crest (Madison Media).

     

  • While production companies and the channels are ready to experiment, there seems to be a reluctance to totally deviate from the tried and tested stuff.

    Anil Thakraney: Sex and the city, anyone?

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Ekta Kapoor’s legendary saas bahu TV shows are officially dead. Both Tulsi mata and Parvati bhabhi over-stayed their visit to our living rooms, and that’s generally agreed upon. Further proof is Ekta’s increased attention to the movie business… the soap queen perhaps realizes that her sort of forever weeping, forever sacrificing, sati savitri naari is dead. And that’s a good thing; massive audience fatigue had set in on the format.

     

    However, after watching some of the new prime time daily soaps, I observed that the senior woman/younger woman face/off isn’t really over. Sure, the producers are attempting to feature the ‘modern’ woman and the plots now include remarriage, late marriage, young girl/old man, wife beater husband, and so on. But almost always, lurking in a dark corner, is an older woman who’s ready to give our young protagonist some serious stress. We haven’t really eschewed kitchen politics, in that sense.

     

    And I suppose the reason is this: Production companies, and more importantly the entertainment channels, are playing a safe game. There is a formula that’s worked in the past, and while they are ready to experiment with new ideas, there seems to be a reluctance to totally deviate from the tried and tested stuff. Too much money rides on television programming, there are also sponsors to worry out, and so it makes sense to be cautious. Fair enough, I understand where they are coming from.

     

    However, I do believe time has come for a ‘Sex and the City’ sort of a show. This could be exclusively targeted at the upmarket urban women (they are the ones with money power), a segment that really has nothing tailored for it on the massy entertainment channels. It’s a badly starved segment. In any case, high living, blind dating, promiscuity, binge boozing… all of that (and more) goes on in the metro towns. So why not capitalize on it?

     

    Yup, it’s a slot waiting to be filled; it’s a great programming opportunity. And the first mover will have the big advantage. Marketers of premium brands would be very interested in such a show. A chance for them to exclusively reach the hip, loaded, urban woman.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kKAq6lHgeY[/youtube]

    So people, ready for some sex and sleaze in our living rooms. Any takers?

     

    * * *

     

    PS: Fabulous, fabulous media innovation fromIsrael. To create awareness on the problems faced by those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Hats off to the creators.

     

    Brilliant stuff.

     

  • Freedom for radio seems the final frontier in a media environment that is otherwise relatively unfettered. Uday Chawla’s take on what it’ll take to break the shackles.

    The Anchor: 5 ‘must-do’s for the future of radio in India

    By Uday Chawla

     

    #1 A level playing field is needed

    Under Phase III, content freedom is still severely restricted. Only AIR-provided news capsules can be broadcasted. Current affairs and even sports commentary are restricted. There is no such restriction on print, television or even the internet. The government’s view is that a central monitoring system is needed to be put in place before news on FM is freely allowed. With the process on, early lifting of restrictions should be expected. (Even in Nepal, news on FM is freely allowed.)

     

    #2 DAVP rates should be rationalised

    Government advertisement rates need to be equal across all media, but currently they are heavily skewed against FM. For instance, local newspapers are given a rate of Rs.159 per column cm per lakh reach, while for FM it is over 10 times less even for a 10-second spot. There has been a high listenership growth in FM and on an average FM now reaches 70 per cent of populations in metros. In smaller towns it should be higher. The criterion for relative ad rates within a city amongst different FM should be logical and transparent.

     

    #3 A transparent system for license extension is needed

    Under the phase II policy, licenses were issued for 10 years, while under Phase III they will be issued for 15 years. A license period of 10 or15 years, with absolute darkness or renewal parameters, discourages away investors and bankers. Even now, phase II players have no idea on what or when is the license extension criterion, and thus making it extremely difficult for them to raise funds for even FM phase III bidding. The solution therefore lies in having prefixed and transparent extension criteria even at the time of allocation of first licenses.

     

    #4 Developing and regulating human resources

    With 800-plus new radio stations to be set up under Phase III, a four-fold increase, there will be a huge demand for radio journalists. Emerged and emerging content freedom means that a more trained and disciplined RJ resource would be required.

