MxMIndia

Category: Digital

  • These and more results emerge in a Search Advertising Playbook published by GroupM and Amazon Advertising

    62% of urban Indian Net users research for products online

     

    By Our Staff

     

    GroupM along with Amazon Advertising India, have launched a Search Advertising playbook titled ‘Decoding the shift in consumer behaviour to win on search’ with a report on search consumer journeys and how consumers are leveraging online platforms for not only buying products but also for holistic product research.

     

    Notes a communique: “Over the past year, consumer behaviour and purchase patterns have seen a drastic change. Urban consumers have started conducting their product research thoroughly before making any purchase online or offline. The playbook indicates that urban consumers are researching on at least two platforms before making up their mind while Amazon.in is has emerged as a preferred platform for product research. Around 62% of urban internet users research for products online, before making any online or offline purchase; 52% of urban internet users who research online, visit amazon.in to research products before making an online or offline purchase.”

     

    Online product research influences offline sales since 50% of offline shopping across categories involves prior online product research.

     

    A few takeaways from this playbook are:

    • Growth of digital for product research before making purchase decisions

    • in is emerging as one of the trusted brands for product research

    • 89% consumers discover new products and brands on in

    • 60% ads influenced purchase journeys are inspired by search ads

     

    Said Tushar Vyas, President – Growth and Transformation, GroupM South Asia: “The last year has seen a rapid shift in purchase decision making and channel preference for purchases with more consumers now researching and purchasing online. This trend is only accelerating with not only metro consumers but consumers from smaller cities and towns. Furthermore, the role of e-Commerce platforms in the purchase funnel is undergoing a change with more consumers relying on them from a product research point of view. With most of these behaviors set to only accelerate in the coming years, we at GroupM will continue to prioritize and focus on creating knowledge and bringing forth solutions to our clients to effectively navigate this ecosystem.”

     

    Added Vijay Iyer, Director-Ad Sales, Amazon Advertising India:“With the drastic increase in media consumption, online and eCommerce platforms have become the go-to destination for urban consumers to make a product and brand choice before making a purchase online or offline. The search environment provides brands the opportunity to reach ‘intent’ consumers and create awareness in the early phase of the purchase journey. Native search advertising formats aid in establishing a seamless connection with researching audiences. This playbook aims at helping brands understand the behavioral trends with respect to consumer demand and discusses recommended strategies to drive awareness and performance on amazon.in”

     

    The playbook can be downloaded here.

     

  • To create physical and digital consumer touchpoints

    Bluebot Digital bags creative mandate for Neobank Zolve

    By Our Staff

     

    Neobank Zolve has awarded its creative mandate to the Bangalore-based Bluebot Digital.

     

    Commenting on their association with Bluebot, Vatsala Kothari, Marketing Lead, Zolve said: “As we are gearing up to launch our products in the next few months, we are thrilled to have Bluebot partnering with us to build a brand that would be synonymous with global banking. There is a very real need for a product like Zolve’s and we are confident in our ability to create tangible value for the large segment of global citizens with financial needs across multiple countries.”

     

    Added Carl Savio, CCO and Founder, Bluebot Digital said: “We’re very excited to partner with Zolve and help them build on their marketing goals. As a brand, they have all the right things going for them – a fantastic product, a clear vision and a team that is eager to create disruption. Neobanking is an exciting, young category that has tremendous scope for creativity and we’re looking forward to doing some game-changing work.”

  • Collaborates with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle

    Voot Studio brings series on inspiring women in Asia

    By Our Staff

     

    Voot Studio has partnered with German international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, to stream the progressive series ‘Her- Women in Asia’. The series is based on the inspiring real-life transformational stories of women from the Asian sub-continent.

     

    Speaking about the association, Chanpreet Arora, Head AVOD (Voot), Viacom18 Digital Ventures, said: “As an effective partner of choice for brands, Voo Studio has been successful in driving a brand’s message and reach by providing the right platform and relevant audience engagement opportunity. Our collaboration with Deutsche Welle’s ‘HER- Women in Asia’ is a step further in this direction to bring forth stories that are relevant and have a universal appeal. We are happy to partner with them to showcase an engaging and inspiring series that will strike the right chord with our viewers on Voot.”

