MxMIndia

Tag: Bhuvi Gupta

  • 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

     

  • 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.

  • the media industry is set to go through a monumental shift in the coming year because the biggest advantage that legacy media companies had was of distribution, a high-quality workforce and access to newsmakers, writes Bhuvi Gupta

    Bhuvi Gupta: 2020 Trends in Media – Because Genuinely now Hindsight is 2020

    Bhuvi GuptaBy Bhuvi Gupta

     

    It is the time for all the year-end pieces where one looks back and evaluates the year that was and what the coming year will be.

     

    2020 was universally one of the most difficult years for the majority of us the world over. All of us have been forced to embrace disappointment and suffering, be jolted out of our comfort zones and respond to the ‘new normal’ with changed behaviours for no other reason but survival. The media the industry has been one of the worst affected – too many media outlets have reduced headcounts, shut shop or changed business models. This was a change that would have happened anyhow as consumption patterns have changed drastically in the last few years. The pandemic only accelerated the change. And in this digitally friendlier environment, I share four monumental ways in which the M&E  industry will change  in 2021 in the coming decade:

     

    Paywalls & Advertising Revenue  – The free lunch is ending

    More and more publications will start to go behind paywalls. This has been an eventuality long in coming. It was never going to be sustainable for media outlets to give away content pro bono.  Media companies depend on a combination of subscription and advertising revenues for sustenance. Traditionally, the more niche a media brand’s target audience, the more it can depend on subscription revenue. Hence, relatively niche brands such as The Hindu (which targets the intelligentsia) and Business Standard (which targets the corporate sector) have been behind paywalls since long. This year, however mass brands such as Hindustan Times are also gradually following suit, and more are bound to follow.

     

    Had digital advertising revenues been controlled by publishers and not content aggregators paywalls might not have been built. However, currently Facebook and Google, which control the majority of content distribution on the internet and take the lion’s share of advertising revenues. This is set to change in Australia and UK (link – https://www.medianama.com/2020/12/223-facebook-news-launch-uk/)  where the respective antitrust regulators have enforced laws requiring both Google and Facebook to give a higher share of revenues to publishers. A move bound to get replicated globally as the current revenue share model is inherently flawed. Both the distribution behemoths are delaying this eventuality for obvious revenue benefits. I think by the time it reaches India in a few years, most mass media outlets will be behind paywalls so the increase in digital ad revenues will benefit their bottomline but not change the paid model that they would have established.

     

    Podcasts – because ‘Video has not killed the Radio Star’

    Podcasts have slowly been making their presence felt as a medium of importance. While they have been around for a few years, I must confess, it is only in 2020 during the pandemic, when faced with an endless stream of chores that I started listening to podcasts as a way to engage my mind while physically occupied. And to say I am hooked would be an understatement.

     

    While the podcast industry is still in the early adopters phase of its lifecycle, it is booming globally in terms of both content being generated and consumed. It will go mainstream for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, it is an ambient medium, which fits seamlessly while primarily occupied with another task. Secondly, it enables listeners to access indepth conversations with industry experts and thought leaders they previously would not have exposure to.  Thirdly, the pandemic has accelerated its adoption and lastly it lends itself easily to content creation because one truly needs only a phone to record a podcast. Hence, in an ecosystem where we all are creators, it is an easy medium of expression with a small learning curve.

     

    Hence, 2021 will be the year that podcasts will become mainstream.  Music streaming app Spotify recognised this and launched ‘Daily Drive’ (link- https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/ spotify-launches-your-daily-drive/)  in the US market in late-2019. (Daily Drive is a customised one-hour stream of music, news and podcasts basis user preferences). While the global rollout was halted due to the Covid outbreak, it is a sign of the times to come for podcasts.

     

    New business models for news

    An unfortunate outcome of the advertising-first business model for news media has been the ‘tabloidisation’ of the content. This means rather than focusing on what is important, an inordinate amount of show time is dedicated to sensationalist topics to get the maximum eyeballs and as a result advertising. Mix this tabloid-like content in with an additional layer of political biases  and as a result news today is more like entertainment rather than actual news. As a result, there is a rapidly spreading sense of disillusionment with news media and citizen movements targeting advertisers that advertise on seemingly biased media portals are gathering speed.