    I believe content freedom brings greater responsibility on radio and incidents like the Darjeeling violence (caused by a derogatory remark by an RJ) puts national security and unity under risk. Therefore a self-regulatory content code needs to be formulated and implemented.

     

    #5 Building Brand Radio

    Currently Brand Radio is not top-of-mind, be it government or shareholders or even advertisers, and this is not because radio has less reach or is less effective than other medium. In fact radio is the only medium that can be simultaneously consumed along with other activities. Besides, it is also the only medium that can reach the most remote areas of the country and I believe that there is an emerging India in smaller cities and towns, which can be opened up through FM.

     

    Uday Chawla is the Secretary General, Association of Radio Operators for India (AROI).

     

  • I like the strategy. Rather than use the tried and tested route of boasting about Thomas Cook's great work, better to make fun of the rivals

    Debrief: IndusInd Bank: Dull and annoying

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    A rather exasperating campaign from IndusInd Bank. I know this is feature-based advertising, but that’s no excuse, really.

     

    The commercial I watched features Bollywood veteran actress Neetu Singh and young actor called Jimmy Shergill, who plays her son. Promoting ‘Cash-On-Mobile’, it has Singh shopping for a surprise gift for her son. In a rather haughty manner, she dismisses all the shop assistants, constantly claiming that ‘I know everything’. At the cashier’s desk the bravado vanishes when she realizes she’s broke. She calls her son for help, who in turn transfers money to mommy instantly, via IndusInd Bank, of course.

     

    There are multiple problems with this ad. To begin with, the actress’s continuous drone grates the ears; this is not humour, it’s irritation for the viewer. If you find Singh continuously shouting ‘I know everything’ to be funny, you need help.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7GBhH4XO1g[/youtube]

    Two, the ad is totally literal and predictable, therefore it has zero entertainment value. Waste of expensive movie actors. And finally, Ms Neetu Singh is a rarity in advertising. So to cast a man who’s not her son in real life jars a bit. A better idea would have been to not use Shergill, they could have cunningly used a voice-over that sounds like Mr Ranbir Kapoor. That would have injected a little charm.

     

    Alas, was not to be.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 1. Complete wash out.

  • A digital presence is not something special any more – but it also does not mean brand should take digital for granted. Vineet Gupta outlines why and how this is an exciting medium that should be milked for all it's worth.

    The Anchor: 6 reasons why brands can’t ignore digital

    By Vineet Gupta

     

    #1 Digital is no more youth-centric or an urban phenomenon. It cuts across various age groups and touches a cross-section of society. For a brand it becomes imperative to be present in a medium that cut across geographies and age groups.

     

    #2 Digital is not an advertising medium but a medium of engagement. If earlier, it was brands that were sending out information to the consumers, now it’s a reversal of that game. Consumers seek information and are proactively engaging with brands on the digital platform, thus giving brands immense opportunity to engage with their consumers in a much more meaningful way.

     

    #3 Today, it is about mobility and being connected on the move. The consumer is engaging on a real-time basis with brands while being on the move. Access is via multiple screens and it doesn’t really matter where and how the consumer is connecting – but it’s important that he or she wants to be connected at all times with the brand.

     

    #4 The early adopters of the digital medium were brands that were looking for lead generation. Now many brands have gone beyond that and built an entire eco-system around the digital platform, including building communities or developing e-commerce platforms. This is the way forward for brands.

     

    #5 The future belongs to brands that have understood this medium and are using it not just for a brand building exercise. One has to realize that digital plays an important role in the purchase decision. Therefore there is a need to understand that it is much more than a marketing medium and all aspects like information, consumer feedback, sales and distribution should be built on this medium.

     

    #6 Lastly, digital is an important medium in the purchase funnel. Whether it is seeking information, desire to purchase or the action of purchasing, all can be done on this medium. Brands have to look at digital beyond just advertising.

     

    Vineet Gupta is the Managing Partner of 22feet.