MxMIndia

Category: Opinion – Archives

  • The lesson for India is to create products with features that suit our behaviour — be it ‘jugaad’ or  ‘bachhat’, writes Bhuvi Gupta

    Chinese Lessons to make Bharat ‘Atmanirbhar’

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaIndia-China relations have been in the news for all the wrong reasons for the most part of 2020. With 47 apps banned last week, the tally of banned apps now stands at 220. The latest announcement however made me contemplate how Chinese apps may have started off as clones of popular western apps but have innovated to serve the needs and culture of their Chinese users and become beacons of innovation, which are being copied by the West.

     

    Irrespective of how localised globalised platforms (in other countries) try to be, the benefits of creating products nuanced to the people who will use them cannot be denied. The lesson for India hence becomes to create products with features, which suit our behaviour — be it ‘jugaad’ or  ‘bachhat’. More than copying the west, I feel Indians apps should ape China, because we share more with its collectivistic culture than the individualistic culture of the west. Also noteworthy and ape-worthy is that Chinese apps have evolved to serve people who have leapfrogged the PC era directly to mobile, exactly like the majority of the Indian population have already and will in the future. 

     

    I am sharing some of the most ape-worthy strategies below.

     

    The Micro-transaction Model

    Isn’t it commonplace to have 10 tabs open on our browsers or a Kindle full of fabulous e-books, which you have lost interest in or are too busy for?

     

    One of my strongest beliefs in the digital world where access to information is no longer an entry barrier is that attention is what will be valuable, because attention is in limited supply even if information isn’t.

     

    With that central thought and taking into account the limited affordability of many Chinese people, China’s companies sell products like books and music streams in bite-sized manner. For example, China’s largest online/ e-book publishing company, Yuewen Group, sells books in capsules of 1000 words. This micro-transaction model is beneficial to both writers and readers, because writers end up selling more to readers who are on the fence about paying full price for a book they may or may not finish. In price-sensitive India, where value-for money is a key determinant for success, this can open the audience with limited affordability and accessibility who can choose to consume only that they continue to find value in. 

     

    The Cult of the SuperApp – Apps as Phone OS (Operating System)

    Alipay’s homescreen could be mistaken for the homescreen of your phone

     

    Reams have been written about Tencent owned WeChat, which transitioned from a messaging app modeled on WhatsApp, to one that can order food; send money, book travel and much more. Wechat has 1 billion monthly active users and has spawned a multitude of copycats both within China and abroad. While super apps other than Wechat are common in China, Gojek in Indonesia, and PayTM in India are what have possibly come closest to replicating their breadth in other countries but are still far from penetrating the market to the extent that Chinese apps have.

     

    SuperApps basically capitalise on their loyal user base and brand salience to share it across different survives. This in turn helps drive app traffic to retain mindshare and relevance. As a result of this bundling of apps, users never feel the need to go out of the app ecosystem and the app homescreen becomes the pseudo phone homescreen. For older generations who face a tough learning curve when it comes to technology, such apps are very useful. This is also one of the key reasons why superapps have been so successful in China.  For the app, it is beneficial because it opens multiple revenue streams other than advertising. For example, today more than 80% of Wechat’s revenues come from transactions rather than advertising. It is a model that may just work very well with the recently launched WhatsApp Pay in India.

     

    In India, the Covid-19 lockdown helped drive additional functionalities like grocery delivery features into Swiggy and Zomato, parcel delivery to Uber. However, posts lifting of lockdown these additional features have lost priority, which is unfortunate because this was just the beginning of a possible super app journey.

     

    Path to Market

    Understanding local customs is the USP for Indian founders. This is most often where MNCs who launch their products in India flail. Local doesn’t only mean language, etiquette, social norms; it extends beyond these to attitudes and quirks unique to Indian hardships and society.

     

    In business terms, this can mean paying attention in app strategy to India’s love for discounts, value for money, a culture which doesn’t believe in credit, ‘jugaad’, cashbacks, the importance of family, arranged marriages, one device shared by a family or mostly by siblings, Bollywood and cricket etc. in addition to logo, design layout, and language etiquette. The latter matters, but ignores fundamental insights about customers that can drive adoption of new technology.

     

    QR Codes for a Phygital world

     

    PayTM has used QR codes to drive digital transactions but scope for them to be leveraged a lot more remains

     

    QR codes have been one of those digital features, which despite having been around for a long time have not been leveraged as much as they can be (with the exception of PayTM who has helped their cause). For the 700 million Indians who will come online directly to a 5G world, QR codes can be great way to help simplify the digital world — all QR codes require are a working camera and a data connection.

     

    In China, QR codes are used extensively – as authentication stamps on goods often faked, as identity tags at workplaces, pet tags, as credit cards, on billboards… Applications are in fact endless and should be used extensively as the remaining 700 million Indian users whose technological learning curve will be steeper come online.

     

    ~ ~

     

    While I am winding up my love letter to Chinese innovation here in my column today, I have only scratched the surface of what China is doing. At the core China is using every feature of the mobile device available to innovate. For e.g. QR codes use the camera as a data entry feature instead of a data collection feature. The lessons for Indian businesses are many and just waiting to be applied for large-scale success.

     

    Bhuvi Gupta is a marketer with over 10 years across industries, of which the last six have been in Media & Entertainment. She has been a part of many launch marketing campaigns – specifically at the Times of India group, Republic TV and the latest in marketing a Bollywood film. She writes on A&M (mostly marketing, but often on advertising too) every other Tuesday. Her views here are personal. She tweets at @bhuvigupta3

     

     

  • Access to the Web has brought monumental changes to manufacturing & services sectors but the most impacted has been the marketing function, writes Bhuvi Gupta

    Has Internet Killed the MBA Marketing Star?

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaThe advent of the Internet has brought with it multiple changes, the biggest of which is access.

    This access has brought monumental changes to both the manufacturing and services sectors but in terms of functions, the most impacted has been the marketing function. Over the last decade, the function has evolved and made experience a lot more valuable than business degrees, which have been a strict entry barrier previously.

    Why has marketing been so affected?

    Marketing is a cost function that doesn’t have a measurable output. The function is primarily responsible to oversee other departments and ensure that strategy is being implemented as planned; and if there are gaps in sales plug in the holes through effective communication campaigns. However, what is effective? Is it virality or product sales? And which function takes ownership of increased sales? After all it is a composite of sales, supply chain and marketing and measuring marketing effectiveness is still not quite science.  These were problems that have always existed, but have got highlighted with the advent of the Internet because the Internet brought with it access to people, businesses, information and platforms. All of which were at the premium of money and privilege which marketers had access to. While both still matter the premium has definitely decreased and both creation and distribution of communication is much easier.

    Secondly, with the internet and social media, the marketing function has exploded in terms of work responsibilities. While this may seem to be counter-intuitive to this topic, it is not because this work explosion has been haphazard.  What is the job of a marketer today? Is it writing content for social media posts, or is it running ad campaigns, or is it making strategy? When is work to be outsourced to an agency and why?

    Most Fortune 500 companies have divided the marketing and communications function into micro-functions – there are different functions for corporate communications, performance marketing, market research, brand management, digital marketing and off late influencer marketing too. The solution is two-fold  – a restructuring of marketing in companies and revised curricula in B-Schools and c- schools to build 360- degree competencies across all these functions.

    Thirdly, with the internet, consumer behaviour has changed. Whether one wants to buy a car or a new brand of oats, the internet has facilitated reviews of all products at the click of a button. I confess I have been guilty of searching for reviews online (sometimes) before purchase even when I spot an interesting product at the grocery store, and I know I am not the only one. This online decision-making moment is called the ‘Zero Moment of Truth’  (ZMOT). This basically means that while marketing campaigns are important for building awareness and interest, in the information age a brand needs to engage with its users, be responsive to feedback to actually translate consumer intent into a purchase over and above being a good product.