     

    In 2020, two key things happened  – the tabloid genre died because most mass news content became tabloidesque. Case in point: the shuttering of both Mail Today and Mumbai Mirror. As a result of the first, subscription-led individual or small collective based journalism, which markets itself on credibility, came into being  facilitated by self-publishing tools like medium.com, newsletter platform Substack (link – https://theprint.in/opinion/youve-got-mail-indias-newsletter-ninjas-are-here-to-charm-your-inbox/496762/) and even Instagram. Case in point: Faye D’Souza whose Instagram is now a trusted source of news especially for millenials & GenZ.

     

    In 2021, I think Indian audiences will start moving en masse towards paid portals and newsletters as their primary news source in the search of credible news.

     

    The collapse of the singular media genre

    Another important change is how in the last decade most media companies have crossed over from their primary medium to produce content in other media – all TV channels have websites where they produce quality written content. Most radio channels now produce video content as well.

     

    In 2021, all media companies will stop identifying themselves as only TV or only Print or only-Radio and instead will become omni- channel media companies.  Case in point is the Times Group-owned Radio Mirchi, which rebranded to ‘Mirchi’  (link – https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/media/news/as-radio-mirchi-rebrands-to-mirchi- prashant-panday-walks-us-through-the-brands-transformation/articleshow/79532987.cms) to embrace this expanded identity, which in reality has existed for a few years already.

     

    In summary, the media industry is set to go through a monumental shift in the coming year because the biggest advantage that legacy media companies had was of distribution, a high-quality workforce and access to newsmakers. While the glass ceiling on the former has been shattered, the latter three still exist in varying degrees. Hence, to remain relevant leveraging this competitive advantage with credibility and honesty is key for both survival and success.

     

  • 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

     

     

  • Indians brands must make the most of a relatively undiscovered avenue for advertising, writes Bhuvi Gupta

    Is Gaming the Silver Bullet that can change Brand Marketing in 2021?

    Barack Obama used in-game advertising hoardings in the game Burnout Paradise among others, during his 2008 Presidential campaign

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaThis is the first time I am going on the record to admit that I have spent a lot of time playing online. Luckily though, these obsessions were recognised before they became addictions after an unhealthy time spent on Farmville, Angry Birds and lastly Candy Crush, before I admitted that I would not go down the slippery rabbit hole that can be gaming and have kept myself away since 2015.

     

    I am definitely the exception. In the last few years, driven by increased digital penetration and bandwidths, (and this year COVID-19) mobile gaming in India has exploded. As per a report from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Indians installed 7.3 billion games, nearly 17% of all worldwide downloads in the first nine months of 2020, beating countries like USA and Japan to the number one position.

     

    Basis the Google-KPMG Media Report 2020, the Indian gaming industry will cross USD 1.1 billion in 2021. With around 500 million people in India having smartphones (give or take a few million) and around 300 million+ gamers, there is no denying that this market is growing with the lockdown having helped accelerate the growth. The biggest USP of mobile gaming is the level of engagement that the audience has while playing a game. A GroupM- Mobile Marketing Association report (link – https://www.groupm.com/mobile-marketing-association-and-groupm-launch-mobile-ecosystem-report-2020/) highlighted that gamers are more than twice as likely to pay attention to advertisements placed in mobile games at 41 percent, as compared to ads placed on the internet at 17 percent, in magazines or on billboards at 15 percent each.

    This implies the inherent value of digital impressions becomes much higher.

     

    Marketing during gaming takes three forms primarily –

    :: Integrations – which are well-integrated into the narrative like branded ‘Virtual Real Estate’ like banners within the game, branded items like clothes or accessories worn by avatars, and fully branded modes or levels

    :: Advertisements for additional lives, etc. which can be typically purchased on ad exchanges

    :: Events such as e-sporting leagues

     

    Barack Obama used in-game advertising hoardings in the game Burnout Paradise among others, during his 2008 Presidential campaign

     

    Barack Obama used in-game advertising hoardings in the game Burnout Paradise among others, during his 2008 Presidential campaign.