     

    Commenting on the collaboration, Daniel Schulz, Distribution Manager for DW in Asia, said: “We are excited to be joining hands with a partner like Voot to reach out to India’s diverse audience which is interested in both entertainment as well as informative and valuable content. Our goal is to promote versatility and ensure that real life stories on important topics like women’s empowerment, cultural diversity, environment, technology, and sustainability are accessible to people across the globe. We are constantly working not only to meet the audience’s expectations of being a credible news destination, but also to create motivating stories and educational programs for curious minds.”

     

  • As with any pack of cards, this crash was waiting to happen, writes Shashidhar Nanjundaiah

    Twitter, the editor: What the loss of safe harbour means

     

    By Shashidhar Nanjundaiah

     

    Shashidhar NanjundaiahTwitter is no longer a common carrier or an intermediary as it lost its “safe harbour” legal cover yesterday under Section 79 of the IT Act. In real terms, this means that the social media platform will now be responsible for what the Twitterati says on its platform. It is no longer a (presumed) hubless network of global chatter. After it did not appoint a full-time officer incharge of compliances, the country managing director will now be criminally liable for inflammatory or hateful remarks that are tweeted.

     

    The loss of indemnity against what its users say means that the essence of the business model of social media has come crashing down. As with any pack of cards, this crash was waiting to happen. But the concern for the billions of social media users is much larger. Twitter and other social media giants have argued that their business is like that of a telephone company—a “common carrier”.

     

    But as intermediaries, their role is not as simple as that. If you have ever been in a situation where a post on Facebook or LinkedIn finds a high number of views and the next one is a dud, based on several algorithmic parameters, it means that the role of the social media platform is not that of a common carrier at all. There is intervention, and it is largely technological, but then what isn’t automated these days? Unlike an editor, a social media company will not edit the content of what we write. It is far more democratic that way than a newspaper. But there is intervention—like an editor who “gatekeeps” a newspaper, assigning various pages, positions, lengths, and levels of prominence to news stories. Assigning prominence is a form of editorial intervention.

     

    Editorialisation means that the social media business model that is fed to us—that the social media is the truly free marketplace of ideas—should be questioned. Users may assume that because of the sheer volumes, their posts have the same chance of visibility—and impact—as their neighbour’s. Have social media platforms been transparent with us about how it all really works, and whether it is simply an organic process like Darwin’s natural selection?

     

    In real terms, this also means that social media is finally showing that it, too, has a lifecycle. After a decade of growth-the most unregulated and unfettered among modern technological growths-things seem to be cooling off, and that is something a report had predicted, based on the trends nearly three years ago. An Oxford University-Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s Digital News Report for 2018 had reported that for the first time since the social media phenomenon began more than 15 years ago among users in the 37 countries across continents that the report included (not including India, though), its use for news consumption has shown a decline.

     

    Liberal policies in a democracy implicitly must assume one factor that really is debatable—fairness. If a government tangos with private players and creates the shield of opacity from regular folks, the users, that wouldn’t really fair. On the other hand, it can’t be fair to hold a company responsible for what its consumers do, because those users are not employed by the company. For example, the bicycle manufacturer cannot be held responsible for a bicycle rider who chooses to ride illegally on the wrong side of the road. But in a social media model, the company and the user are bound by a trapeze-like relationship, bound to each other for a critical moment of use.

     

    The technical problem with the company’s responsibility is that any damage can only be mitigated, in the form of a post facto response. We have not reached the stage of technological prowess of some sci-fi films where an impending incident can be prevented. But those crucial minutes, hours or days are all-important in impact terms. So what can a social media platform do to prevent further erosion of its business model? A precautionary method could be to filter out bots and fake profiles. Another possibility is, can it delay each post and hold back a post for manual scrutiny when the content seems shady? What’s the big rush to post everything live anyway—especially if we can all agree that intervention is a reality? Surely these solutions are possible to implement?

     

    Whether the results of corporate responsibility for user content will be good or bad depends on who you are. It would be naïve to assume that everything will go according to the spirit of the law. Twitter will now be an easier target for those who find a post inconvenient, and when users find that their legal responsibility is indirect at best, one wonders whether bad content will be prone to sink even further. Twitter may need to bar many, many more people than ever before.

