MxMIndia

Category: SPECIALS

  • In the future, the pie of BTL will increase while ATL will keep shrinking, says Manoj Nair, Vice President and Head of Marketing at FCM Travel Solutions in BTL Baatein, powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Manoj Nair, FCM Travel Solutions… Powered by VISCOMM

    With a management degree from Mumbai Unversity, an executive programme in leadership and management from IIM Kolkata and an International MBA from Marketing Week plus a career spanning over 16 years in the travel industry, Manoj Nair has worked in leadership positions in various travel companies. With prior work experience from Thomas Cook and Kuoni, Manoj Nair is currently Vice President and Head of Marketing at Flight Centre Travel Group’s India subsidiary. We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Santosh Jangid speaking to Manoj Nair about Below The Line (BTL) advertising for Travel sector, focus of the company and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL.


     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    BTL is very integral for Flight Centre Travel Group in India. We own various iconic brands such as FCM, the second largest corporate travel player in India. Flight Shop, one of the fastest growing travel retail brand with footprints all across India. Corporate Traveller, the only corporate travel brand in India catering specifically to SME segment. Travelmoney.in our foreign exchange brand which caters to wholesale as well as retail requirement through online and offline channels.

    As you can see we cater to people across various categories and while we have a focused approach for all our b2b engagements (read BTL) in our retail promotion we lean heavily on BTL to engage with the right customers and more than 52% of our sales would be a manifestation of reaching out to a known audience and making them aware of the latest offering through various BTL activities

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    We focus a lot on customer and corporate roadshows, networking evenings, targeted mailers and SMS as well as topical events to engage, educate and influence the end customers. Ours is a very ROI driven marketing outfit and to ensure maximum bang for our buck we ensure we take part in events which are response driven and generates leads at an optimum cost. We are continuously benchmarking our activities, events, mailers and measure each promotion on its merits and metrics. The holy grail for us is the COA and while its not apparent in all activities, we definitely look at cost per query and qualify the event as worth the effort of participation or not.. Typical cost of generating a query through a print ad which is a response driven ad the cost would be Rs 900 to Rs.1500 depending on what product we advertise. The same product if we go into a BTL activation wherein if we do a neighbourhood activation, focused targeted emailers or a digital campaign where it is targeted at people who are looking out for a particular holiday the cost comes down drastically to Rs 250-300.

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    The overall marketing budget across all brands is around INR 6 crore of which BTL will contribute to 25% of the spends.

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    We normally do it on our own or through an agency which specializes in BTL activation. Our past experience makes us believe that that existing creative and media agency while they are very good at mass media communication when it comes to handling BTL, it’s a different animal and you need to be very nimble on ground and come up with activities which engage or intrigue and open channels to having a conversation.

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?

    Yes BTL is a great way of engaging with customers and also more focused and in that sense effective than ATL. For eg we know a large chunk of our customer base have club membership and lot of prestigious club members are our potential customers. So when we launched our Flight Shop Ahmedabad store, we did a purely BTL activation to announce our entry. It was Dassera time and it’s by far the biggest festival & navratri garbas are huge there. We partnered with one of the oldest and biggest club Karnavati and put out our signature big red cushions. We got Thai masseurs to give feet acupressure to people who came to our stall after a tiring evening of playing Dandiya.  While people were sitting there and relaxing in the chairs of the flight market area, we literally had them by their leg J our sales team would go and talk with them, talk about Flight Shop and find out their interest in travel. Needless to say we got lot of queries and sales too. With B2B BTL is our first port of call for customer connect and it always delivers if done through the right forum. When it comes to consumer activity, while we will use mass market to announce an offer or product we will still go the BTL way to generate and get the queries. BTL goes hand in hand with ATL for some of the products where we go out and do a mix of both to ensure we get desired result.

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    The various metrics we consider to qualify a BTL campaign as successful are

    1)   The quality of queries generated

    2)   The total queries generated and percentage conversions

    3)   The quality of engagement

     

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your views on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    There are products which warrant only BTL launch and if it’s done in a very interesting way, yes why not! We did it for our Ahmedabad store launch and its doing well for us, without much of ATL support.

    Yes, I have no doubt in my mind the right way to go is the BTL route and while ATL is the preferred route for PAN India launch where you need to inform a large segment of TG, when it comes to specific/ niche products and areas you will have focused BTL activations.

  • The beauty of digital advertising and BTL is that, everything is measurable, and we can choose the targeting to reach the right audience, says AbhayMokal of Vertozin this edition of BTL Baatein, powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Abhay Mokal, Vertoz… Powered by VISCOMM

    An infotech and management graduate, AbhayMokal has five years of experience in the media industry and a rich B2B experience in marketing of industrial products from working with brands like Kingfisher Group – United Breweries Limited, timescity.com, carwale.com and Alfaa UV. Mokal is currently Marketing Manager at Vertoz, a leading programmatic company that offers and monetising solutions to advertisers. We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Santosh Jangid speaking to AbhayMokal about Below The Line (BTL) advertising, the focus of the company in terms of the type of promotions and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL.

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    Vertoz is a complete advertising and monetisation suite, where our receiving audience is mostly B2B businesses, brands and agencies. Targeting such people with ATL mediums like radio, TV, print, or outdoor is very difficult. The messaging and communication is purely B2B, hence BTL mediums are preferred to reach the target audience. To target the audience at a micro level, Vertoz prefers BTL mediums more because of the results, reports and ease of calculating ROI.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    Vertoz prefers BTL advertising to connect to the customers. We participate in over 8-10 well known industry relevant events and exhibitions across the globe to develop new relations and touch base with old customers. Exhibitions are an excellent platform to showcase your technology and services to the right audience as people attending the exhibitions are there to understand and know more about the industry’s latest trends. Vertoz highly relies on digital marketing for branding activities. Emailers and monthly newsletters work best to connect with our subscribers regularly. You can inform your customers about the latest offers and share company updates by sending them emailers. People love to hear from the company they are associated with.