     

    In India, Gaming in India can primarily be classified into four heads-

    :: Fantasy Gaming – which already has 100 million users with companies like Dream 11, Mobile Premier League dominating.

    :: Action games – such as PUBG and Fortnite. While Fortnite doesn’t have as many users in India it has been the front-runner in terms of brand integrations globally.

    :: Real Money Gaming – like online Rummy, Poker, and Ludo King. This comes under the purview of gambling and hence basis Indian law is subject to laws as dictated by states. While skill-based games such as Poker and Rummy are usually permitted, games of chance are prohibited. The recent PayTM First Games ban on the Google Play Store was also related to the definition of what constitutes ‘Gambling’

    :: Live Trivia apps – such as Pocket Aces owned Loco

      

    Why Gaming?

     

    With more people coming online there is ad fatigue that takes place due to the high number of ads users see. Many users also use ad blockers, and hence awareness and engagement with even well-targeted ads is low as the audience is just waiting to skip the ad.

     

    This is as opposed to the active audience that plays online games, where they are tuned to engage with the gaming platform to maximise scores. By using product integrations, or branded levels, brands can also help create immersive experiences for the target audience.

     

    Poco introduced their new launch, POCO M2 Pro via the game Tappy birds. A weeklong tournament called ‘Tappybird showdown’ was held where the mobile phones were placed inside the game, and players had to collect the phone to earn extra cookie points.

    Secondly, as the market is still nascent, brand integrations remain relatively unexplored. With 5G coming into India in the next 5 years, gaming will become immersive and hence technologies such as AR/VR will help create a value-added gaming environment, which is perfect for marketing.

     

    Poco introduced their new launch, POCO M2 Pro via the game Tappy birds. A weeklong tournament called ‘Tappybird showdown’ was held where the mobile phones were placed inside the game, and players had to collect the phone to earn extra cookie points.

     

    Thirdly, emergence of e-sporting leagues and tournaments and live game streaming allows brands to leverage gaming influencers, do cause marketing, sponsorships etc. for a well-defined audience. The Google-owned YouTube has a vibrant community of gaming live streamers such as Tanmay Bhat, Gagandeep Singh (Sikh Warrior), Manasvi Dalvi (Manasvivi) etc. in India. Globally such campaigns are have already become common, for e.g. P&G’s Gillette has hosted the Gillette Gaming Alliance on Amazon-owned live streaming platform Twitch in 2019 and 2020 with a team of five Twitch influencers to create content for their fans, and highlight other campaigns and causes.

     

    Lastly, just like in digital advertising, brands can target users on the basis of demographics and geographies, which makes in game advertising all the more effective. There is also high prevalence of gamers in Tier2 and Tier 3 cities, which can be leveraged by brands.

    While it may seem that Gaming is more relevant for youth-focused brands, the 35+ age group has high usage in more traditional games such as LudoKing, Online rummy and Poker. Hence, depending on the target audience, brands should choose games online to create impact.

     

    The timing is right, the lockdown has helped accelerate user growth, and Indians brands must strike when the iron is hot to make the most of a relatively undiscovered avenue for advertising before it gets too crowded.

     

    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

     

     

  • Bhuvi Gupta picks things that have caught her eye in the last fortnight

    Bhuvi Gupta: On Fesive sales, Micromax & Hooked by Nir Eyal

    Bhuvi GuptaBy Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Today’s column is a bit different from my usual deep dive into a single topic, with some thoughts from my notepad about things that have caught my eye in the last fortnight.

     

    2020 has been strange, to say the least, and I, like most, have been awaiting the festival season to celebrate and feel some joy. A sentiment shared by the corporate sector, which depends on this quarter for their profits, but this year, it’s depending on it for minimising losses. The initial reports are showing signs of recovery and buoying positive sentiment. According to data from Redseer Consulting, the first week of festive sales conducted in the last fortnight has seen an increase of 51% in Gross Merchandise Value  (from $2.7 billion in 2019 to $4.1 billion). While this is partly also fuelled by offline consumption moving online, the economy is heaving a sigh of relief.