     

    But patriotic societies like walls. Social media platforms have been betraying the preferred strategy of how our hypernationalistic nation wants to project itself. That discrepancy is far less pronounced in countries where they don’t really care that much. For us, these platforms have been uncontrolled dhobi ghats for our dirty linen, and that is not how we prefer it.  Now finally someone will have some control on how we communicate about ourselves.

     

    Shashidhar Nanjundaiah has headed private schools of journalism and media in India. Currently in an independent capacity, Prof Nanjundaiah feels the need for better news literacy especially among younger audiences. He writes on MxMIndia often. His views here are personal

     

     

  • To offer smarter digital solutions to upscale its offerings

    Zirca Digital Solutions becomes certified Google Partner

    By Our Staff

     

    Zirca Digital Solutions is now a certified Google partner to offer digital solutions to upscale its offerings.

     

    Said Karan Gupta, Managing Director, Zirca: “We are thrilled to announce this partnership as the team had worked really hard for this. We have vested in using the technology and platforms to help extend quality solutions to all our clients. With the rapid move to online platforms, we are looking for more meaningful ways to bring outcomes and strive for growth. This is a huge game changer for us and the kind of services we provide to clients”

     

    Added Neena Dasgupta, CEO and Director, Zirca Digital Solutions, added: “At Zirca, we always put our best on knowledge, research and insights driven decisions. Our google partnership reflects our commitment towards delivering smarter and holistic solutions to our partners. Zirca will always strive to present the industry and consumers with insights that will help them make better business decisions.”

     

  • The OTT platform plans to have some new Hindi web series, web movies, short films and new shows coming soon

    Watch out Netflix, Prime Video, Hotstar… Ping Pong is here

    By Our Staff

     

    A new OTT Hindi platform, Ping Pong Entertainment, has been launched by entrepreneur Jeevan Baban Jadhav.  The channel plans to have some new Hindi web series, web movies, short films and new shows coming soon.

     

    Jeevan Baban Jadhav
    Jeevan Baban Jadhav

    Commenting on the making of ‘Ping Pong Entertainment’, Jadhav, who is CMD of the OTT provder said, “The people of Maharashtra have always respected the national Hindi language, so I have chosen Hindi as the national language while launching the OTT channel in the entertainment sector. ‘Ping Pont Entertainment’ is succeeding by reaching the expected stage ahead of time. Our web series, short films, Bollywood movies and other entertainment programs are getting the audience’s liking.”

     

    With a name like ‘Ping Pong’, the OTT service has got a headstart. Now for the content. Anything to beat Family Man or Sacred Games?

     

  • Will handle overall planning, strategising, and executing of digital campaigns

    Agency09 bags digital mandate for Mahindra Solarize

    By Our Staff

     

    Mahindra Solarize has appointed Agency09 to lead the integrated communications and digital mandate. As a part of the mandate, the agency is responsible for defining the brand positioning and core values for Mahindra Solarize. It will also handle the overall planning, strategizing, and executing of digital campaigns and content online.

     

    Speaking on awarding the communication and digital duties to Agency09, Param Mandloi, Head – Digital Transformation & Supply Chain, Mahindra Solarize said, “Agency09 has done exceptional work with the other solar divisions of Mahindra (Mahindra Susten, Mahindra Teqo). We truly believe that our affiliation with them will help us grow and set new benchmarks as we promote sustainable change and innovation.”

     

    Added Rajesh Patalia, Chief Strategy Officer, Agency09: “It is always an honour to work with the Mahindra Group of Companies. We are delighted to associate with Mahindra Solarize to help them position this brand as a key player in the solar power and renewable energy space, and set higher benchmarks in the solar industry.”

     

     

  • Throws insights on the change in advertiser spends and the performance

    InMobi launches report on mobile video ads

    By Our Staff

     

    According to InMobi’s State of Programmatic Mobile Video Advertising in India report, there are 356 million mobile video viewers in India. The report throws insights on the change in advertiser spends and the performance of video as a format from data analysed on the InMobi Advertising Platform between January 2020 and January 2021.