    Lastly, and this is a prediction, in the coming future, as algorithms become better at predicting and personalising our ads, we will gradually see the death of mass-market ads. This is already in practice digitally with Google Marketing Platform, but will become more and more ubiquitous as it transcends into smart TVs, and soon in smart radios et al. Print advertising, the flagbearer of mass market advertising, is on its last breath and its share of the content pie will reduce drastically in the coming decades, what will truly remain mass will be outdoor advertising and smart glasses may even personalise that! Hence, marketing communication will need to be customized as per audience to be truly effective in crowded markets.

    Overall, because of the pace of change in marketing and communication, new facets are emerging and the importance of pre-existing facets has changed. MarCom teams and managers are unfortunately still catching up which is why the entire function is in flux.

    I must end by issuing a standard disclaimer of this being my opinion but based not on conjecture but actual experience. But experiences differ and this may just stir a hornet’s nest of differing opinions. I would be very interested in hearing from other marketers whether they agree or disagree, the reasoning behind their opinions and how they are keeping up with the dynamic environment.

  • All ‘The Social Dilemma’ does is piece together much of what we already knew, in way that it created impact and will hopefully institute change, writes Bhuvi Gupta

    What ‘The Social Dilemma’ gets right, and what it misses by a mile

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaUnless you have been living under a rock the past month, you have probably watched, heard and discussed the Netflix documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’, which denounces the power that advertising-powered digital media today holds over connected audiences. That you may have read about the documentary’s impact on Facebook or/ and have watched it on Netflix is of course the irony that escapes none of the documentary’s proponents.

     

    The documentary covers how the objective of social media networks is to maximise the time spent by users on them so that they can better profile their users and serve their customers, i.e. advertisers with better audience targeting solutions, which are for sale to the highest bidder, irrespective of whether it is fake news or diet pills that is being advertised.

     

    The Internet and social media have dramatically changed our lives in the last decade. There is no denying how much positive change the internet has brought with it – reuniting families, facilitating blood transfusions and donations, and currently enabling a robust WFH culture which is allowing the global economy to function during a pandemic. However, the same connectivity that has been used to bring about positive impact has been exploited to bully individuals, spread propaganda, and win elections.

     

    The documentary does not make any big revelations. Since the 2016 US Elections, we have consistently heard how political parties have misused social media, specifically Facebook across the world to sway public opinion.  All ‘The Social Dilemma’ does is piece together much of what we already knew, in way that it created impact and will hopefully institute change.

     

    The Disruptive Power of digital advertising – pro for a marketer, con for humanity

    As a marketer, who has run too many Facebook and Google ad campaigns, my favourite tool to ensure a low CPM and high CTR are the LookAlike Audiences.  For the uninitiated, Facebook and Google allow you to target people similar to an audience that you share with them. All you have to do is list some demographic and interest based qualifiers or share a database of people who have visited your website to create a ‘Custom Audience’ and the platforms generate a Look Alike audience, which behaves just like your ‘Custom Audience’. The first time you use it and see your CPMs go down, it seems like magic. It is not.  It is the power of tracking audience behavior over long periods of time, which has helped classify audiences and behaviour patterns.

     

    As a marketer, the ability to find such audiences, and to be able remarket to them is a dream. Digital advertising has been a gamechanger for many businesses because of its measurability. Unlike traditional advertising, where you target the masses on Print or TV media and hence have massive spillage, digital ads are shown only to potential consumers, bettering the ROI.

     

    The flipside is that the ease in targeting audiences, which depict a certain behavior, is the same whether the intent is noble or malicious.  As the documentary explains, incendiary elements actually exploited Facebook’s algorithm to create a hoax scare called ‘PizzaGate’ amongst gullible audiences to successfully link the 2016 Democratic party Presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton with child trafficking, and hence, sway crucial vote banks.

     

    It has never been easier or cheaper to sway impressionable minds. Even those not so impressionable can get swayed when served fake news dressed-up to sound authentic.

     

    What The Social Dilemma missed – it’s not only Social Media

    The documentary solely focused on the power of social media networks driven by algorithms which work on a trifecta of engagement of users, growth of the network & increase in advertising revenues, it missed how other platforms which are not reliant on algorithms & ads such as WhatsApp, Reddit, 4Chan have also been leveraged to spread harm via fake news and doctored content.

     

    This problem is gargantuan, because it has transcended the level of doctored news whose veracity can be easily verified by a simple Google search to include Deepfakes. Deepfakes are synthetic videos in which the face of a pre-existing person is replaced by someone with a high likeness to them. The quality of Deepfakes is so advanced; today that it is very difficult to make out authentic videos from doctored ones.

     

    Reddit and WhatsApp have both facilitated the spread of fake news and deep fakes, which have been incendiary enough to incite rioting and lynch mobs in India.

     

    The Monopolistic Power of the FAANG

    FAANG or Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google together are synonymous with the Internet for most of the 4.5 billion people online today.  These companies own complementary parts of the ecosystem and often take advantage of this monopolistic ownership to prohibit competition. While countries in the EU and Australia are instituting regulations to protect their citizens, most countries, including India do not yet have strict regulations or competition laws to prohibit monopolies for digital companies like they do for other industries. As a result, FAANG continues to control what users see on the Internet to benefit their profit objectives. Last weekend, Google banned PayTM from the Google PlayStore claiming Paytm’s IPL promotion, which was offering scratch cards and cash backs was a form of ‘sports gambling’. 95% of India’s smartphones run on the Google owned Android operating system, and hence were shut out from Paytm.  It is ironic that such a ban was instituted when similar promotions have been used by Google Pay (a direct competitor of Paytm). While Paytm was reinstated after it removed the cash back feature, given that the ban was instituted without any warning sets a dangerous precedent for the monopolistic power wielded by Google.

     

    Hence, adequate regulations and competition laws are crucial to protect the online marketplace.

     

    Content Regulation

    Unlike rigorous procedures, which govern the licensing of traditional media companies i.e. Print TV and Radio, and industry bodies such as ASCI which monitor the veracity of ads shown in Indian media, digital media has no such eligibility criteria or monitoring to check the credentials of media owners or ‘content creators’.

     

    While many petitions are currently running against hate speech and defamation on TV news channels, the incendiary content on digital media is going ignored. Content posted online requires stringent checks including both govt. regulations and human monitoring to manage it. Currently, YouTube employs both Artificial Intelligence and human resources to protect copyrighted content. Similar checks and balances are required before any content is posted, as systems driven without human intervention cannot differentiate between fake news, sarcasm, exaggeration etc.

     

    Last week, former Facebook employee, Sophie Zhang who was employed as a Data scientist released a explosive memo (link – https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/facebook-ignore-political-manipulation-whistleblower-memo) on how Facebook did not attempt to stop coordinated campaigns by political parties to sway public opinions and incite civil unrest in countries ranging from Azerbaijan to Myanmar, because their attention was focused on markets which yielded higher revenues for them. The memo brought to the fore many of the problems highlighted by ‘The Social Dilemma’.

     

    While I do agree with ‘The Social Dilemma’ about individuals taking ownership and governments making regulations to monitor these platforms, I believe that the platforms themselves need to step up to regulate the content allowed on their platforms to both stem their misuse and ensure their long term survival.

     

    Bhuvi Gupta is a marketer with over 10 years across industries, of which the last six have been in Media & Entertainment. She has been a part of many launch marketing campaigns – specifically at the Times of India group, Republic TV and the latest in marketing a Bollywood film. She will write on A&M (mostly marketing, but often on advertising too) every other Tuesday. Her views here are personal. She tweets at @bhuvigupta3

     

  • The lines between the inorganic & organic have blurred as marketers manufacture reach on social media, writes Bhuvi Gupta

    The Big Bad World of Bought Likes & Trends

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi Gupta

    The business of news and entertainment is unique from other businesses as there is no underlying need for consumption and content is easily replaceable with similar alternatives. Hence, the entertainment industries have always relied heavily on glitz, gossip and glamour to garner consumption.