    Vertoz uses its own RTB enabled programmatic self-serve platform along with biddable media and paid social media to generate quality leads and brand awareness. Promoting a video or a highly engaging display advertisement is the best way to generate brand recall. We like to share our ideas and knowledge through blogs and social media. Vertoz as a thought leader believes in keeping its audience updated about the industry trends, latest changes in the market and new technology.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    Vertoz majorly spends on programmatic digital advertising and trade shows in BTL. The beauty of digital advertising and BTL is that, everything is measurable, and we can choose the targeting to reach the right audience. Generating business leads and brand awareness with ATL is a little challenging compared to BTL.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    As one of the leading programmatic advertising companies, Vertoz suggests clients to consider expert BTL agencies as they know the latest trends in the market. Considering the current digital era, advertising companies are coming up with new technology and innovations in the advertising industry. Programmatic, header bidding, innovative & engaging ad formats are trending in the market, and only an expert agency can leverage these mediums and vehicles to give best results to customers.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sure shot avenue than ATL?

    ATL always has had an upper hand when it comes to generating brand awareness. However, having said that, with ATL, it is challenging to track or calculate the effectiveness of the advertisement. You might end up generating lesser buzz or brand awareness, if ATL mediums are used for very short duration or with low budgets. It is always suggested to use ATL mediums only when you have very high budgets and want to run campaigns all the time. BTL advertising mediums are precisely targeted and because of that it is very easy to track the spending and results. In most of the BTL mediums, you get reports and data about the campaigns in real-time; whereas in ATL activities you can track campaign reach and ROI only after completion of the campaign. If any BTL campaign is not yielding results as per your goals, you can always optimise the campaigns as per the data collected in real-time.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    Major advantage with most of the BTL campaigns is that, it is data driven. Consider a tradeshow or a mall-activation campaign, it is easy to calculate the footfall and the ROI. With BTL activities, the advertiser is always sure about reaching the right audiences. Success of BTL activities depend on various factors. Calculating reach of your advertising communication can help you to understand brand reach. Customer interactions such as footfall to the stall, clicks, likes and comments on the ad, can tell how good your marketing communication and ad copy is. Tracking your returning customers can help you understand the brand’s loyal customers. Like all advertising mediums, success of BTL campaigns is highly dependent on the sales team. Unlike ATL campaigns, customers’ interaction or connect with BTL is very limited. The sales team must connect to the customers through calls, emails or messages before the customer misses to recall the brand.

     

    There are many organizations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your views on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    To create the right marketing mix, companies always go for the multi-channel marketing mix. Brands prefer to take the ‘ATL plus BTL’ approach. It helps companies to reach greater brand penetration which in turn improves brand recall. But as trends are changing, marketers are increasing their BTL and digital marketing budget. Considering consumer oriented brands, it is difficult for them to shift totally from ATL to BTL. For them ATL will always be preferred because of brand and product awareness power that it possesses. However, maximum brands are shifting from ATL to BTL simply because of the real-time results and targeting options.

     

  • Both ATL and BTL have their roles in the marketing mix and the brand should choose the right channel depending on their objectives, says Sachin Uppal, Marketing Director of RummyCircle.com

    BTL Baatein: Sachin Uppal, RummyCircle.com… Powered by VISCOMM

    After completing his engineering degree from Kurukshetra University, Sachin Uppal did an executive programme from IIM Calcutta as also a master’s in finance and maths (online course) from Harvard Business School. Uppal has close to 14 years of marketing experience, working in various roles in the fields of marketing and brand management in organisations such as Naseba, National Instruments, Wipro HealthCare and Wipro Technologies and is currently the Marketing Director of RummyCircle.com, a leading player offering social play games fully owned and operated by Play Games24x7 Pvt. Ltd.

    We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Santosh Jangid speaking to Sachin Uppal about Below The Line (BTL) advertising, the focus of the company in terms of the type of promotions and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL.

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    We believe it is important to connect with our consumers through multi-channel approach depending on their consumption patterns. The simple principles of advertising to remember are that the methods should be cost-effective and deliver high ROI. Both ATL and BTL form part of such a communication approach.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    Our brand is in the early stages of growth and we have tried few BTL activities like: touchscreens trials in malls and some event sponsorships among others. However, such experiments have been limited due to effective measurability.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    We have run few cost-effective experiments in BTL. Largely our spends are on digital media channels and some structured regional advertisements.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    Mostly, our experiments have been run directly by our in-house teams. However, we are always open to partner with the right agencies who have on ground foothold to execute such activities.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sure shot avenue than ATL?

    The comparison is not apt here. The channel selection is primarily dependent on the objectives and segmentation. The BTL channels are sometimes quite  straightforward to measure and at other times somewhat of a challenge. For example, if I want to get a new audience to sample my food product, trying it out in a mall would make sense. However, if I want to get online traffic at scale, measuring the effectiveness of mall activations may not be that straight-forward. In my opinion, both ATL and BTL have their roles in the marketing mix and the brand should choose the right channel depending on their objectives.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    In words of the famous Australian born management consultant Peter Drucker, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” We apply this principle to all our marketing spends and the primary indicator is ROI on BTL marketing spends. As we evolve as a brand and build new methodologies and techniques to measure our BTL efforts, the success of such campaigns will come to the forefront.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your views on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL? 

    Each brand has its own way of understanding their target audience and coming up with techniques to reach their audiences in a profitable way. Different revenue models at different stages of business growth require different approaches to launch and measure effectiveness of returns on their investments. If a brand is able to almost entirely launch campaigns with outdoor and digital blitz and still achieve their business goals then it’s a fantastic outcome. It gives strong encouragement to new businesses and entrepreneurs entering the space and trying out such campaigns. With digital media on the rise, I see such strategies in early growth periods can be extremely useful.

     

  • BTL is absolutely necessary for the brand to engage with the audience on ground, says Abraham Alapatt, Chief Innovation Officer and Head – Marketing & Service Quality at Thomas Cook India Ltd

    BTL Baatein with Abraham Alapatt, Thomas Cook… Powered by VISCOMM

    A postgraduate in business administration from SCMS School of Business, Kerala, Abraham Alapatt has  over 20 years of professional experience at senior strategic levels from working with brands like Goldwire Communications, Ogilvy & Mather, Reliance Capital, Development Credit Bank and Future Generali India Life Insurance Company before joining Thomas Cook in October 2012. Alapatt is currently the Chief Innovation Officer and Head – Marketing & Service Quality at Thomas Cook India Ltd. We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Santosh Jangid speaking to Abraham Alapatt about Below The Line (BTL) advertising, the focus of the company in terms of the type of promotions and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL.