     

    Commenting on the state of programmatic videos in India, Vasuta Agarwal, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, said: “In the recent years, online video consumption has exploded across the globe. The increasing mobile video consumption, which was seemingly an emerging trend during the lockdown, is now redefining the advertising strategies of some of the leading brands. With the time spent in watching videos at an all-time high and the growing engagement, we see a strong potential for programmatic advertising across sectors.”

     

  • With brands forever wanting to go ‘viral’, memevertising can help accomplish the goal, writes Bhuvi Gupta

    How Meme Marketing has become a Must-have Arsenal for the Modern-day Marketer

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaDifferent reports peg India’s social media user base anywhere between 350–400 million users. That is roughly the population of the United States. The millennial and Gen-Z generations that form a bulk of this number talk in a universal language of emojis and memes. Memes have penetrated our style of communication indelibly.

     

    A subset of moment marketing – Memevertising – is not just having a moment but is here to stay. Like emojis, the language of memes is universal. Memes work because they take universally relatable scenarios coupled with a striking expression on the faces of the meme star(s). This creative hence can lend itself to multiple and different interpretations and hence spreads.

     

    The word meme has its origins in the Greek word mimetic, which means to imitate. As per Wikipedia, a meme is formally defined as “a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Considering the increase in time spent online due to the pandemic, and difficulty in communicating via non-verbal signals, now more than ever before memes should be an essential part of a marketers toolkit.

     

    In today’s hyper-connected world where all brands aspire to go ‘viral’ at all times meme marketing or memevertising is a great way to actually accomplish the goal.

     

    Don’t be blatant, be subtle:

    Memes have a unique structure in which they put a humorous or relatable twist in a piece of communication that is essentially derivative. However, the best memes do not reference brands via their name but the more intangible elements such as the personality, positioning and values. Like moment marketing, memes capitalise on contemporary situations such as sporting tournaments like IPL, Wimbledon, politics, trending TV shows and movies etc. Hence, most memes have a shelf life so timing becomes key.

     

    Doing it right:

    Today, brands have elaborate content calendars where in they play to every celebrated stereotype and day just to ride on the trend. A lot of this effort often gets lost because the messaging is generic, it doesn’t fit the target audience, and there is a glut of content.  While leveraging memes, this risk is heightened, as memes by their nature are light-hearted. So treading with caution is essential to avoid a misfire.

     

    The caveat is of course that even when consciously trying to ride on trends, brands must understand their brand, target audience, consumer behaviour profiles so that relevant people discover the generated virality.

     

    Agility & Responsiveness: 

    Brands need to be agile and responsive to create and sustain brand value today. This is true of managing their reputation online, assessing dynamic consumer behaviors and moment marketing. Most of this, brands are already doing. Memevertising is but an extension of that.  To capitalise on the day that social media posting has to create a few different expression and globally known stars.

     

    Spreading the message:

    In terms of the marketing funnel memevertising fits into  ‘awareness’ stage. By capitalising on trends, brands have an opportunity to get discovered by an audience that may not have been exposed to the brand before.

     

    Hence, if brands nail their memevertising they must ensure there is an effort to distribute their messaging. This can be done by animating memes into GIFs and sharing them on GIPHY, and Google-owned Tenor. These platforms allow brands to have brand channels and are integrated with social media platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook etc.

     

    Netflix, Drake & Irrfan Khan – The meme:

    More than his music, Drake would be remembered for how he has used memes to create his indelible brand across the world. Whether or not one has heard his music the world has definitely seen and mostly forwarded one of the renditions of his ‘Hotline Bling’ meme. A designed strategy, which has helped him gain worldwide, fame and has a million lessons for marketers.

    Irrfan Khan also famously replicated this meme while marketing the film ‘Hindi Medium‘ with AIB in 2017. Khan replicated the Top 6 trending meme formats at the time. The irony of course is that all six original memes are as popular today as they were four years ago.

     

    Netflix is another master at memevertising. A glance at their social media timeline is a lesson for budding memevertisers, because they are witty, on trend, never blatant about their brand name.