     

    This has taken many avatars through the decades. In the early 2000s, the Times Group innovated and changed the PR landscape when they launched Medianet, renamed as Optimal Media Solutions (OMS) since. It was very successful for the both the media and entertainment industries, because of the blurred lines between ads and news. The audience was oblivious as long as gossip and entertainment was delivered and hence many a film were boosted due to entirely manufactured gossip on link-ups and skirmishes on set. TV news followed soon after. NDTV was the front-runner of branded content in TV with shows like Earth Hour, Greenathon etc. Today, weekend programming across English news channel almost entirely comprises such branded shows.

     

    The digital equivalent of Medianet is the manufactured views, likes, followers and trends because the lines between the inorganic and organic are blurred. This is more dangerous than Medianet, because all social media platforms have Achilles’ heels which can be exploited to manufacture reach that is invisible even to the discerning viewer.

     

    All this changed when last month, the Mumbai police launched an investigation into the 75 Lakhs worth of YouTube views purchased by Aditya Singh Sisodia aka Baadshah for his 2019 single, ‘Pagal’. The song launch was a mega-affair with influencer marketing campaigns on Instagram and TikTok, YouTube advertising and other dubious means employed in an attempt to break records. Baadshah claimed that ‘Pagal’ was the fastest video to reach 75 million views on YouTube, which was promptly shot down by them due to inorganic means employed. This has subsequently lead to the ongoing criminal case filed by the Mumbai police and the investigation thereafter. The case has opened a can of worms, as newer unethical practices of the digital ecosystem of the entertainment industry began slowly getting exposed.

     

    To be honest, in 2020, Baadshah’s admission to buying views would not have come as a  shock to most of us. Even the undiscerning viewer sees enough chinks in the digital armour – screenshots of identical tweets from celebs (right down to grammatical errors) praising a government or a popular icon, TikTok’s Playstore ratings being brought down in a day and then restored are two of many examples. What is not common knowledge is the sheer mechanics and extent of what goes into digital influence manufacturing and the reasons behind it.

     

    In May 2020, TikTok’s app store ratings were restored after Google deleted 80 Lakh negative comments made in the span of a week in response to the Galwan Valley skirmish. The Chinese app has since been banned in India.

     

    Why do Indian Artists companies do this?

    Creating a buzz in the entertainment business is crucial to remain relevant. Social media metrics have come to define the salability of the artist for producers and distributors. It is a flawed ecosystem exploited by all the players. To elucidate –

     

    The problem with the Algorithm

    View counts on YouTube, don’t differentiate between paid and unpaid views or the viewership duration (a view is counted after only 30 seconds of consumption). Views are a key metric for YouTube’s algorithms, especially when it comes to search result rankings and recommendations, which help drive organic views and hence generate revenue. Hence, paying for views is a natural choice because they help recoup advertising investments through organic views, while adding the credibility that higher view counts get.

     

    Not only vanity metrics

    For films, OTT and satellite TV, rights are often sold after movie trailers are released and the view metrics of the trailer, contribute to the negotiating power of the producer. Likewise, in the music industry, licensing deals, terms of contracts, concert tours and appearances are often measured basis song popularity. Hence, paying for YouTube views is a natural investment that pays for itself many times over.

     

    The problem with the platforms

    It serves social media platforms to have higher view counts because, it drives up daily traffic on the platform, while generating ad revenue. This problem of fake news, fake views, and bots serves social media portals which rely on user metrics to help set ad rates. In the absence of stringent laws, while popular social media platforms do make the right noises about removing bots and fake profiles they have little incentive to actually follow through.

     

    It’s not a crime in India… not yet!

    Many countries across the world like Singapore, France and Germany, are enacting strict cyber laws that punish hate-speech, threats, and impersonations (under which fake followers lie) as criminal offences, liable to both imprisonment and fines. In the absence of such laws in India, manufacturing inorganic views becomes dishonest but not illegal. While the fake likes industry has been thriving for the last few years, the case against Badshah may just be a watershed moment in the creation of cyberlaws, which will bring more transparency in Indian cyber space.

     

    Till laws change, as a marketer, I leave you with my content checks to avoid being gamed. On YouTube, I check engagement (likes and comments as a percentage of views), for highly viewed content before investing the time to watch. If the number is low, it is safe to say that the views have been bought. And on Twitter, inorganically trended hashtags will have a majority of tweets with the same sentence structure and central thought – so a quick scan of tweets under a trending hashtag will help check ingenuity.

     

    Bhuvi Gupta is a marketer with over 10 years across industries, of which the last six have been in Media & Entertainment. She has been a part of many launch marketing campaigns – specifically at the Times of India group, Republic TV and the latest in marketing a Bollywood film. She will write on A&M (mostly marketing, but often on advertising too) every other Tuesday. Her views here are personal. She tweets at @bhuvigupta3

     

     

  • But have marketers in India missed the opportunity to target consumers? Bhuvi Gupta delves into the issue

    Amp up your Communication Strategy through Easter eggs

    The Google T-Rex game helps pass the time while waiting for the internet to come back

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaAs I sat this Sunday morning, weighed down by the news that India had breached the 90,000 mark of daily Covid case reportage, I turned to my favourite hack to calm myself down – turn off my Wi-Fi to stop the notifications engage my mind with the T-Rex game on Google Chrome. As I used my cursors to miss the obstacles, I realised that Google’s communication strategy has used so many of these Easter Eggs over the decades, and how they have kept the user engaged so well.

     

    Easter Egg is a funny name for communication strategy and refers to the treasure hunt for children organised during Easter, where children hunt for the colorful and decorated chocolate eggs, hidden around the house by their parents. The eggs often contain surprises inside their chocolate exterior, making the experience of finding them, even better. Like its eponym, in business terms an Easter egg refers to brand communication hidden within your user interface. Originally, used by coders, to add quirk to what they felt was boring lines of code, it is now colloquially used to refer to any covert brand communication and is designed to humour the user and add personality to the brand, when discovered.  Due to their covert nature, Easter Eggs inherently generate word-of-mouth, which aids even more discovery and virality.

     

    In a crowded market where users are estimated to be bombarded with more than a thousand ads a day, (this number is debated, some research claims its more than 5000) an Easter egg is a great way to be memorable. However, Easter eggs are most effective for brands that have an established and growing audience, as the discovery of the communication is purely organic. Hence, for companies and products in beta, even if the idea of communication with zero spends seems attractive, deploying Easter eggs should be delayed until the product has an established consumer base.

     

    The Google search page actually does a barrel roll, when you search for ‘Do a barrel roll’ on Google

     

    On the Internet, the possibilities are endless – while most online businesses have caught on to having creative 404-pages, there is so much more potential to make an impression. Both Google and Apple have used Easter eggs as a communication strategy –  Google has used the T-Rex game,  Google Doodles and customised search results to drive conversation and engagement since its inception. The customised search results for ‘Do a barrel roll’, ‘Google gravity’ etc., also keep getting a new life every few years, when they are discovered by a new set of users.

    Apple generated far more organic word of mouth when Apple users discovered Siri’s sassy responses, than the traditional PR and marketing they did for the Apple assistants’ launch.

     

    Easter Eggs have gotten relatively under-utilised in India. A missed opportunity as the Indian marketplace for internet-based consumer businesses is growing and building a loyal user base is crucial for each player. For instance, every e-commerce site has mega sales every quarter, which are promoted through multi-crore ATL campaigns. Planting some Easter eggs on the app & website during these times of high traffic is a great way to enhance user experience, generate word of mouth and differentiate from the competition. Another great application is using an Easter egg to stem the irritation during a negative experience like a broken link or a product in your basket, which gets sold out before purchase.