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    Yes, BTL is absolutely necessary for the brand to engage with the audience on ground. Apart from that it is one of the best ways to generate good quality leads (prospective customer) for active selling of the products and give a first-hand experience of the product. While ATL works well to create awareness and generate interest about the product / brand, if ably supported on ground with activations it helps ensure direct and last mile connect with the TG.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion? 

    We activate events across various customer touch-points on grounds comprising travel expositions, apartment and residential societies, corporate parks and companies, schools, malls and city centers among others.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL? 

    Currently, around 80% of our spendings is skewed towards ATL with BTL being around 20%

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency? 

    We use a hybrid model. If the task involves a large scale activation, we do consider an agency to execute it for us, but most times, our local sales teams execute it themselves on the ground in their respective locations.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sure shot avenue than ATL? 

    In the B2B space, direct engagement with the customer has always worked well for us. However, at times, it is supported with ATL communication in B2B media vehicles such as trade publications in order to build awareness for the brand.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign? 

    The number of footfalls (engagement with the brand / product) and queries generated during a particular activity/event is the primary measure of success for a BTL activity.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your views on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    The moment you supplement BTL with Outdoor and Digital blitz for any new product launch, it ceases to become a BTL-only launch. But it is a smart way to keep costs low and still manage to create some sort of an impact without spending millions of dollars on a mass media campaign. The only shortcoming of a pure BTL product launch could be scalability, because we can only reach out to a small set of people in the vicinity where the event / activation is being carried out. Hence there are limitations to BTL if you intend for a higher impact with a pan-India product launch.

     

  • Your demographic has to be very focused and only then you can select the activity, says Shirish Deshpande Chief Executive Officer of Pan India ParyatanPvt. Ltd in BTL Baatein… powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Shirish Deshpande, Pan India Paryatan Pvt. Ltd… powered by VISCOMM

    With a vast industry career experience spanning over 33 years across varied sectors, Shirish Deshpande is a veteran in the entertainment and amusement industry. An association of more than 16 years with Pan India ParyatanPvt. Ltd (PIPPL) credits him with the launch of Water Kingdom, re-launch of EsselWorld and the brand’s extensions into hospitality and family entertainment centres with the launch of Downtown EsselWorld at Seasons Mall in Pune among other initiatives. Shirish Deshpande is Chief Executive Officer of PIPPL, a subsidiary of the Essel group. It owns and operates amusement park EsselWorldand Water Kingdom, a Theme Water Park.

     

    We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Santosh Jangid speaking to Shirish Deshpande about Below The Line (BTL) advertising, the focus of the company in terms of the type of promotions and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL.

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    BTL is very important for any marketing plan and we do a lot of activities on BTL platform.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion? 

    Nowadays we do BTL on a two-way platform – online and offline. We do events at corporate levels where we put a special EsselWorld entertainment week saying – come and buy EsselWorld ticket which will be valid for the next few months and most of discounts in different form in terms of maybe direct entry and some food discount vouchers. So we make overall package which looks very lucrative to them. So this is one of the parts of doing it. Second, we have around 10 small kiosks at all big malls in Pune and Mumbai. So there we continuously do some activities like promoting the product with price limitation so that is also a helping aid and third is a total specific program where we go to societies and take permission from their secretaries and put a booth there on Sundays. It may not turn into business then and there only but either they’ve seen or they have not seen it. There are only two types of people as far as EsselWorldis concerned. One generation has seen it, witnessed it, experienced it and one generation may not have heard it. So for them the awareness is created by going to the corporate societies and complexes.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL? 

    The ratio comes to around 30% – 70% where BTL is 30% and ATL is 70%. Sometimes it’s 20% sometimes it’s 30% but not 30% of the total spends. We are only talking about the media ATL spends. If you take that, our spend last year was Rs 7 crore into total advertising. Other than the other cost of creative, cost of making ad, cost of agency, and cost of BTL agency. I’m not calculating that but out of that but out of the BTL goes around 30% of that. Last year we spent around 2.25 and 4.75 Cr.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency? 

    I prefer to do it with the agency but not all the time but most of the time. We are making our internal teams as well whenever we do impart promotion and at the entry level when the consumer enters into the park and once they are inside the park. Once they come inside the park there is a lot of promotion with the price promotion, invitation promotion like play the games, etc. So whenever they’re in the park we do it internally but for societies and complexes we do it with BTL agencies.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sure shot avenue than ATL? 

    Yes, BTL spends are more specific but there are limitations to it. You can cover very few people so you can’t target a mass audience. Your demographic has to be very focused and only then you can select the activity but it gives you results. The cost is on the higher side but you get quick results with the BTL activity.  You don’t know and you can’t judge an ATL activity.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign? 

    If Rs. 200 or Rs. 300 is the cost of food, so we count it. We have school promotions, we have college promotions, we do promotions with Pepsi and we nearly notice all the promotions and then we count the redemption. What was the spend, how many coupons were distributed and what was the redemption? Is we say we sold 100 tickets and whether we get some additional benefit where someone will come with their friends, some with come with their parents. So we track all of those things. In this way we can track and measure it.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your views on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    I treat digital as BTL where the reach is very high but it’s very direct, target selection. We can measure every single result and every single sold tickets, the likes, the dislikes. Digital is more measurable although anyone it is very expensive according to me. It’s not that cheap because you can’t get as good results at print but the focus is shifting towards digital. We never spend Rs 1crore on digital but last year we did spendRs 1 crore on digital….

    If I have a national product or national presence, there is nothing like ATL. There is no option when you have a broad spectrum of agency or broad demographic. In my case, yes, demographic of male-female age is 14 to 44. So age-wise it’s a very broad spectrum but currently considering the cost of satellite media I can’t afford to go national when my product is only at one place… otherwise, if you ask me, at any given time, I would love to go for a TV platform.

