MxMIndia

Tag: Narayan Devanathan

  • Incidentally, the appointments come on the back of the recent client wins such as Maruti Suzuki and Carlsberg

    Dentsu Creative Impact announces slew of senior level appointments

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Creative Impact has announced a host of new talent acquisitions.

     

    The beefing up of the team has happened across functions, ranging from strategic planning to account management and creative. Incidentally, the appointments come on the back of the recent client wins such as Maruti Suzuki, Carlsberg and a set of soon-to-be announced brands.

     

    In the Creative function, the agency has roped in Sundar Iyer as ECD – Copy. Iyer will form the creative leadership team along with Sumitra Sengupta (also, ECD – Copy, who joined Dentsu Creative Impact about 2 months back) and Deepak Singh (ECD – Art), whose appointment was announced a few months back. Both Sundar and Sumitra join in after their recent stints at JWT, bringing in tremendous energy and expertise from their cross-category experience.

     

    On the Account Management side, Dentsu Creative Impact has roped in Arvinderjit Singh (previously at JWT) as Vice President, who along with Hindol Purkayastha (also Vice President), will bolster the function and bring in greater depth and strength. Both Hindol (previously at Publicis) and Arvinder bring in a wealth of automotive category experience from their previous stints.

     

    Shveta Singh

    In Strategic Planning, Shveta Singh has come aboard as Vice President – Planning. She will work with Kartikeya Srivastava, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning. Coming from a pure-play digital background, Shveta (ex-Cheil, ex-Havas) brings new age skills to combine with her intuitive understanding of brands and people. Shveta’s take on her new stint is, “For me, crossing over the digital divide was the next logical step because the future will have no such divide. A new approach to strategic planning is the need of the day. And, Dentsu came across as the right place with the right vision and a set of people who are already breaking the mould of traditional agency planning. Looking forward to some exciting work…”

     

    Narayan Devanathan

    Talking about the exciting new additions to the team Narayan Devanathan, CEO, Dentsu Creative Impact Group said “Great work happens when people commit to constantly raising the bar. At Dentsu Creative Impact, we’re doing that by first raising the bar on the talent we’re bringing together, across functions. Across Creative, Account Management, Planning, we have a first-rate second rung in place at Dentsu Creative Impact to sustain the momentum that we have going now.”

     

  • Interesting accounts from the big boys and girls of the advertising business

    What ad veterans have learnt from the younger lot

     

    By Delshad Irani

     

    At work, like in any human tribe, there are two kinds of people – the Elders and the Young. The latter, of course, are eager to conquer the world. The elders, who have been there and done it all (or so they’d like to think) remind the impatient youth, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

     

    ‘No schnitzel, Sherlock!’ is the response, generally. While it’s not the elders’ job to shatter the young’s exaggerated sense of self-belief, it is however their duty to voluntarily impart pearls of wisdom and teach a lesson or twelve. That is if the children aren’t of the know-all variety with brains like sieves.

     

    However, at no other point in history has there been such a high premium on youth and the mad dash to make everything from buttocks to board rooms look younger is testimony to that fact.

     

    Yet, rarely are inhabitants of corner offices conscious of the learnings they’ve gathered from the younger tribe. It might not seem so but there are some important lessons to learn. And we’re not talking about teaching grandma to text and abbreviate every word known to man here.

     

    In advertising agencies, there are endless corridors of hormone-fields. It’s one of the youngest industries, where millennial minions slave day and night to create ads for unrelenting and often unreasonable clients so their award-winning bosses can scale the Palais in June, every year.

     

    So whoever said the millennial is fickle or needs constant validation and expects “Look maa, I drew within the line!” to be followed by a treat and a cuddle or that they are as loyal as a mercenary is nucking futs.

     

    Well, there are exceptions. But amid the myriad of contradictions, millennials have come to represent quite effectively, the new generation of adwallahs. They too have priceless wisdom to share with the generations that preceded them, even if they aren’t quite aware of this yet.

     

    In an attempt to bring these to light, Brand Equity asked advertising’s “seniors” about the valuable lessons they’ve learnt from their juniors.

     

    Striking the right work life balance, not being averse to risk and cultivating a very low embarrassment threshold, are just some of the beautiful learnings but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

     

    Read on to see the lessons advertising’s heads have learnt from the legs that prop them up.