     

    Easter eggs are possible on every product with an interface – be it product (via its packaging) or even content ( show credits, the set). My personal favourites include the messages on the bottom of Paper Boat pack and the vanity cards written by producer-director Chuck Lorre at the end of every Big Bang Theory episode, both of which make you feel closer to the product.

     

    It’s 2020 and people are tired of challenges and trends which ‘go viral’ on the back of generous advertising budgets and often end up losing their core message (Black and White photo challenge, anyone?). Easter Eggs are memorable because their playfulness helps them to become conversation starters, gain word of mouth, discovery and trial. Marketers, I request you to have some fun with your brand, add the personality that is missing, and watch as the organic love flows.

     

    Bhuvi Gupta is a marketer with over 10 years across industries, of which the last six have been in Media & Entertainment. She has been a part of many launch marketing campaigns – specifically at the Times of India group, Republic TV and the latest in marketing a Bollywood film. She will write on A&M (mostly marketing, but often on advertising too) every other Tuesday. Her views here are personal. She tweets at @bhuvigupta3

     

  • … writes Bhuvi Gupta in a new fortnightly column on marketing and advertising

    Why Brands have a Responsibility to Step Up & Help in Economic Recovery

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaIndia has been under a full lockdown since March 24, 2020. After three subsequent extensions, a relatively unsuccessful Unlock 1.0 & 2.0 in June and July, spikes in positive cases are forcing many Indian cities to go under full lockdowns, again.

     

    As the economy degrows, unemployment rises and sales decreases and every subsequent FY21 GDP forecast is worse than the previous one, the future seems bleak and unlikely to bounce back soon.

     

    Basis a GroupM report released in June 2020, India’s GDP will contract by 3.7% and subsequently overall advertising spends will decline by more than 20% this year.  This follows, as advertising in current scenarios is an after-thought, with most companies focused on reviving production and distribution. The drop in advertising has led to unprecedented job losses in the ad-dependent media industry, so much so that industry body International Advertising Association (IAA) has been running a campaign, ‘Let’s Advertise’ to spur advertising, since June 2020.

     

    The campaign seems to have made some impact  – brands in the Health & Hygiene categories or those that can pivot their messaging to sound Covid-wise have started advertising. However, this is a small portion of the market, and for the economy to revive, brands which can afford to, should, play a bigger role in recovery.

     

    As Keynesian economics espouses, spending spurs consumption during times of economic downturns. If brands (which can) spend monies, this will spur demand, and the money will help the economy as a whole. In such pandemic times, the messaging of many brands is irrelevant, a great way to remain visible is by running Public Service Announcements (PSAs) campaigns.

     

    While a decade ago, PSAs were issued by govt bodies, with the advent of social media, brands regularly run socially relevant campaigns because they help the brand earn respect and hence brand equity while also doing social good. Due to their affirming messages, PSAs also have higher than average trend-worthiness, i.e. audiences share these ads more because it helps them feel good about themselves to do something socially relevant.

     

    With the notable exception of Mumbai Police PSAs, most PSAs released by government bodies in India, are pedagogical spiels, which are not engaging, even when starring celebrities.

     

    In March 2020, just as the lockdown was announced, the Maharashtra government released a pedagogical PSA on Covid-19 headlined by the biggest stars of Bollywood including Amitabh Bachchan, Ranveer Singh, Ayushmann Khurrana, Alia Bhatt, Akshay Kumar etc. A month later, Sony launched a PSA with a similar Bollywood lineup but a much better storyline. (The PSA can be viewed here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQk0VrL2I-w

     

    Short film – ‘Family’, conceptualised and virtually directed by Prasoon Pandey for Sony Network starring celebs from across the country used storytelling creatively to communicate the importance of staying at home. It was telecast in April 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju7ku–S6F4

     

    Hence, in Covid-stricken times, effective PSAs can help brands kill many birds with one stone  – create brand equity, earn public goodwill, spur good behaviour, meet annual CSR target spends as mandated by Indian law and, most importantly, help the economy recover.  Earned goodwill will also spur trials for those whose loyalties lie with competitors.

     

    Budget-struck brands can collaborate with other brands; conduct digital-only campaigns to give the push to the economy to help its recovery.

     

    As brands with diverse target audiences release PSAs, different strata of society will get targeted which will help in overall compliance. This is backed by research conducted by 2019 Nobel laureates in Economics, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. In a paper released last month, they have shown that frequent celebrity messaging, in addition to the existent large-scale government messaging on Covid-19, can positively impact behaviour by nudging people to follow best practices. The research also shows that there are spillovers of good behaviour in the entire community even when a few are targeted.

    In a CSR initiative, waiting to be replicated by national dailies, Kashmir ‘s Urdu newspaper Roshni, affixed a mask on the front page of the paper on July 20 to drive home the message about mask usage. Kashmir was under complete lockdown from 22-27 July, due to a rise in Covid cases.

    VIRALITY TO BEHAVIOURIAL CHANGE

    The challenge even for good PSAs is translating virality to behavioural change. The ease of communication brought on by social media has made armchair activists of the majority of the population. However, while these activists enable knowledge-sharing with other people they don’t bother much with acting upon the gained knowledge before moving on to the next trending topic. Which is why, despite the dangers of inobedience, many who wear a face mask, style it as a chin-guard.

     

    Hence, brands should be careful to create PSAs which are not just a retelling of facts, but facts communicated in way to appeal to their targeted audience, whether it is through high quality storytelling, a new ‘Hook Step’ or a ‘Challenge’ which is creative enough to warrant sharing.  Basis the research by Banerjee and Duflo, leveraging brand ambassadors signed on for lavish multi-year contracts will also help to drive behavioural change. So brands, any takers?

     

     

    Bhuvi Gupta is a marketer with over 10 years across industries, of which the last six have been in Media & Entertainment. She has been a part of many launch marketing campaigns – specifically at the Times of India group, Republic TV and the latest in marketing a Bollywood film. She will write on A&M (mostly marketing, but often on advertising too). Her views here are personal. She tweets at @bhuvigupta3

     

     

     

     

     

  • Indian companies, especially the beleaguered ones, must leverage this time to pivot, writes Bhuvi Gupta

    Pivot or Perish… Using your business moat to survive in the pandemic

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaAs a marketer for the last decade if there is one thing that I can attest to be true is that marketing jargon comes and goes with an average lifespan of a year or two. The jargon du jour is backed by stellar logic, often introduced by a book, or a widely respected businessperson, and has wide applications in the entire gamut of business strategy.

     

    The latest buzzword is the concept of the ‘moat’ as espoused by Warren Buffett. While he first shared this concept during a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meet in 1995, it has seemed to catch on in pandemic. (Maybe, because being stuck at home is like a having a moat around you?). Mark my words, we are just at the beginning of the lifecycle of this jargon and you’ll see multiple applications in interviews, podcasts, CEO roundtables et al in the coming times. 

     

    What are economic moats?

     

    The usage comes from ancient times, when a moat was a water body built around a castle so as to give the king some time to plan his defense when attacked by an invader.  The concept itself is golden, as most espoused by Buffett are – An economic moat is a distinct competitive advantage a company has over its competitors, which allows it to protect its market share and profitability over the long term. Companies can build moats by strengthening their brands like Apple and Coca-Cola, achieving economies of scale like Amazon, or even lobbying for special status from the government like Patanjali.

     

    Economic moats have existed since commerce has, but in the digital age, using data, network effects, online marketplaces, search, and social networks can help create wider and longer-lasting moats.