     

    Micromax’s Comeback

    You might have seen Micromax’s relaunch campaign helmed by the CEO, Rahul Sharma.  With more than half a million people yet to go online in India, combined with the high replacement rates for smartphone for people, the smartphone categpry is and will be on fire for the coming decade at least. Every year the festive e-commerce sales also depend on smartphone sales with the category contributing upwards of 40% to the GMV. Coming back to Micromax, India’s Number 1 homegrown smartphone brand, in the relaunch video (link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRo69b1wTNg), Rahul Sharma plays all the cards which are sure to strike a chord in the average Indian’s heart – he talks about being a middle class boy who took a loan of 3 lakh from his father to launch Micromax, but with the onslaught of Chinese smartphone makers stumbled, and lost his way, vision and subsequently market share. He touches on the ‘Make in India’ call to rouse audiences to buy the new series aptly titled ‘In’

     

    The problem of course is that the story, while compelling omits certain points Micromax built its market share on the back of great marketing.  It took China-manufactured phones and branded them as Micromax devices. As a result, because of a lack of R&D, the after-sales service and support was negligible – a weak point which all the China mobile behemoths took full advantage of to wipe out market share (and rightly so, after-sales service is crucial for an essential device like a phone). He also forgets to mention his marriage to Bollywood/ Kollywood/ Tollywood star Asin, which makes his description of the middle-class boy-next-door a little hard to stomach, as these descriptors no longer hold true.

     

    While the majority of the market is oblivious to these facts, and these points will work, I am sure it will give competition to the Chinese behemoths which control the smartphone market for a large part today.

     

    Hooked by Nir Eyal

    The advent of the internet has brought with it great changes in marketing in the last decade. A key differential of the digital evolution as compared to the TV evolution is how understanding consumer behaviour has become easier. This in turn has lead to building products, which fit target audiences better. The concept is beautifully explained in my latest read, ‘Hooked’ by Nir Eyal.

     

    Eyal has explained the consumption process through a four step model – a internal trigger like a frisson of anxiety or external trigger such as an ad, which leads us to the action of logging into social media like Facebook or Twitter, which through previous interaction, we know will reward us by showing us our posts which has been liked, or content which is of interest to us, thereby assuaging our anxiety.

     

    Such feedback loops help in establishing habits, which make these products so addictive. The fourth quadrant which focuses on ‘Investment’ explains why such habits are so hard to break – users invest time and build a community of friends and followers which feeds these feedback loops and creates stickiness to the platform.

     

    While the book focuses on digital products like Facebook, the concepts can be applied to other industries and products. All in all a great read on understanding consumer behaviour and psychology.

     

    That’s all from me today. Do share if you have read ‘Hooked’ or whether I have inspired you to pick up a copy.

     

    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

     

     

  • For a genuinely free and fair Press, content regulation is key, feels Bhuvi Gupta

    Bhuvi Gupta: Indian TV news media needs to clean up its act to avoid irrelevance

    Bhuvi GuptaBy Bhuvi Gupta

     

    The Indian media industry has rapidly evolved post liberalisation.  With the advent of the Internet and increased digital penetration primarily driven by mobile phones, digital news media outlets have increased exponentially.  As an early millennial, while I can still remember having only 2 channels to choose from, which time with its paucity of choice is unimaginable.

     

    News Media especially TV news media has lost its equilibrium with every passing day unearthing TRP scams and defamation cases.  This is because unlike robust regulation for films via the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Print via the Press Council of India (PCI) or advertisements via Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), TV and digital media largely rely on self-censorship and get ticked off only through PILs /defamation cases filed in court. TV Content ideally should adhere to guidelines set forth in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994. While self-regulatory bodies News Broadcasters Federation and News Broadcasters Federation exist, they don’t include all TV news media and hence are powerless.