     

    In conclusion, memes and gifs are here to stay and to brand must use them in their digital marketing calendars.

     

     

     

  • Will be handling performance marketing duties for the brand

    AdClear wins digital mandate for The News Minute

    By Our Staff

     

    AdClear Digital Marketing has been awarded the growth mandate for The News Minute, digital news platform.  AdClear will be handling performance marketing duties for The News Minute, to help it enhance its reach and scale up audience discovery.

     

    Vignesh Vellore
    Vignesh Vellore

    Said Vignesh Vellore, CEO, The News Minute: “Good SEO is not about gaming the system, it’s a long-term strategy focusing on adhering to the rules and building a reputable news website for the users. Discoverability is an important factor and we wanted to ensure that this would be achieved without having to compromise on our content. We also did not want to become an internet factory and just produce stories for the sake of traffic. AdClear understood our needs and were able to create a path which would allow us to focus on what we do best – Good Journalism”

     

    Gurbir Singh
    Gurbir Singh

    Commenting on the win, Gurbir Singh, CEO, AdClear added: “The News Minute has become immensely popular over the last few years and this is borne out by the huge audience base it has accumulated. Independent and unbiased journalism have made TNM what it is today. We are truly excited to partner with a media house which has huge potential for growth. AdClear will shape and execute the SEO strategy to enhance TNM’s reach in current and newer markets.”

     

  • To promote its investment app – Moneyfy

    Viscomm launches digital campaign for Tata Capital

    By Our Staff

     

    Tata Capital unveils a digital campaign to promote its investment DIY smart App – Moneyfy. The digital campaign will be live across various digital and social media platforms. These include News and Music Apps, OTT platforms, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The campaign is conceptualised by Viscomm Communications.

     

    Speaking on the latest Moneyfy campaign, Abonty Banerjee, Head of Marketing, Tata Capital said: “Investments including mutual funds as an asset class has gained significant traction across digital platforms. Investors today are far more comfortable using digital mediums to research, invest and plan. Moneyfy with all its new best- in-class compelling features and offerings promises to serve the new -to -investment as well digitally savvy investors to achieve their financial goals. Our new campaign gives us the opportunity to engage with our customers and guide them in their financial journey.”

     

  • After the completion of the digital exclusive, the show will move seamlessly to Colors after six weeks as Bigg Boss Season 15

    Bigg Boss 15 to air first on Voot, 6 weeks ahead of Colors

    By Our Staff

     

    Bigg Boss, India’s biggest reality show, will first air on Voot, not the GEC where it’s grown into the phenomenon that it has been.

     

    Called Bigg Boss OTT, it will premiere next month (August 2021) with “unprecedented access, engagement, and interactivity empowering viewers to immerse themselves in the journey of contestants in the Bigg Boss house”. In addition to the hour-long episode on Voot, viewers will get a chance to watch exclusive cuts, round-the -clock content drops and an interactive 24×7 LIVE feed from the house. After the completion of the digital exclusive, the show will move seamlessly to Colors after six weeks as Bigg Boss Season 15.

     

    Gourav Rakshit

    Speaking about the launch of Bigg Boss first on Voot, Gourav Rakshit, Chief Operating Officer, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, said: “Voot has grown to become home to entertainment in India through industry leading engagement and shareworthy content across originals, international, catchup and content-around-content segments. The launch of Bigg Boss OTT exclusively on Voot before TV is poised to be yet another game changer in digital entertainment and a step forward in further cementing our position as the most loved consumer entertainment brand. This season is set to empower our audiences through unparalleled category defining innovation through interactivity which we are sure will provide significant to our users, advertisers and brands alike.”

     

    Explaining the content strategy behind Bigg Boss OTT, Manisha Sharma, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18, said: “Bigg Boss, over the years, has grown to become a phenomenon that drives conversations across the country. With the launch of Bigg Boss OTT, our digital audiences are in for a treat. The new digital exclusive format will take the show’s fandom to its next level through active engagement with viewers being able to play a part in the show’s progress. The beauty of this show lies in the versatility of format and the massive popularity it commands – both aspects helping us in customizing the show as two different content offerings for the two different platforms while maintaining its core ethos.”