     

  • BTL is a must to increase consumer engagement and measurability, says Amitabh Dikshit, Head Appliances, Eveready Industries India Ltd in an all-new season of BTL Baatein… powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein powered by VISCOMM… Amitabh Dikshit, Eveready Industries

    With a vast experience spanning over 23 years across domestic and international markets, Amitabh Dikshit heads the Appliances Division at Eveready. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Pune University as well an MBA from Symbiosis, Pune. We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Amitabh Dikshit speaking to us about Below The Line (BTL) promotions and how they are an integral part of his marketing strategy at Eveready Appliances

     

    How important is BTL for the appliances division?

     

    BTL is a very integral part in promoting Eveready Appliances. It works as a strong confidence builder particularly for special feature products or new technologies. For products like appliances, it is very important to create the right connect with the customer and help in increasing brand awareness amongst the target audience. BTL promotions will help highlight the features, USPs and inform the consumers about the products. I feel it’s a must to increase consumer engagement and measurability.

     

    While Eveready is a household name in batteries, in appliances it isn’t. Given this, is there any special strategy that you’ve adopted as you enter the appliances space? 

    Eveready has always been perceived as a value for money brand.  As a brand we are focussed on developing a strong range of cost effective products to ensure consumer delight at that price range.

     

    Are there certain types of vehicles that you prefer to employ BTL promotions in this category? 

    We use a range of mediums as per need and not any specific vehicle to market our appliances.

     

    Specifically, how important is BTL to the overall marketing plan at EIIL? 

    We always use the marketing mix in various degrees depending on the need. Each of our campaigns use a healthy dose of ATL and BTL to ensure we always have top of mind recall for all our products. BTL specially is critical as this forms the first hand visibility and feel for any walk-in customer.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you are undertaking and propose to undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion? 

    There are various BTL activities that we focus on. Since the brand has been for the masses we usually have In shop demonstration, shelf talkers, in store branding, danglers, banners, participation in melas and exhibitions etc

     

    What is/will be the ratio of ATL to BTL in your promotional plans? 

    We don’t use a set formula for this. It changes from product to product and the target we want to reach for that product.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency? 

    In the past we have used both the creative agency and a dedicated BTL agency as we understand the value add that deliver. The end objective is to maximize efficiency and output.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?  

    We can’t define BTL or ATL as a sureshot and each initiative’s success can be judged on a predefined marketing matrix. They usually supplement each other depending on the business objective especially for a new brand being launches in the appliances range.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this.  

    This is entirely dependent on which platform the brand is launching and which period of the year. Not all of them have met with success using this method.

     

    Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL? 

    ATL and BTL must complement each other for a touch and feel product like appliances because we are catering to a range of consumers. It is important that we address each customer in their comfort zone and that can be achieved only by using both efficiently.

     

  • When you target a particular fragment of the market, BTL becomes inevitable, writes Ravi Rai, General Manager, Novotel Vishakhapatnam

    BTL Baatein with Ravi Rai, Novotel… Powered by VISCOMM

    Ravi Rai brings over 15 years of hospitality experience to the Novotel group, spanning operation management, staff development, customer service and P&L management. He has been instrumental in strategising business operations through comprehensive business initiatives. Having worked with various hospitality brands and across hierarchies, he carries a strong hospitality acumen. In this edition of BTL Baatein powered by VISCOMM, we speak with Ravi Rai, General Manager, Novotel Vishakhapatnam…

     

    How important is BTL in the hospitality space? Novotel is a well-known hotel, so why promote in the BTL way?
    BTL plays a paramount part in the hospitality sector. Yes, we are a well-known brand and hence it is even more important to ensure consistency in our offerings. When you target a particular fragment of the market, BTL becomes inevitable.

     

    Are there certain types of vehicles that you prefer to employ BTL promotions?
    We choose our conduit basis the concerned event, activity or promotion taken up. Relevance becomes the key here. When we are test marketing a product or a service, depending on the target clientele, we may encourage distribution of pamphlets and presence of brochures at various points of sale as well as guest interaction areas. Our dedicated sales team acts as a catalyst in ensuring a speedy reach.

     

    Specifically, how important is BTL to the overall marketing plan at Novotel Vishakhapatnam?
    In the hospitality business, the services are extremely personalised. It is of prominence that our esteemed guests are briefed about each and every promotion and ongoing or forthcoming events & activities. Without the guest being informed, our efforts would go futile. Every initiative brought up is with an intention to ensure that the customers are taken care of and their expectations met. We customise our offerings for different business entities so as to suit their needs. BTL adds the required personal touch, without which the concept of hospitality would be hollow.

     

    What is the ratio of ATL to BTL in your promotional plans?
    We have incorporated ATL activities as part of our marketing plan. However, I believe that digital communication is the way forth, not to forget that we already are in an age of TTL. The hospitality sector is one where the target will always be niche in its own way and hence, BTL will be carried at its heart.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency or inhouse?
    We do have an agency on-board to assist us in developing some creative pieces of work. I personally believe that our in-house talent is capable enough to take care of the rest. We have a dedicated sales and marketing team which works in tandem to address guest requirements, expectations or grievances. Our promotional assets are carried, displayed and briefed via the enthusiastic team in-house.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?
    Both play their respective roles. When it comes to B2B, new clientele does work on word-of-mouth, and mass media vehicles help spread awareness. However, many a times, the queries or the interest may not reach us. When the same offering is carried personally, we have noticed the engagement levels are much more satisfactory. When it comes to walk-ins and new customers, ATL helps make up the minds of those who may be in the decision-making phase. But, those who have decided on their loyalty may not move. Our endeavour is to consistently keep coming up with nouvel ideas to mobilise the footfall and ensure repeat clientele.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?
    When it comes to BTL, the outcomes are slightly easy to quantify as compared to ATL activities. The conversion numbers are easily reported by our sales and marketing team in case of direct reach. Also, we can quantify the use of promotional materials such as brochures, pamphlets, flyers, tent cards, etc., which gives us a rough indicator of engagement. We also receive feedback at the shared co-ordinates and are able to get approximations.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?
    As I have mentioned earlier, we are sailing through TTL. With the coming of the digital age and widespread use of the social media, a digital blitz is inevitable. Simultaneously, OOH plays a major role in top-of-the-mind recall. The customers today are very well read and aware, they do not wish to spare even a minute for something that couldn’t catch their attention in a few seconds. Unlike olden days, a marketing strategy today needs extensive market research and employment of relevant media vehicles to reach out to the TG without consuming too much of their time.