     

    Prasoon Joshi, Chairman Asia Pacific & CEO of McCann Worldgroup India

    What I have learned from the younger generation, is the work life balance. My generation (or at least speaking for myself) were very extremist, single minded and did too much work. We’d go to Cannes and it was like a project: go and return.

     

    The younger lot tie it up with travel and exploration. With youngsters, right from the start, there’s a more holistic approach to life. They believe it’s good to take breaks, even short ones. And so to someone like me, with a crusader mentality, I’ve learned a lot.

    Moral of the story: Take as many breaks as HR will allow.

     

     

    Bobby Pawar, Director and Chief Creative Officer, South Asia, Publicis

    The lessons I’ve gathered from my youngest colleagues? Holy-moly, where do I begin? Tenacity. Irrational passion. Being curious of the changing world. Trusting my instincts as much as my experience. Experiment. When to step in. When to sit on the sidelines and applaud. Rediscovering that this business is supposed to be fun. Patience. The list grows almost every day.

     

    I believe, if you aren’t learning from the people you are with, you have the wrong people, or more likely you have the wrong attitude. One day at work we were discussing ideas. It was a big brand, big brief, big budget, big stakes. This kid had an idea that sounded cool, but it was pretty much out there. And I said, I don’t think we can take a chance like this on a billion dollar brand. The kid looked bummed. He remained quiet for a bit, while we chatted.

     

    Then he said, “Bobby, failure is temporary, success is permanent.” I said, “Getting fired is temporary too, but it stings.” Everybody laughed. What he said haunted me. The next day I caught up with him and we spent time trying to make his idea work. Let go of your professional prejudices. A new marketing order is coming and it will be shaped by those willing to shape it and be shaped by it.

    Moral of the story: Don’t save your precious aphorisms for Twitter, try it in conference. Even if it sounds dumb. Never stop being bold and curious. Christopher Columbus wouldn’t have gotten far if he weren’t a nosy fella.

     

     

    Ambi Parmeswaran, Executive Director and CEO, FCB Ulka

    The youngsters taught me how use technology to solve problems. Sometimes what looks difficult is really a piece of cake.

     

    The younger lot have innovative skills that they bring to the table. It’s great interacting with trainees from management and creative. They are supposed to make a 20 minute presentation to us at the end of their stint, and I remember a boy making a video presentation in the form of a daily diary to his mom. It was great because of the ‘We haven’t seen this before’ feeling.

     

    Their approach to work is very different, which we often criticise, but there are plenty of takeaways. I remember the time when an employee was moving on from our agency, and I asked him to give me a call in case he wasn’t happy at the new place. I told him there was nothing to be embarrassed about and we could definitely work something out for him if he decided to return. “Why would I be embarrassed?” he asked me. And he was back in six months.

    Moral of the story: Never criticise before thinking. And if one is ever in need of a smashing presentation, commission the millennials in your employ.

     

     

    Joseph George, CEO, Lowe Lintas

    Their belief in the spirit of “moving on”, it allows you to not get stuck with any issue (good or bad) for too long. It allows you to accomplish a lot more. And it makes you a lot less emotional and more objective. It also allows you to stay focussed in meetings and conversations instead of the hangovers of an earlier issue or a previous meeting still clouding your head.

     

    Many times, we seem to dismiss and brand this trait of the youth as being fickle and superficial. Or even accuse them of being disinterested. It took me a long time to realise that those were erroneous and lazy conclusions. I was interviewing this young planner ( I personally interview all planners coming into Lowe Lintas ), and as we concluded with me saying that HR will get back to him, he said in a matter of fact way “to not let his youth come in the way of his salary or indeed his designation!” There are three brand lines that sum them up “Move on”, “Impossible is nothing” and “Poochne mein kya jaata hai”?

    Moral of the story: Life’s too short to cry over yesterday’s headlines, delusion of grandeur is a millennial condition and there is no such thing as a stupid question

     

     

    Josy Paul, Chairman, BBDO India

    One of the greatest things that my youngest colleagues have taught me is to be more authentic. They value that in themselves and they seek that from me. It helps me relax in their company and be who I am. It brings out the best in all of us. I feel the younger generation is a reminder medium of who we once were. They remind me of the strengths that I had, and have now forgotten. They revive and rejuvenate my authentic side. They point out things I once told them when I was a visiting faculty in their colleges. And they don’t let me forget. It’s a great source of energy.