     

    According to a report from CBInsights, moats can be classified into four types –

     

    • Network Effect– those products whose value increases the more people who use it. All social media networks have network moats, which explains why a Telegram has not replaced WhatsApp despite offering some advantages

    • Cost Moats– when users have a high sunk cost in the product or service (high one-time or recurring membership fee) which make them reluctant to switch

    • Cultural Moats– when consumers buy into the product for the brand promise and the values it represents. For e.g. people consume Dove because it promotes ‘real beauty’, Coca-Cola due to its great emotional marketing which talks about happiness

    • Resource Moats– due to patents or preferential treatment on account of a governing body. Typically why pharmaceutical companies have huge lobbying budgets

     

    How companies have used their moats in India to remain relevant in the pandemic

     

    The pandemic has been a death knell to the global economy – USA’s economy has contracted by a third, in its largest quarterly contraction since 1921. India is not expected to fare any better, when numbers release later this month.

     

    Companies are being forced to be agile and leverage their business moats, and pivot to newer consumer behaviors to remain afloat. Many companies have successfully pivoted their products, launched line and brand extensions to have new health and immunity claims, which is why we even have Chyawanprakash and Haldi ice-cream now (from Amul and Dairy Day Plus). This has come easier to the behemoths like ITC and Dabur, which have both Innovation teams sitting on years of research, and vacant factories to put into use.  As a result, in the last three months, ITC has launched six, and Dabur 15 new products. Such companies also have the business advantage of well-established supply chain and distribution channels.

     

    How companies which don’t have a moat can remain relevant in the pandemic

     

    A July 2020 McKinsey survey found that an overwhelming 91% of consumers reported trying a new shopping behavior in India due to the pandemic. Two key trends that stand out from the survey are an acceleration in the rate of digital adoption which has seen a 10+ percent growth in online customer base during the pandemic & a new DIY culture in the middle class which was reliant on household help or access to almost everything via a few taps on their mobile screens. New product categories for fruit & veggie wash, contactless dispensers, dishwashers which would have years of promotion and audience interactions have seen demand rise exponentially.

     

    These two are the life jackets for Indian companies that can help save them in the coming months.

     

    The pandemic has facilitated trials (often via e-commerce) as well as repeat buys in the 5+ months of its duration. This is one of the silver linings of the pandemic because categories and products, which would have taken companies years to launch and for consumers to adopt, especially in a value-conscious market like India, have launched overnight.

     

    Restaurants, which are arguably the worst hit, have started retailing recipe and ingredient kits and sauces. Pictured above are the ready-to-cook sauces, and gravies launched by Jubilant FoodWorks (which runs Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts in India)

     

    Indian companies, especially the beleaguered ones, must leverage this time to pivot, because even if some of these consumption shifts are pandemic specific, many new behaviours will stick because, getting consumer trials is one of the most difficult parts in a product’s lifecycle.

     

    Talking from personal experience, now that I have been forced to realise that I am not a half-bad cook, I have often wondered why was I so reluctant to cook earlier and why was I so dependent on my cook or ordering food in. If the rough survey of my social circle is to be believed, I know I am speaking for scores of us in the middle class. These cooking sauces and cheaper dishwashers are only helping to cement this new-found realisation into a resolve to be more independent.

     

    Bhuvi Gupta is a marketer with over 10 years across industries, of which the last six have been in Media & Entertainment. She has been a part of many launch marketing campaigns – specifically at the Times of India group, Republic TV and the latest in marketing a Bollywood film. She will write on A&M (mostly marketing, but often on advertising too) every other Tuesday. Her views here are personal. She tweets at @bhuvigupta3

     

  • In the first of a five-day programme on digital marketing by Bhuvi Gupta, learn about the HOWs and WHYs of making trends

    MxM Open Classroom: Digital Marketing

     

    Why MxM Open Classroom: Upskill yourself!, That’s what one is told so as to make the extended lockdown work for us. But while doing one of the hundreds of free or paid courses sounds easy, in realit,  it isn’t. And going through the tests and quizzes that are contained in them can be quite daunting. Starting this week, we start a series of ‘open classroom’ sessions. Each week, we will have a five-part series – Monday through Friday that will tackle an important area of the media marketing services domain. We kick off our series with a focus on Digital Marketing with Bhuvi Gupta, a marketing specialist who has

     

    The HOWs and WHYs of making trends

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    According to a FICCI EY report, the Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector grew 9% to reach INR 1.8 trillion in 2019.

     

    The rapid spread of mobile access is helping the growth of the digital media industry. With a population of 1.3 billion, 688 million internet subscribers and nearly 400 million smartphone users, quantitatively, India already has high numbers but also has high potential for growth. This means that the digital media industry which grew 31% to reach INR 221 billion in 2019 will continue growing and industry experts expect it to grow at 23% CAGR to reach INR 414 billion by 2022. Digital advertising grew 24% to INR 192 billion and is expected to follow a similar growth trajectory. As digital penetration increases, more advertising budgets will get diverted to digital, especially because digital advertising is easier to measure and to finely tailor target audiences.

     

    The biggest challenge with digital is the evolving landscape – changing algorithms of popular platforms, newer applications of Augmented Reality, new platforms with niche demographics (like Helo, ShareChat, Likee, Bigo), and newer forms of advertising like influencer marketing to only name a few. This makes it difficult to allocate digital budgets effectively because the ‘how’ of being effective is constantly in flux.

     

    This series is in a sense a cheat sheet to understand digital advertising better and to ease navigating this evolving landscape. In each article, we will evaluate how to best create virality by leveraging popular digital platforms. Key focus platforms will be Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, chosen because of the reach, they garner.

     

    To kickoff the series we focus on the objective of many if not most campaigns – ‘Virality’. Making a campaign ‘viral’ is the holy grail by which campaigns are measured & many awards given, today.

     

    Marketers know that in spite of how topical and relevant the communication it is impossible to guarantee campaign virality because there are too many variables.  However, what is attainable is ensuring that a campaign ‘trends’.

     

    The key difference between a campaign ‘trending’ and it ‘going viral’ are in longevity and organic reach. While a trend may last for a short period of time, may be paid for and limited to a particular target audience, a campaign going viral implies that it has had the longevity of a few days, substantial word of mouth and a high recall value that has surpassed its initial targeting. Hence, while all viral campaigns, trend, not all trending campaigns go viral. With the right strategy it is possible to make a quality campaign trend, which may be the push it needs to achieve virality.

     

    A quality campaign is one, which while espousing product benefits, is topical and evokes a strong emotional response so that it is prompts the viewer to share it to enable word of mouth. An easy test to determine shareability is to ensure that the messaging is entertaining, inspiring or informative or a combination of the three.

     

    Here are Five ways to make a quality campaign ‘trend’–

     

    I. Choosing 1 or 2 focus platforms

    Today every social media platform has a key age and socio-economic demographic. Depending on the messaging, the brand, and campaign budgets focus platforms should be defined. It is wise not to focus on more than two, even if budgets permit. Successful campaigns will spillover organically to other platforms, anyhow.  For e.g. in 2019, Pepsi used TikTok as their primary platform for promoting their new brand anthem with the tagline ‘Har Ghoont mein Swag’. The campaign anthem was sung by 2019’s most popular Bollywood Punjabi singer, ‘Baadshah’ and the music video starred popular Bollywood youth icons & social media influencers, Tiger Shroff & Disha Patani. TikTok was was aligned to the brand’s mass & youth focused targeting. The campaign was a huge success, with 240+ million views and over 15,000 user-generated videos within 24 hours of its launch. The campaign also naturally spilled over to Instagram, where it received 20+ million views. The campaign remains one of TikTok’s most successful brand campaigns in India.

     

    II. Challenges

    A campaign which requires the consumer to engage will automatically have higher recall value & will also allow for the network effect which will help it to trend organically. The messaging of the campaign is key to how it can have a challenge component.

     

    Challenges are especially relevant for TikTok, and Instagram. Hashtag challenges form a key component of TikTok and challenges typically trend for a week. Hence, hosting challenges aligned to brand campaigns on TikTok can help a campaign achieve virality.  Currently, a Challenge trending on both TikTok & Instagram is the #PassTheBrushChallenge, where different women, pass a makeup brush to each other while showing before & after images of themselves wearing makeup. The challenge has not been initiated by any brand, but has gone viral with different kinds of iterations being produced, including a male version with a hairbrush!