     

  • In this edition of BTL Baatein, we speak to Sandeep Jajoo, VP Product & Marketing, Hathway Digital

    BTL Baatein with Sandeep Jajoo, Hathway Digital… Powered by VISCOMM

    Hathway Digital is among the early players in cable broadcast and digital, and it has been a pioneer in deploying marketing strategies that can help grow its network. In this edition of BTL Baatein, powered by VISCOMM, we speak with Sandeep Jajoo, VP Product & Marketing atHathway Digital.

     

    How important is BTL in your industry? While Hathway has been an early way in the business, the competition is tough. Is there any special strategy that you have adopted in your domain?

    Being a B2B industry, BTL is essential as we need to connect with our customers through the Local Cable Operators (LCO). In a business like ours, the LCOs are our medium to communicate with the customerto engage effectively with him. Any BTL activity undertaken by us is to strengthen the relationship with our customers and with our LCOs. BTL activities allow our customers to experience the product first hand and provide us great insights for the future.

     

    Are there certain types of vehicles that you prefer to employ BTL promotions in this category?

    We select our medium of vehicles judiciously according to the target audience and the objective of campaign which we want to run. The mix is customized each and every time to suit the need of the hour.There can be a variety of BTL ideas which can be deployed to suit the requirement.

    BTL ideas can be direct activity for customer engagement OR Any tie-up OR Cross promotions with relevant stakeholder from the industry for mutual benefits.

    We regularly do cross promotion with major broadcasters to promote their newly launch programmes and/or reality shows through various on ground activations. We have recently participated in rural road shows in Maharashtra along with broadcaster to promote their newly launch program which benefitted us to engage & motivate our LCOs.

     

    Specifically, how important is BTL to the overall marketing plan at Hathway?

    While we mostly prefer BTL to suit our business nature, ATL along with BTL can have larger impact in market and may sustain for longer period. Since our offerings can vary across the country, we feel that BTL can provide us better scopefor customization according to the TG giving us better mileage than ATL over a shorter term. BTL helps in establishing first-hand experience with our consumers thereby ensuring positive sales for our offerings especially in Value Added Services segment like Hathway Special which we recently launched to match DTH offering.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you are undertaking and propose to undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    While we do conventional BTL activities like POS material, society demo’s, participation in ground events and industry level events, sponsorships of entertainment event, direct customer visits for our direct customers, we always look forward to associate our self with various BTL activities in industry. In recent past, we associated with one of the leading production house during the prelaunch promotions of their new movie release which gave us immense brand visibility.

    We also rely on our digital platforms heavily for our local channel partners.We feel use of technology brings speed and cost effectiveness in marketing.

     

    What is/will be the ratio of ATL to BTL in your promotional plans?

    We use ATL & BTL mix according to the objective we want to achieve.  While our preference is always BTL due to cost effectiveness for tactical communication, we also use ATL for our strategic communication.  We balance both depending on the campaign objective.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    We are open to using a dedicated BTL agency or our internal sales teams depending on the activation.  It depends on how big or small the campaign is. The end objective is to maximize efficiency and output of any BTL activity. Currently, we have appointed dedicated BTL agency to push our HD sale in Maharashtra.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?

    ATL helps in reaching out to a larger customer group than BTL and majorly works for long term strategic objective. BTL effectively works for smaller customer group keeping in mind for short term tactical objectives. However, BTL coupled with ATL always produces good results.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    Of Course, sales is the final indicator of any BTL or ATL campaign but customer engagement & experience and top of mind recall are few parameters which add value to the final outcome. BTL also helps in creating a positive disposition with our consumers who can take an informed decision.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    While BTL is good to address the short term tactical goal, it always works better to have a healthy mix of both. However, there have been times when BTL is preferred over ATL because the consumer can experience the product and give immediate feedback which can be used effectively.

     

  • BTL is not only a great way for promoting the mall's brand and get in footfalls but also to generate revenue from brands across the year, says Nishank Joshi – Chief Marketing Officer, Nexus Malls

    BTL Baatein with Nishank Joshi, Nexus Malls… Powered by VISCOMM

    With over a decade of experience working in retail and mall marketing, Nishank Joshi, Chief Marketing Officer, Nexus Malls, has launched seven malls across India and relaunched three others across India. Joshi joined Nexus Malls from K Raheja Corp where he spent close to seven years in two stints. A digital media maverick and communications pro, he leads the Marketing function of the company. In this edition of BTL Baatein, powered by VISCOMM, Nishank Joshi speaks on how BTL is an important marketing activity and revenue-earner for malls

     

    How important is BTL in your industry? We’ve heard of traditional advertising, outdoor and inserts in newspapers… but BTL too?

    BTL has formed the very essence for mall promotions and advertising. Given the need to create throbbing and lively environments, there is no better way to make use of the real estate that malls have  – their spaces themselves. Interestingly, malls are great spaces for BTL activities too. So, BTL not only is a great way for promoting our brand and get in footfalls but also to generate revenue from brands across the year.

     

    Are there certain types of vehicles that you prefer to employ BTL promotions in this category?

    It’s an evolving science. Traditionally malls have stuck to events that revolve around kids & women.However today, there are a plethora of activations that we create. From community events for people in the catchment, to Live concerts and stand up comedies to pure play installations. We are pushing boundaries when it comes to ideas and innovations within malls.

     

    Specifically, how important is BTL to the overall marketing plan at Nexus Malls?