     

    For a genuinely free and fair Press, content regulation is key. This is because content biases are becoming incendiary, defamation cases aplenty, and this decrease in content quality is causing advertisers to walk away, which will in the near future, cause advertising-dependent media to become unsustainable.

     

    Media has always had bias – From news broadcasts to opinions.

    Media companies the world over has political biases, which are usually determined by the company owner. Company owners are human and hence will hire an Editor-in-Chief who resonates with his thought process and biases.  Hence, the content invariably toes the owners’ biases. This is human and despite the best of efforts to be balanced.

     

    https://twitter.com/hamzamlakdawala/status/1315640922567143425

    The Rajdeep Sardesai and Arnab Goswami Star News Bulletin that went viral on social media recently reminded us of what news used to be  

     

    In the 90’s and the ’00’s, when news meant bulletins, these biases were subtle and indiscernible to the inattentive because they existed in expression and terminology rather than opinion. With the advent of the debate-focused prime time that drives the news cycle today, these biases have become prominent, with the flow and tonality of the debate making the news channels’ leaning apparent. Hence, when watching layered issues discussed on channels with opposing leanings, the protagonist often becomes the antagonist and vice-versa.

     

    These biases are however often designed to suit political motivations.  The majority of Indian media today has apparent or circuitous linkages with some or the other political party. (Link- https://www.newslaundry.com/topic/who-owns-your-media)

     

    Hence, due to conscious and unconscious biases and a minimal fear of regulation, news channels today get away with content based on incomplete fact and opinion.

     

    Advertising drives the business of media In India

     

    India’s media industry relies on a mix of advertising, subscription and ancillary revenue streams from events, awards and branded content. Most media companies heavily rely on advertising with other revenue streams being strictly supplementary.

     

    The media can’t afford to lose advertisers. Legacy advertisers like Bajaj, and Parle Products have already announced that they wont be advertising on channels which promote hatred, and other advertisers will succumb to public pressure and follow suit.  A situation that spells doom for the sector where most channels do not manage to breakeven.

     

    So what is the solution?

     

    As TV debates become more slanderous, and more advertisers leave it is becoming evident that there needs to be a self-regulatory body with power to keep media in check.  A good example could be a body modeled after the ‘Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)’, which has representation from advertisers, media agencies and audiences to regulate ads.  The inclusion of audience is genius because it ensures that advertiser biases get neutralised and ads, which are upheld, are in the interest of the audience.

     

    However, TV news is complicated and fractured. Currently, two self-regulatory bodies, the News Broadcasters Federation and News Broadcasters Association exist. Both are ineffective for the same reasons – neither is fully representative of the diverse news media in the country, have any audience participation, allow audiences to report any complaints, nor have government support or accreditation. Hence both are equally ineffective in producing any real change.

     

    What is needed is government support to make membership essential to the grant of a broadcast license to ensure full membership. (Direct government involvement like in the Censor Board for films is dangerous as it impinges on the fundamental right to the freedom of speech and expression)

     

    Regulations should be instated by this body to ensure that content on TV is broadcast only after verification, opinion is not shown as news, decorum in language is maintained and words that would count as sedition when spoken in small groups are not broadcast.

     

    The current state of media affairs is not sustainable for either a functioning democracy or the success of our economy and people. Hence, it is for all our sakes I hope that the news media industry wakes up and takes actions to regulate itself.

     

     

    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

     

     

     

  • It’s been a great vehicle for brands as also to promote diversity & acceptance, writes Bhuvi Gupta

    Bigg Boss is Back. Long Live Bigg Boss!

     

    By Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Bhuvi GuptaBigg Boss Hindi, by far India’s biggest reality TV show, came back on TV last weekend, after having been delayed by over a month due to compulsory quarantines for its participants. While there were no stops put on the accompanying media blitz, the launch attracts and manufactures, this year there is an increased focus on digital rather than traditional media whose consumption has dropped on account of the lockdown.