     

     

    III. Hashtags –

    A hashtag, which can be the campaign tagline in entirety or a part of it is a key component of a trending campaign, as it is an easy identifier when the post gets shared, or mentioned. A hash tag is easy to understand, catchy, and related to the brand. It should ideally be not more than 3-4 words, have a verb, and either the brand name or a keyword from the catch phrase.

     

    Hashtags are vital for discovery on Twitter& TikTok, while they serve as identifiers on Instagram, Facebook & YouTube. Along with the key campaign hashtag, it is advisable to use other aligned & popular hashtags with which the content can be discovered.

     

    For e.g. in the Pepsi ‘Har Ghoont mein Swag’ campaign the key hashtag used was the same as the tagline, #HarGhoontMeinSwag along with #SwagStepChallenge. The campaign was followed up by a follow up campaign, with a new single called ‘Swag Se Solo’ sung by 2019’s breakout Bollywood singer, Tanishk Bagchi, released in February 2020. This campaign used the hashtag #SwagSeSolo and re-used the hashtag #SwagStepChallenge.

     

     

    IV. Influencer Marketing –

     

    Today, to break the clutter, it is crucial to invest a part of advertising budget on influencer marketing. Influencers enjoy loyal fanbases, and due to their relatibility, are often more trustworthy and credible than celebrities. Targeting influencers aligned to target audiences can help get exponential reach and engagement.

     

    However, influencers per platform need to be defined because each platform has different influencers in the same niche. A beauty influencer on TikTok may not  enjoy the same following on Instagram & YouTube, and hence can not be used for a campaign with Instagram as the primary social media platform.

     

    Influencer marketing works on all platforms, but is especially relevant on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. It is especially effective for marketing new launches. Popular mobile phone brands often leverage influencer marketing while marketing their new launches – One Plus, gets influencers across industries to post videos highlighting the USP of the new launch. Google hosts parties with photo booths and gourmet food and, gifts influencers the latest ‘Pixel’ device. Photos of the party get shared on social media by all the attending influencers, thereby successfully creating a buzz.  One of the most successful examples of influencer marketing remains the selfie taken by Ellen DeGeneres at the2014 Oscar ceremony  (sponsored by Samsung) where Hollywood’s A listers posed for a selfie taken with a Samsung Galaxy Note 3. What remains ‘Note’-worthy is that the picture, which was shared, was not of the selfie but that of the stars taking the selfie so that the ‘Samsung’ logo was prominently displayed.

     

     

    V. Digital Advertising –

    For platforms such as Facebook, and now Instagram, which have attained maturity in their life cycle, the competition for organic reach is high. Hence, using advertising for discovery and amplification is necessary for virality. To enable speedier discovery it is advisable to use advertising on TikTok as well. Digital advertising used in conjunction with the above strategies, on the chosen platform (s) can effectively amplify the campaign. While it will definitely help a campaign to trend, it can often serve as a tipping point for creating virality.

     

    The gulf between a trend and virality is deep and often, a trending campaign that reaches relevant audiences is sufficient to earn ROI and achieve the brands marketing objectives. Virality is very often a vanity metric, which helps the brand create widespread awareness like traditional ATL marketing but may not aid in creating actual consumer intent.

     

    Bhuvi Gupta is a marketeer with over a decade of work experience, of which the last six have been in the media & entertainment industry. She has been a part of many launch marketing campaigns with experiences at the Times of India group, Republic TV and the latest in marketing a Bollywood film

     

  • On Day 5 and the final day of the MxM Open Classroom series, Bhuvi Gupta focuses on social media networks on the fringe

    MxM Open Classroom | Digital Marketing Day 5 | Understanding the Social Media networks on the Fringe

    Bhuvi GuptaBy Bhuvi Gupta

     

    And so, we have come to day 5 of the Open Classroom series.  The focus of this series was to give readers a deep understanding of the social media networks which occupy the most mindshare currently  – TikTok, Facebook & Instagram, to windup the series, we will briefly discuss advertising on popular social media networks from two opposite spectrums. Firstly, those which have existed for the last decade and are used for reaching a specific, mostly urban demographic, that is YouTube, & Snapchat and secondly  those which are not more than 5 years old and targeting audiences in tier 2, 3 & 4 cities.  There are multiple social media platforms trying to capture mindshare in in tier 2, 3 & 4 cities, and while userbases differ, they offer more or less the same audiences & suffer from the same issues. Prominent platforms include, Likee, Bigo (both owned by Bigo) , Helo (owned by ByteDance) & Sharechat (an Indian VC funded startup).  In this article, we focus on Likee & ShareChat.

     

    As per the Kantar ICUBE 2019 report, rural India registered a 45% growth in monthly active internet users (MAUs) in 2019 to reach 264 million internet users, and is expected to grow 15 percent or reach 304 million users in 2020.

    The report also states that Video, Voice and Vernacular (3 Vs) are the underlying factors for the internet boom in rural India. The truth is vernacular penetration will define the next wave of growth for all social media platforms including Facebook, Youtube & Snapchat, and not only those focused on tier 2, 3 & 4 markets.

    Old but not yet established

     

    YouTube

    YouTube is an online video sharing platform which has 2 billion users globally, and a presence in more than 90 countries. YouTube as also the internet’s second largest search engine, after Google.

     

    While YouTube has enjoyed a steady presence in India, it is in the last 2 years that an Indian focus has lead to exponential growth. In 2019,  the number of channels with more than 1 million subscribers grew four-fold to reach 1200.  Regional language channels also grew. There are 94 Tamil channels 60 Telugu channels, 35 Bengali channels and 15 Malayalam channels with more than 1 million subscribers, today.

     

    Because of YouTube’s huge viewer base and granular targeting, it can play an effective part for reaching diverse audiences. Points of note –

     

    • Advertising on YouTube is especially relevant if TV is apart of the marketing mix.

    • Budgets allow advertising on the YouTube Masthead (price tag of 2 crore plus) is a high impact property which can help in 1 billion plus impressions & hence high awareness. While previously the banner was sold on a per day basis, YouTube now also sell the masthead banner space on a Cost per Impressions(CPM) basis for a few days every month.

    • Use Influencer Marketing – leverage channels aligned to the brand’s target audience to create branded content

     

    Quick Facts

    • User Base in India – 265 million Monthly Active Users

    • Demographic Profile – Age-agnostic. Regional and gender diversity (120+ channels with more than 1 million subscribers are run by women)

    • Ad formats – Video ads (Non skippable  & skippable), Display ads, Cards, Overlay ads, Masthead banner ad, influencer marketing

     

    SnapChat

    Snap Originals in India

    Snapchat , owned by USA headquartered Snap Inc. is a multimedia-messaging app which allows users to share static & video content called ‘Stories’. It also includes a Discover tab where content partners & brands show ad-supported short-form content. Snapchat has become known for representing a new, mobile-first direction for social media, for e.g. it was the first to introduce both Augmented reality filters & Stories on its platform, both of which have since got replicated in most other popular apps. India has been a focus market for Snap Inc., since 2018., which has lead to an 80% increase in DAUs (Daily Active Users) in the country. This growth is partly fueled by the integration of  four new Indian languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Marathi & partly by local partnerships across device manufacturers, telcos, content creators (Brut, HuffPost India, The Logical Indian, The Quint, VICE India, Pocket Aces,) etc.. These content partnerships have also been used by Snap for original content creation, branded as ‘Snap Originals’.  Brands should advertise on Snap primarily to reach the youth in metros, and definitely if they target women below 34 years in metros .  Snapchat also offers granular targeting options with low ad spends.