    Not considering fixed costs like retainers and licenses, BTL in our malls constitute 60% of our marketing plan. Which means; most of our eggs are in the BTL basket.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you are undertaking and propose to undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    Just a month and it is a very entertaining mix thus far already. We started off the launch campaign with the hugely successful unplugged musical concert featuring Jonita and Papon. At around the same time we debuted with a first in Navi Mumbai – an Augmented Reality experience where people can come face to face with the wildlife in the Arctic. An awesome experience where people can interact with digital creatures and take pictures and videos of the experience too via a snapshare option. The pictures show the frenzy it has created! Seawoods Grand Central Mall has been positioned as the most fashionable mall in the city, and for that we have created 4 fashion islands representing the most fashionable destinations in the world – New York, Milan, Paris and London. The central installation is a 40 ft fashion maze where visitors can browse through a visual display of fashion trends across the last few decades before they reach the central portion which has an ethereal wedding gown that lights up every time someone steps in. Next up is our summer event that will show case fun activities across continents. It has been a magnificent summer at Seawoods Grand Central Mall alright.

     

    What is/will be the ratio of ATL to BTL in your promotional plans? Also, will this ratio change after the launch phase of a mall or a certain activity?

    It is 60:40 today in favour of BTL. This will change to 40:30:30, the last 30% being dedicated to digital ideas and activities.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    While we have an agency on retainer for creative duties, our BTL activations are always awarded on pitches. This becomes necessary as BTL agencies have different skill sets and so every new occasion calls for a new idea and that may need a different agency each time.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sure shot avenue than ATL in the retail space?

    I would think they complement each other. BTL activation help in engaging consumers at the mall and help build a frenzy that results in shopping, but ATL is what drives them in by telling them what’s happening. So, both are equally important.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    Apart from the usual footfalls and sales we measure customer and retailer satisfaction levels during the initiatives via live surveys. A lotof initiatives require audience participation… so participation numbers, and profile of the people engaged based on age, location of residence, drive time from mall also help in deciding what is needed.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    Oh, BTL is on the rise, no question about that. Trends definitely show that BTL and Digital are slowly replacing ATL in company budgets. The latest mobile brands are testimony to this shift.

     

  • In this edition of BTL Baatein Ahmed Rahimtoola, VP-Marketing, Allied Blenders and Distillers talks about how BTL form a critical part of his overall marketing plan

    BTL Baatein with Ahmed Rahimtoola, Allied Blenders and Distillers… Powered by VISCOMM

    In line with the rules and regulations governing alcohol advertising in India, we do not advertise any of our alcobev brands in mass media. It does constrain us from reaching out to consumers but that is where BTL comes into play and allows us to present the full glory of our brands to consumers, says Ahmed Rahimtoola, VP-Marketing, Allied Blenders and Distillers in this edition of the BTL Baateinseries powered by VISCOMM

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    The retail environment, both off-premise and on premise, is the ‘Moment of Truth’ where consumers make the actual purchase. It is at this point that consumers can be influenced by a variety of ways to switch/retain loyalty to our brands. BTL activities are aimed at the retail environment and thus form a critical part of our overall marketing plan.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    BTL activities cover a broad spectrum which can be bucketed under the following heads:

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    As an organisation, our total A&P spends are equally split between ATL and BTL. There are variations when it comes to individual brands but BTL is equal to, if not more than, ATL spends at a brand level as well.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    The choice of agency, either specialist BTL agency or existing creative agency, to execute our BTL activities is dependent on the nature of the activity and the capabilities required. As a guiding principle, we would want to appoint the best-suited and capable agency to execute the activity and not get bogged down by whether it is our creative agency or specialist BTL agency that is the ideal candidate. Thus we have examples of both types of agencies executing our BTL activities.

     

    Since there are various rules and regulations attached with promotion or displaying alcohol in public in India, how difficult is it for brands like Officer’s Choice to advertise and market them in public spaces since alcoholic brands are only allowed to advertise and market in pubs and clubs?

    In line with the rules and regulations governing alcohol advertising in India, we do not advertise any of our alcobev brands in mass media. It does constrain us from reaching out to consumers but that is where BTL comes into play and allows us to present the full glory of our brands to consumers.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sure shot avenue than ATL?

    It is very difficult to make a judgement of the effectiveness of BTL over ATL but the impact of BTL on sales is easier to measure and is more tangible.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    In addition to sales and market share, we conduct routine brand health tracks for our key brands. The success of BTL can be gauged from the improvement in key metrics like awareness, consideration and trial measures.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your views on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    The ultimate objective of ATL or BTL is to reach the target consumers and deliver the message. The choice of medium i.e. ATL or BTL or both is governed entirely by how effectively and efficiently this objective is attained. There are consumer segments where a BTL-led launch plan supported with outdoor/digital can work and it is the marketer’s prerogative to make that choice. | As far as rising media costs are concerned, marketers will employ the same metrics of effectiveness and efficiency to make precise choices of media selection. We already have instances where brands esp. regional brands spend on BTL activities alone since ATL may not be regionally isolatable.

     

  • In the first of the third series of BTL Baatein, we bring you an interview with Eddie Udagawa, Vice President, Consumer Imaging and Information Centre, Canon India.

    Kicking off BTL Baatein Series 3: Interview with Eddie Udagawa, Canon India… Powered by VISCOMM

    Canon needs no introduction in India, given that its leadership in the world of imaging and cameras. In the first of the third series of BTL Baatein, we bring you an interview with Eddie Udagawa, Vice President, Consumer Imaging and Information Centre, Canon India. The BTL Baatein series is powered by VISCOMM, a leading BTL and marketing services company headquartered in Mumbai.

     

    Canon has been a leader amongst cameras and the imaging space in general. How important are below the line marketing promotion to reach out to potential and current customers?

    Below the line activities are intrinsic to our business and forms an integral part of the marketing strategy. While we strive to create awareness and build wider reach around the brand through ATL activities, BTL led activities are important to provide an experiential purchase to the customers.

    Canon’s BTL activities displays the comprehensive range of products and services which are accompanied by professionals to help customers experience the brand and its wide ranging portfolio.

