Category: MEDIA

‘If properly used, mobile can be invaluable to a marketer’

By Lloyd Mathias

Mobile, unlike most media is not a gender specific medium. It is equally effective across genders and geographies. It is a medium all set for the big leap. Key reasons mobile is emerging as a relevant medium are:

1. It is an always on device. On 24X7. A mobile is with a person all the time – even at his bedside when asleep. It is not used sporadically like other media. It enables marketers to deliver their message at the most relevant time.

2. It is an extremely personal medium. As a one-on-one medium, an advertiser can connect with his target audience individually. Availability of demographic and psychographic profiles of the target persons makes targeting very sharp and focused – to the extent that smart advertisers can even address the target audience by name. Properly mined marketers not only know the demographics but also other variables like usage patterns, location, and other lifestylye choices.

3. The reach of the mobile among Indias consumtpion class is unvrivalled. Today at over 850 million users – even discounting for duplication is ahead of most other media. However, must concede that television is still ahead on impact given the nature of audio visual media – and poor levels of literacy.

An ‘Organised Chaos’ strategy would augur well for brands

By Sudhir Nair

It is difficult to summarise or prioritise what I one should do for brand loyalty. While brands do have products that cater to men and women individually; brand loyalty is a universal challenge. In today’s day and age, rather digital age, a consumer is the most tortured soul. Tortured by brands, by the choices he has, due to the decisions he has to make, peer pressure, family pressure…and whatever else. This is unlikely to change. In fact, the clutter is just going to increase. Not just in terms of brands, but also in terms of different digital assets/technologies consumers will adopt. In simple terms it will be absolute chaos.

While I was trying to understand what chaos means in advertising and what it means specifically in digital, I thought of the “Chaos Theory”.

Chaos: When the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future. (Edward Lorenz)

It also is an apt definition of where the digital world is headed or will be. A state of perpetual beta.

In this rather chaotic scenario; brands will find it increasingly difficult to grab the consumers attention, build/retain loyalty, engage with them, have conversations, be forgiven, increase awareness, build consideration, anticipate, transact… etc.

4. It can and should be used for contextual messaging. Relevant advertising and marketing messages can be delivered at relevant time. Geographically relevant messages are gaining in popularity – they deliver desired results for the marketers. A shopping related message while entering a mall is relevant to the receiver of the message, and hence welcomed.

5. Last, but not the least, one can also transact on the mobile especially if it’s a smart phone. It is convenient and one can book last minute tickets etc via mobile.

Hence, properly used a mobile can be invaluable to a marketer.

The medium does not have a gender skew, and it is an equally effective medium for men and women. While in lower SECs, penetration of phones among men may be higher than women right now, women’s use of phones is on the rise. In higher SECs there is already parity in phone usage.

If we speak specifically of benefits for women, mobile is an empowering tool for women. It provides heightened awareness in terms of security and among smart phone users the location based apps help. There also are many mobile apps that make shopping an even more pleasurable affair for women (and men!)- and helps them in making more informed choices. An interesting example here would be uploading one’s picture, and checking out which outfit or colour suits one the best.

Hence, what could possibly work is an “Organised Chaos” strategy.

Organised Chaos – is a planned way of putting some method in the madness and expose consumers to different levels of communications. It is in by no means intended to be linear; it cannot be. These are well planned/orchestrated communication patterns.

How can you organise chaos? There are 10 different key points I have mentioned, a combination of these should ideally work across all digital touch points; including social.

1. Know your consumer: Listen, learn and most importantly remember

2. Communicate: It cannot be campaign to campaign or a new product launch

3. Define touch points: Know what is irrelevant

4. Create patterns of communication: Not for the brand or product but for the consumer

5. Data visualisation: Don’t just visualise data, visualise messaging

6. Real-time messaging: These patterns are dynamic

7. Story telling patterns: Inspire, surprise and flirt

8. Everything is an opportunity, including a crisis

9. In crisis identify pigeons

10. End with consumer(s).

‘Design is an important strategic tool that’s making a difference’

By Rajesh Kejriwal

The one thing we hear everyone say is – let’s create a great social brand. But somehow, the thing everyone tends to forget is that brands inherently are neither social nor emotional – human beings are. People use their emotional quotient to engage with brands and not vice-versa.

And this is where design and traditional advertising defers. While advertising agencies are working to get the message across by creating campaigns and activations, designers work on connecting brands to people by understanding needs and expression. Design becomes especially important in making this connection especially when speaking to the youth. And youth here, today is represented by psychographic rather than a demographic.

Because, looking inwards to tell a story is a limiting approach. Designers inherently conceptualize basis the audience, their behaviour and needs – joining in the conversation rather than trying to create a new one. Young minds are restless, they are simply not interested in the world of tactical buzzwords and marketing jargon. They spend their time ignoring you, your campaigns and activations, discounts and incredible two-for-one offers. And this is where design becomes pivotal.

PR, a big influential medium for the youth

By Hemant Kenkre

Until the early eighties, I don’t think there was an audience segment called the ‘youth.’ That was till the birth of one of the most iconic brands in entertainment, Music Television (MTV). The first channel in the ‘music’ genre actually created the segment from a marketing perspective. Apart from on- air promos, the biggest marketing tool used by MTV was Public Relations.

From the ‘I Want My MTV’ campaign in the United States to the MTV VJ Hunt in India, the youth were kept engaged having constant conversations on and off-air with the channel that understood them best. From MTV and [V] to Coca-Cola and Pepsi, youth brands have used PR and Communications to effectively connect with the Indian youth. From campaigns around cricket, films and music to pro-social initiatives (CSR) pertaining to health issues and education, brands have continued to attract young people from all walks of life irrespective of social backgrounds.

Today, PR campaigns targeted at the youth have moved from traditional platforms into the digital domain. Not just brands but even political parties have realised that having conversations on social media has a huge impact on their reputations. Case in point being the Aam Admi Party which has been holding the attention of young Indians, who have catapulted maverick crusaders into a position of power in less than three months.

A well designed brand and product experience represents more than just its USP and IP. Far from a flurry of numbers and excel sheets – the brand becomes the experience. It is the single opportunity to stand for something – something that’s relevant to the audience. Design cannot be dumped into one mass of an all encompassing entity. Rather it is the specialities that make the difference. Right from crafting the story of your brand, the values it represents, the tone of voice it uses to converse, the typography it uses to speak, the colours it uses to attract and so on.

Designers and design practices bring precision and coherence to a brand. And this is true for a variety of brands. Innocent don’t just make smoothies and Google is not just code. And in India too, brands like Indigo and Fastrack represent an attitude that reflects the youth of our country. These brands are all having a more evolved conversation with the youth by using design across sections to really hide what needs to be hidden and leave what’s unsaid to the imagination.

Design is an important strategic tool that’s making a difference. And it is not because design is ‘cool’ but, rather because of who designers are – young at heart, rebellious, inherently experimental and great storytellers. But don’t take it for granted because in truth while everything is designed only a few things are designed well.

The right ‘message’ (the fulcrum around which a PR campaign revolves) of removing corruption started two years ago when lakhs of young Indians rallied around a diminutive ex-serviceman who has become a national icon from relative obscurity. The PR campaign that used the basic fundamentals of PR- selective and targeted messaging, timely news releases, high profile spokespersons and celebrity brand ambassadors struck the right cord with the young voter.

The journey that started in 2011 from the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi to the seat of power in the nation’s capital is a classic example of the role that PR and communications can play in building reputations and creating mind space with Generation Next – the Indian youth!