     

    • User Base in India – undisclosed, 229 million MAUs globally

    • Demographic Profile – Urban Youth, below 34 years of age, 55% of the audience being women

    • Ad formats – Sponsored Lenses , Sponsored filters,  Sponsored stories, ads in discover

     

    The platforms targeted at Rural India

    Most platforms which are targeting rural India have a few commonalties – firstly they are focused on regional languages, they are still focused on building communities and while have made inroads on revenue streams, they are not focus areas. Thirdly, most have come under some flak for objectionable content, whether pornographic or political. Marketers are hence, still wary of leveraging them, but as the platforms get more established in the coming few years, they will contribute to sizeable digital spends. We focus on two such platforms, which seem to be winning the numbers game in 2020 –

     

    Likee –  was the 7th most downloaded app of 2019 and has 115 million Monthly Active Users in India.

    Screenshot of Likee user’s profile, homepage & Live

    Likee (rebranded from Like) is a short video creation platform created by Singapore based firm, BIGO Technology in 2017. It offers  short video creation with a variety of creative Augmented Reality filters and effects, a news tab to catch up on current affairs & an option to go ‘Live’ where users are allowed to send virtual gifts and roses to their favorite creators. It offers support for 15 Indian languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu and Sanskrit.

     

    While similar to TikTok, the user interface is much simpler and filters are more creative. Its 115million+ user base is primarily concentrated in tier 2& 3 cities. Advertising options on its platform, are similar to those offered on TikTok i.e. branded filters, branded challenges & in-feed ads. Inventory on Infeed-ads are sold using the Google Ad Exchange & Facebook Audience Network

     

    Likee has been used for promoting many popular movies of 2019 such as Chhichhore, Dabangg 3 & Housefull4.  For e.g. For Housefull4, users  could transform into any of the characters they chose from the film using the Facemorph filter. Selected users were then invited for a meet& greet with the cast

     

    Sharechat

    Sharechat is a social networking service founded in 2015 in India which available both on mobile & web. It allows sharing of both video & static content, and is available in 14 languages including dialects like Rajasthani, Haryanvi and Bhojpuri. It also has a chat feature, which allows users to communicate with each other. The platform currently has a user Base in India of 60 million+ MAUs.  Rather than follow the strategy formulated by TikTok, as most platforms in the space are doing, ShareChat has managed to differentiate itself from other platforms  due to its multipronged strategy –

     

    • Advertising – Brand integrations through micro-influencers on the platform. Micro influencers help create unique brand experiences through UGC (User Generated Content). Coca Cola, Oyo, MTR, Airtel, Pepsi and the Future Group are some of the advertisers already working with ShareChat.

    • Community – it has focused on targeting users in tier2,3 & 4 cities only in Indian vernacular languages. It has recently launched several interest-based micro-communities on subjects such as commerce and religion, gaming and fantasy sports to drive user-engagement

    • Content Moderation – moderates content to global standards followed by Twitter ( who led a Series D $100 million investment round in 2019)

     

     

    Images courtesy indianexpress.com, qz.com, public feeds of apps

    Bhuvi Gupta is a marketer with 10 years of work experience, of which the last six have been in the media and entertainment industry. She has been a part of many launch marketing campaigns with experiences at the Times of India group, Republic TV and the latest in marketing a Bollywood film.

  • And in a world where everyone is a marketer what happens to the full-time marketer, asks Bhuvi Gupta

    In an AI-powered world, what’s the road ahead for Marketers?

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaAs another close friend launches a podcast in a bid to ‘network’ and the US’s renowed Venture Capital firm, Andreessen Horrowitz announced the launch of its media company (Link – https://a16z.com/2021/01/25/doubling-down-marketing-update-new-media/ ),  I am stating the obvious  when I say that today we are all content creators and marketers. But in a world where everyone is a marketer what happens to the full-time marketer?

     

     

    Last fortnight, we talked about the why of this marketing evolution and this fortnight we tackle how can a true-blue marketer deal with this evolution to ensure her or his relevance.  This change has been especially hard on marketers who are in middle management because their education and initial work experience are no longer relevant.  So what can marketers do to remain relevant ?

     

     

     

    Upskilling

     

    The obvious truth of remaining relevant in any evolving discipline is upskill oneself. While there is a lot changing, what is key is to keep oneself up-to-date with the latest trends, algorithmic changes to social media platforms, and new formats for content and advertising.  Hence the first diktat of upskilling is to understand Performance Marketing, even if one only has to work with an agency to execute campaigns. Despite it now having been around for the better part of a decade, there are still hangups and a lack of genuine understanding about it. Everyone knows they should but what and how much are still mysteries. These are heavy time investments but with the plethora of MOOCs and content on the internet finding the right course is easier than having the discipline to finish it. The importance of this cannot be underestimated. The landscape is consistently evolving and the evolution follows every previous step on the digital ladder. Even if your job doesn’t currently involve performance marketing, it is the elephant in the room, which is bound to become visible sooner than later.

     

     

    As detailed in my previous article, due to the revolution in communication brought about by the internet, there has been a drastic change in the customer life cycle. Information is now available to the consumer on her/his fingertips and s/he shares thoughts about the brand, the category and the brands’ competitors. Ignoring such a wealth of consumer input is almost a crime . But it happens more often than it should, because there is a stockpile of data and a dearth of skill on how to effectively mine it. Hence the second diktat of upskilling is to learn how to use data mining and sentiment analysis software such as SQL, HootSuite etc to help generate insights. These insights must be reviewed and responded to as regularly as can be.

     

     

    Creating a personal brand

     

    In 2021, creating a personal brand is important no matter what one’s profession and work experience, but it becomes even more important for marketers, because we are in the business of communication.  With the plethora of social media platforms available, building a personal brand will help increase visibility, gain knowledge, network with colleagues in the industry and hence generate opportunities. Today, not having curated and active presence online is akin to being invisible.

     

     

     

    Network

     

    Never before have existed opportunities to gain insight and interact with the greatest business minds, across the globe sitting right in the comfort of your own house and probably in your pyjamas! While I will assume that most of my readers will have crated Twitter feeds, today using apps like Clubhouse (link- https://www.joinclubhouse.com) can help marketers interact in real time with thought leaders across the world. Other apps to explore include Lunchclub (link – https://lunchclub.ai ), which allow 1:1 video meetups (currently virtual but pre-lockdown the meetups were in-person) basis career interests and goals. Because both apps curate their members the quality of connections is high and takeaways aplenty.

     

    ~ ~

     

    That the role of a marketer has transformed drastically is unquestionable.  All in all, it has been a tough decade to be a marketer, but the coming decade(s) will force out those who are unable to adapt. I would love to hear back thoughts from fellow marketers about how they are coping with the evolving landscape and any tips or tricks they use to keep themselves up to speed. Write to me c/o editor@mxmindia.com.

     

     

     

    Bhuvi Gupta is a marketer with over 10 years across industries, of which the last six have been in Media & Entertainment. She has been a part of many launch marketing campaigns – specifically at the Times of India group, Republic TV and the latest in marketing a Bollywood film. She writes on A&M (essentially on marketing, but often on advertising too) mostly every other Tuesday. Her views here are personal. She tweets at @bhuvigupta3

     

  • With the influencer industry maturing, brands must consider moving budgets, writes Bhuvi Gupta

    In a world full of influencers, are celeb-endorsements worth it?

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaIt was 2015, Diwali had just passed and Snapdeal was one of the three big e-commerce players in India with Bollywood icon Aamir Khan as its brand ambassador. A personal comment by Khan at the Ramnath Goenka Awards event launched the first boycott trend online for Khan-endorsed Snapdeal, whose Play Store ratings plummeted, orders got returned. Despite the official statement released disassociating itself from both the brand ambassador and his views, the damage had been done. Aamir Khan was soon fired from his role as brand ambassador.

     

    Khan has since learnt his lesson and kept his personal opinions to himself, a dictum closely followed by the other two Khans as well (controversy’s favourite child, Saif Ali Khan not included!). But it was definitely the first time I thought about the wastefulness of celebrity endorsements, a point of view that has only since strengthened.