    Through BTL, our aim is to delight customers by giving a personalised experience through the touch-and-feel experience with the products. BTL activities depicts on understanding the customer’s need and viewing things from their perspective. On-ground events always make us closer to customer as they share their feedback insights on our services and offerings.The training and workshops has helped our customers to make informed purchases and help us in gaining more market share in India.

     

    How important is BTL activity to your overall marketing plan?

    BTL activities are core to our overall marketing activations. BTL activities focuses on one-to-one communication between the brand and target audience thus building a stronger customer base. Communicating directly with the consumers lets you customise your message with every recipient and that is the key for us to be able to connect with our target audience.

    We conduct various workshops and training modules, promote photo tours and so on which keep happening all over the country. We reach out to Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV cities in the country to engage with consumers, as we believe in promoting the art of photography and the power it entails. We tap each kind of target audience through various kind of BTL activities.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your budget division of ATL v/s BTL?

    Both ATL and BTL for man intrinsic part of our overall marketing plan including the digital communication. Our budgets are skewed to ATL activities since it reaches to larger audience at multiple touch points. BTL activity is too important but since it reaches to targeted customers at specific locations, the overall cost involved is far less than the ATL activities.

     

    Canon has a range of products – from the lower to higher end. Can you specify the range of activities that you conduct as a part of your BTL activities plan?

    We undertake a lot of BTL activities to ensure that we touch each segment of our market, whether it be for entry level users, amateurs, high end users or even any photo enthusiasts.

    For all the photography enthusiasts we recently concluded the Canon Photo Marathon.This is an annual event and is being organised across 12 Asian regions. This year it was held in two cities – Mumbai and Delhi. Deemed as one of the largest photo competitions, the event brings photography enthusiasts closer, while challenging them to push their boundaries and showcase their photographic creativity through their own perspective. Participants click photographs from different cameras whether entry level, mid segment or high end cameras to capture the best shots. The day-long photo competition offers a memorable experience and attractive prizes for various category winners. The grand winner wins Canon Photo Marathon Asia Championship which is an all-expenses paid photography tour specially organised for the grand winners of respective regions.

    Another way to reach out to photo enthusiasts is the roadshows. Canon flagged off a 60-city roadshow, to strengthen customer connect across the country early this March and is still on-going. With this initiative, Canon brings the product portfolio to the forefront and creates mass awareness about the technological innovation that we house within our imaging solutions.This activity has helped Canon reach Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV markets, thus creating a new customer base and providing an accessibility for instant purchase.

    For high end users, the company focuses and invests into various photography workshops under a unique Canon property called EOS Nation for professional photographers. These seminars are delivered by industry leading professionals and aimed specifically at professional photographers.

     

    This year we initiated with Pushkar Service Camp under Canon Professional Services for high end users where service depot was there for maintenance of the camera and demo set up was created for touch and try experience for customers. Approx 500 customers visited the demo zone and 200+ units of equipment’s were serviced during this 6 day long CPS camp.

    Targeted specially at women photographers, Canon organised ‘I Click’ photography workshops, with an aim to empower beginners, hobbyists or amateur photographers to develop and enhance their photography skills. We started this in 2015 on International Women’s Day and this time we conducted this activity throughout the year reaching out to key 12 cities which saw a participation of over 1800 female audience.

    There are lot of other BTL activities which we keep doing like complimentary workshops, users master classes for various genres of photography etc. All these activities not only bring customers closer to the brand but also entice them to click more and more thus building and promoting photo culture in the country.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    We have specialised agencies that help us execute various kinds of BTL activities based on the brief and requirement given by the internal sales and marketing team. The agencies play an important role in activation and post-activity analysis and our internal team keeps a check to improvise the work.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sure shot avenue than ATL?

    Both ATL and BTL are complementary to each other and both are important to be well connected with the consumers. Neither is complete without the other.

     

    Would you say that for products like those that Canon offers where the experience of using it helps in purchase decisions, BTL is a must-do activity for sales?

    Both ATL and BTL are equally important for the consumers to make any purchase decision. Working in tandem, ATL generates awareness and reach and BTL generates customer touch and feel experience of the products. We also have our exclusive retail outlet called Canon Image Square where the staffs at the store are professionally trained and are efficient in assisting customers in selecting products in accordance to their specifications and requirements. All of these equally help customers in making an informed purchase thus satisfying there overall needs.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    Delighting our customers is the main objective when we plan any BTL activity. The impact that a brand creates in the consumers mind and the overall experience which the consumer have taken away from various kinds of activities conducted is very important for any BTL activity.

    Our endeavour is to consistently keep coming up with novel ideas to havea good brand and product experience and also increase the footfall so that we build relationship with more number of customers.

    Eventually the sales number at various workshops and events help us judge the success of the activity.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    In this digital era, organisations rely a lot on digital blitz. Everything is going online since that is the need of the hour. But, at the same time, in a developing country like India, we also need traditional ATL activities to tap our customers. The customers today are very well read and aware, they do not wish to spare even a minute for something that couldn’t catch their attention.

    Establishing a brand presence at multiple touchpoints combined with an innovative tone of communication lets you leave a deep seated impact in the TG’s mind. Keeping this in mind the marketing activities is planned in such a manner that the message is communicated to the relevant target audience in a precise and effective manner.  This ensures extensive market research, latest trends and updates and reaching out through relevant media vehicles so that the brand remains at the top of mind.

    BTL marketing strategies becomes important to give a personalized touch and experience of the products to the customers in its own unique way.