     

    This lockdown has given us all a bird’s eye view of what living in the Bigg Boss house is like – rationed food (because you cant keep stepping outside to grocery shop), stuck with the same people day in and day out with some amount of conflict (have you ever spent such an extended period of time with your family), household chores division (after some negotiation to ensure its equitable), video calls with higher authorities who designate your priorities (yes bosses on Zoom, that is you). The only thing missing is evictions and if conversations with fellow countrymen are to be believed, that is the one feature which most of us need!

     

    Jokes apart, Bigg Boss or Big Brother, (as its internationally known) is the most successful global reality TV franchise with editions in 60+ countries. India itself has seven different versions of the show, and most have had record-breaking TRPs in their respective markets.

     

    I personally have always been a fan of the show, and try to balance keeping up with every season while not getting too hooked. Since Viacom’s OTT service, Voot started hosting unseen footage on Season 10 in 2016; this has become an increasingly harder hard task!  I have several explanations for why I am so invested in the show, every year without fail –

     

    The Format

    While Bigg Boss is a reality show, and like all reality shows is edited to create heroes and villains, the social experiment which blocks all outside communication makes it a unique forbidden window into human behavior, which makes it fascinating. New twists are thrown in every season, which makes the show unpredictable and hence never boring. Despite being more than a decade old, Bigg Boss has kept up with changing technology and media consumption powered by the internet. The audience can now can watch unseen footage on Voot Select, interact with contestants live, use Bigg Boss filters on pictures and much more. The various supporting elements help make the show engaging across different age groups and media preferences.

     

    It is a marketer’s delight

    From a marketer’s perspective, Bigg Boss is and has been a great vehicle for brand marketing. While there are many good reality shows, it is the only show that keeps interest in the show alive all through its 100+ day run. This is driven by a consistent 360-degree PR and media blitz, evolving show twists and really no rules. This ensures viewership and a RoI estimated to be 3-5 times the (high) investment for brands.

     

    This media blitz ensures that even vanilla FCT advertising and associate sponsorship options help drive brand recall. For brands with smaller budgets, the flexible show format makes brand integrations, which can include in-house product placement and branded tasks, seamless.  There is also product demonstration due to on-screen engagement of actors with the product during branded tasks, and audience engagement on voting during that week which make each integration a unique value proposition.

     

    Screen grab from ‘Kurkure Vigyapan Mein Chatpatapan’ episode of Bigg Boss 13

     

    One of my favourite integrations from last season was  ‘Kurkure Vigyapan Mein Chatpatapan’, where contestants were divided into groups and tasked with making ads promoting Kurkure. It was simple, and yet brilliant. Can you imagine any other brand integration where the brand advertisement with celebrity endorsers gets promoted continuously as content?

     

    Promotes Diversity & Inclusiveness

    Former adult star Sunny Leone became a mainstream Bollywood actress because of her stint on Bigg Boss 5

     

    The show has been a great vehicle for promoting diversity and acceptance in our conservative Indian society. Since the very first season, the show has regularly hosted contestants, who are ‘different’. While the objective is eyeballs, the show gives a platform to those marginalised making them human beyond their taboo relationship, sexuality or profession which in turn make the audience more accepting of them. The biggest example of this acceptance is Sunny Leone. It would not be presumptuous to say that the former porn star transcended her previous persona to gain acceptance as a mainstream Bollywood actress only due to her stint on Bigg Boss.  Bobby Darling from Season 1, Sushant Divgikar, Mr. Gay India 2014 from Bigg Boss 8 are a few other examples, of people from the marginalised LGBTQ community who have helped make the trials and tribulations the community faces more visible.

     

    As the skyrocketing news television ratings on coverage of the relentless hounding of movie stars over the Sushant Singh Rajput case proves, the voyeur in us is alive and kicking. And with the interest in the case waning, I wont be surprised to see the news audience shift focus to Bigg Boss. The lockdown has only made our voyeuristic urges stronger and I wont be surprised if Bigg Boss 14 breaks previously held records this year.

     

    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

     

     

  • 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

     

  • 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

     

  • 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

     

     

  • 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