     

    Why do brands turn to celebrities?

     

    The simplest reason for using celebrity endorsers is for the awareness they help generate.  For most mass market brands in crowded marketplaces and high advertising budgets, a celebrity endorser is an easy and sureshot way of getting recall. The Duff& Phelps Celebrity Brand Valuation report which came out last week, showcases the same – despite the decrease in advertising budgets, the brand valuation of the Top 20 celebrities has remained more or less consistent at USD 1 billion. To get the most bang for your buck, a brand is only limited to signing these top 20 celebrities who are neither cheap nor easily available.

     

    Going any farther down the totem pole, especially when budgets have to be devoted to ensure a purchase decision is made is just not worth it.

     

    Consumers are also well aware that celebrities do not have any brand loyalty and are not really endorsing the product. This is evident when celebs routinely jump to competitor brands and claim innocence when the brand is found not to meet safety standards.

     

    Circling back to my initial thought, in 2021, brands no longer need to be dependent on celebrities to drive awareness. A much better option is effective influencer marketing.

     

    Why Influencer Marketing?

     

    The biggest differential that influencer marketing has with respect to celebrity-focused advertising is that (the right) influencers are believable, trustworthy and authentic.  An influencer post will typically have much higher quality with longer captions and explanations, and engagement by them in the comments section.

     

    Hence, when an influencer creates content recommending a product it doesn’t feel like an advertisement but like a close friend sharing a secret about something he or she liked. Hence, a brand endorsement from them really means something and can drive sales conversions.

     

    Secondly, most influencers have a specific niche and loyal audiences.  Therefore, even though their audience is a lot narrower, it is more focused than a typical celebrity’s audience.

     

    Thirdly, the influencer marketing industry in India has matured. Influencers are no longer hired purely on the basis of their follower count but also include parameters like average engagement rates and their demographic profile. Hence choosing influencers whether to target a specific geography or a specific interest is easier.

     

    Fourthly, influencer marketing is accessible. Unlike celebrity endorsements which can only be afforded by brands with deep pockets, a successful influencer campaign can cost as low as a few lakh, if one chooses to use nano-influencers (follower counts of less than 20,000) in their campaign.

     

    Fifthly, with the influencer marketing industry maturing, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), announced plans to roll out new norms for social media influencers to promote products on the Internet. (Link – https://www.news18.com/news/tech/guidelines-for-influencers-are-incoming-a-few-folks-and-brands-must-be-very-worried-2350469.html) While the guidelines are awaited, once in place, either celebrity endorsement campaigns will reduce drastically or become a lot more cost-effective.

     

     

    In conclusion, testimonials and endorsements have been a mainstay in marketing for many years. Influencers combine the best of the word-of-mouth recommendation with the reach of a celebrity to help brands cover the distance between awareness to action in the marketing life cycle. With the influencer industry maturing, brands must move budgets from celebrities to influencers to get the most bang for their buck.

  • With ASCI’s guidelines falling in place by April 15, the onus is now on the ecosystem to make it a success, writes ASCI, both brands and influencers now have a reference to ensure that they are responsible in their messaging

    Influencing the Influencers, finally

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaI have long held a strong belief in the power of Influencer marketing (as regular readers of this column would vouch). Digitisation and connectivity has changed marketing forever and Influencer marketing is the sweet love child of this new media – it’s part Celebrity advertising (influencers with large followings become celebrities), word-of-mouth (influencers are relatable, hence their recommendations seem to come from a friend), branded content (product placements and content marketing) and pure play advertising.

     

    Influencer marketing is here to stay and which is why I was enthused to hear that the (Draft) ASCI Guidelines for Influencer marketing, which have been in process since 2019 have been released.

     

     

    The guidelines are available for all stakeholders, including industry, digital influencers and consumers for feedback till March 8, 2021. Based on the feedback, the final guidelines will be issued by March 31 and will be applicable to all promotional posts published on or after April 15, 2021.

     

    Manisha Kapoor
    Manisha Kapoor

    I joined a freewheeling chat that Manisha Kapoor, Secretary General, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) had with the MxMIndia editor and it helped me understand the thought process behind drafting the guidelines. Sharing an overview of my thoughts and a few points of feedback which can get incorporated before the guidelines are finalised. The highlights of our conversation and my thoughts ar:

     

     

    Who will take the fall?

     

    One of our major points of discussion was around the roles of the platform and agencies which form crucial parts of the current ecosystem. In the current draft regulations, the onus of the responsibility lies only on the influencer and the brand. ASCI has already onboarded a few major platforms on their board and hopes to also partner with other major platforms and agencies to disseminate the guidelines.

    From a managerial perspective, this is perfect. However, digital platforms unlike traditional platforms like TV and Print run on algorithms with low human intervention. This means that content gets served a multitude of times to people dependent on the influencer’s engagement, followers and other weighted parameters (parameters which are only known by the platform and are tweaked constantly basis multiple feedback loops). Hence, beyond the influencer and the brand, the platforms also ideally should be held responsible because they control the spread of the message.

     

    The Influencer Agency

     

    Influencer agencies are the newest agency type to hit the agency marketplace. As influencers mostly wear multiple hats like scriptwriter, actor, director, editor and costume designer, the influencer agency is part-celebrity management and part-media agency.

     

    The role of these agencies is primarily to be responsible for deals they broker for influencers and to help brands partner with relevant influencers for their campaigns and to ensure speed in execution and content quality. ASCI will be using these agencies as a means to reach and educate influencers. Agencies typically work on commissions and will charge a percentage from the brand and from the influencer as well. However, by putting all the responsibility of the due diligence on the influencer, the role of the influencer agency is severely limited to being only a vanilla middleman. Whether or not it becomes a part of ASCI’s official guidelines, for survival, agencies must provide these services to influencers.

     

    The Question of the Disclosures

     

    One of the best directives of the guidelines was the prohibition of filters in case they emphasise the claim the brand is making.  [Filters should not be applied to social media advertisements if they exaggerate the effect of the claim that the brand is making – like makes hair shinier, teeth whiter etc.] It is no secret that using the augmented reality and editing features (available easily on smartphones today) can dramatically alter your features. For influencers whose sphere of influence and impact is contingent on their credibility and trustworthiness, using augmented reality for a before/ after to promote a product to a trusting audience is more unfair than a photoshopped celebrity in an ad, because the audience trusts the influencer is real and just like them. This is hence a step in the right direction to minimise the pressures of fake imagery on consumers. Beyond filters, a declaration about whether images have been edited should also be added to this directive to ensure transparency

     

     

    Damage control, Punitive Measures & their Efficacy

     

    Manisha Kapoor mentioned that while ASCI is a self-regulatory body and doesn’t have the authority to take punitive action, the compliance rates with ASCI decisions have always been over 90% and they expect the same compliance for these influencer guidelines. In terms of any wrongdoing, or misleading advertising, they expect influencers to carry corrigendum announcing the error while taking down the content.

     

    While mistakes will happen, because influencer content on social media gets reposted and reshared there will have to be some social media platform involvement to ensure takedown of the misleading content and the review cycle may need to be speedier as ASCI’s review of misleading advertisements follows a schedule.

     

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    One of the biggest positive takeaways of our conversation with the ASCI Secretary General was that the entire industry has welcomed this step because the influencer ecosystem has been disorganised and self-regulated till now. With clear guidelines to follow in place, both brands and influencers now have a reference to ensure that they are responsible in their messaging.

     

    ASCI also recognises this is just the first step in creating a regulatory framework for a digital marketplace that is evolving at breakneck speed and the framework will adapt as the ecosystem evolves.

     

    This was a much-needed and long-awaited framework for the industry and I am excited about the creation of a more transparent digital ecosystem.

     

    While stakeholders are very enthusiastic about the self-regulatory mechanism falling in place, a lot rests on them to make a success of the guidelines when they come into force on April 15.