     

     

  • With less than a month to go for Goafest 2018, the organising committee chairperson speaks on why this year’s edition may be the best held thus far…

    Bigger, brighter Goafest 2018: Ashish Bhasin

     

    With less than a month to go for Goafest 2018, organising committee chairperson Ashish Bhasin speaks on the line-up of speakers, sponsorships and how this year edition may be the best held thus far…

     

     

    Day 1

    1. Yog Guru – Baba RamdevJi

    2. Rana Kapoor -  Managing Director & CEO, Yes Bank

     

    Day 2

    1. Rosie Yakob – Co Founder , Genius Steals

    2. Sparsh Shah – Child Artist, Singer, TedX speaker

    3. Cameron Worth – Founder, SharpEnd

    4. Tim Castree - Global Chief Executive Officer, Wavemaker

    5. Dean Donaldson & Jonathan Tavss – Transformation Strategist & Digital Futurologist, Kaleidoko

    6. Jonty Rhodes – Cricketer, South Africa

    7. Siddharth Malhotra – Actor

     

    Day 3

    1. Samuel Akesson - Art Director, Forsman & Bodenfors

    2. Sania Mirza – Indian Tennis player

    3. Wain Choi – Former VP & Global Executive Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide

    4. Amelia Conway ( Director) & Ramaa Mosley (Creative Director) – Adolescent

    5. Nawazuddin Siddiqui in conversation with Annu Kapoor

     

    We have less than a month to go for Goafest 2018. What would you say to those who have still not registered to attend? How’s it going to be different from the previous years?

    If you have seen over the last two-three years, Goafest has been getting bigger and better every year. For instance, the quality of speakers has increased significantly.Like we have got Sania Mirza, Sania Mirza, Jonty Rhodes, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Annu Kapoor. So the quality of speakers is very high by every standard. Second, I think the whole scale and quality presentation is whether it’s the stage, the screen, the ambience had undergone a sea change. Every year we have added something and I think this year it will be one notch higher. Third, it is going to be a lot more digitally interactive. So there will be an app and of course a website. All question now will be routed digitally. There will be contests. So it’s going to be fairly interactive and people are going to be able to book things via the app. So let’s say if there is a workshop you want to attend… you can now book it online. We wanted to become one of the leading advertising festivals in terms of quality by global standards not bench marking it by what happens in India.

     

    The line-up of speakers is interesting, but do you think this is good enough to attract young A&M professionals. After all, some of these – Baba Ramdev, Sania Mirza, Jonty Rhodes, Nawazuddin Siddiqui etc – are also present in Conclaves like those organised by India Today and Hindustan Times. And also seen several times on television.

    We are calling world-level speakers. I think what was happening earlier was that the advertising guys were listening to advertising people. So we have gradually moved it away to a mixed which is roughly 50-50 so 50% of the people are directly connected with our industry directly creative directors or media heads or CEO like Tim Castree, Global CEO, Wave maker etc. The other 50% of speakers are from allied fields of creativity — it could be films or from leadership positions because that’s what our young people need. As for them being also present at the India Today and HT conclaves, well, you and I may have access to these events, but how many of the others have access? From our perspective, these speakers are of global standards so while it’s not that it’s the first time ever anybody in India may be hearing them, bu people don’t get to hear people of this caliber. It’s important for advertising folk to toalso see what other industry leaders are doing. There’s a lot happening there.

     

    Do you think crunched budgets and non-participation in the Abby will impact the number of delegates.

    No, I don’t think so. Infact keeping a check on the number of delegates is the problem. In fact as an industry we need to decide to shut registrations at a certain point. We have a physical constraint constraint as the hall can’t accommodate more than a certain numbe of people.

     

    In terms of the mix of people who will attend Goafest 2018, do you expect more people from media owners (publishers, broadcasters etc) and the rest of the media ecosystem coming in and the number of people from A&M reducing steadily?

    Well, we do see a trend but it’s not in large numbers. We have seen a growth in the number of agencies – small and big – participating. While some larger ones are not participating, new and younger agencies, digital agencies, are coming in. Some coming in for the awards and some only as delegates. They may not have work but still are coming in.  Last year, we had delegates from something like 189 -190 companies. Goafest is no longer the privilege of Top 5 or 10 agencies who send 80% of the people. Also, early it was dominated with people from Mumbai and a smattering of people from Delhi perhaps. Now we are getting more and more people coming in from Bangalore and Chennai and from different parts of the country. I see that as a good trend and of course besides advertising people now that broadcasters and publishers are also coming in. Then there are students and even who aren’t directly involved in the industry.

     

    We have heard of an attempt of Goafest going green in association with Natural Geographic. Talk us through this concept Green Goafest?

    I think we owe it to the environment and we must be a little more conscious in any which way we can. Last year, we made a small start. And this year we are furthering it and and are happy that National Geographic has partnered us again. For examplesome 2-3000 people take a few sips from a bottle of water and then leave it because a session is due to start. it’s a criminal waste of water. So we brought tanks where you can pour in that water and we will give to the hotel to water the parks and gardens that they have over there. Then we have many people heading to the same venue coming by the same flight. Sowe are encouraging car pooling. There will also be planting of trees and the entire effort is to have a better environment.

     

    How are you doing in the all-important sponsorship department?We see Times Network continuining as presenting sponsor…

    That has been our area of strength. Luckily some of our key partners have been very strongly associated with Goafest for years. The Times Now group continues to be the key sponsor for the last several years. Discovery has been doing the conclaves for many years and they continue to be. Then there others Sakshi,Mathrubhoomi, Star, Zee and many more. I don’t want to name them as I might miss some of them. But I can tell you that the support from the industry is over whelming This will be a record year.

     

    This is your second term as Goafest organizing committee chairman. Any lessons from last year that you’ve corrected this year.

    Definitely. There were a few constrains we got and a few areas of development we got. We try to get feedback from as many people as possible every Goafest. One clear feedback was that the award show was becoming too long and by having too many awards in the sense are we devaluing the value of the Abby. So I think that has already been announced. We have taken steps to significantly reduce the number of categories by clubbing some and changing some etc.

    The second was that there were questions around the quality of the jury process and the members of the jury. So that also has been addressed as probably you know the jury was very eminent that we have put together including those agencies who may not be participating. In the past, if your agency was not participating you weren’t allowed to judge.I think the thinking this year was that look if you are the best person to judge the work then it doesn’t matter whether you are participating. We actually announced the jury even before knowing that the agency they belong to is participating or now. On the speaker side, the general feedback was we want a good balance of non-industry and industry speakers. So we have addressed that. And then the workshops which have been a big hit. Last year, the sundowners were very popular so were have continued with them. Goa has a problem with wifi especially near the beaches, so we will have free wi-fi…