     

    “We work differently from how you work. You guys work really hard and are obsessed with excellence about work. But excellence for us is how we manage both work and life. We need more breaks, more away-time. That’s how we create excellence at work. For you work is everything. We work for life” – Hemant Shringy, senior creative director, BBDO Ashram, age 29. It’s an insightful jolt and a beautiful truth, and I have accepted it. It is important to me. Which is why I remember it. Reverse internship, osmosis and learning are part of my world. I spend at least two hours a week speaking at colleges. The best thing that an experienced generation of marketers can learn from millennial marketers is to let go! The best way to contribute is to get out of the way.

    Moral of the story: Be real and weekends are not just Saturday to Sunday.

     

     

    Kawal Shoor, National Planning Director, Ogilvy & Mather

    I like their naivete and candour the most. I especially love their language, as yet un-corrupted by the dreaded ad lingo. And fresh language is often a window to new thoughts. No ‘target audience’, no ‘strategy’, no ‘360 degrees’ no bullshit. When they talk formally, they are pretty predictable and ordinary ; maybe they say what they think they’re expected to say, but when they let go, when they just chat with you, when they talk about how people are, and why they are the way they are, is when they can really say interesting things.

     

    The biggest life lesson is that there are no rules. Yes, there are a few rules on how you anchor a thought f o r clients to feel comfortable with them, but for creation of new thoughts and ideas, there are absolutely no rules. I also think today’s young are a lot more confident, sometimes even before they’re able.

     

    Exactly the opposite of how I was, or still am. And then I have a 14 year old at home who’s my anti-aging insurance. There’s a daily crash course I get on staying young. There are times I fail, times I pass, but I can’t say life’s boring.

    Moral of the story: Speak without thinking.

     

     

    Sunil Lulla, Chairman and Managing Director, Grey Worldwide India

    “I work harder.” It was a simple statement made to me by a fresher at JWT in the late 80s. It expressed the strength of the individual and the difference one can make to one’s success. i.e. Work Harder, than anyone else, until success is yours. He was working really late hours and was undertaking very simple and humble tasks. It was late and I asked him to stop working and go home and complete it the next day. This response, “I work harder”, got me to agree, smile and adopt this attitude.

    Moral of the story: Forget what was said about frequent getaways, work your backside off.

     

     

    Subhash Kamath, Managing Partner, BBH

    There are many lessons I’ve learnt from some of my young colleagues. Most importantly, I’ve realised that their youth is very different from how mine was. They’re growing up in a very different society, they’re far more optimistic and daring, far more capable of taking risks and exploring newer things than I was. And thanks to the digital age, they seem far more connected and have much better access to information than I did.

     

    Sure, it’s much more competitive now than it was in the 80s, but I think today’s youngsters are upto it. Our generation was taught to play safe, hold on to our jobs, save for a rainy day etc. Today’s youngsters have grown up in a more plentiful society. They have many more options to choose from, more entrepreneurial opportunities.

     

    Talent and ideas get rewarded more easily today than it did in my time. So the same values and priorities that I had don’t necessarily work for them. The one anecdote I remember very vividly that would perhaps illustrate this change was when, some years ago, I was doing an exit interview of a young star who’d decided to leave the agency. She had been doing extremely well, her colleagues and clients loved her, and she’d just been promoted with a hefty increment. But a month later, she put in her papers. I was completely taken aback. When I asked why, she said the job was keeping her too busy and that she was not getting any chance to spend time with her family and friends.

     

    Trying to give her some sagely advice, I explained that even I had to go through this phase in life. That it was important to give it one’s all at this early learning stage to build a long term career. That one day she’ll be able to balance it having come on top of this service business.

     

    To which she coolly looked me in the eye and said “But what makes you think I want to lead the same life as you did? I want to do it differently and enjoy both work and play now, not later.” I honestly had no answer to that. Just the strong realisation that things have indeed changed. This generation looks at things very differently. And the worst thing a senior person like me could do was to think of my own upbringing and youth in evaluating today’s generation.

    Moral of the story: Don’t evaluate the world through the prism of your life. It’s not that great a life, after all, if a millennial doesn’t want it.

     

     

    Rahul Jauhari, National Creative Director, Everest Brand Solutions

    I guess the number one lesson is that these kids don’t take shit for too long. They are not as tied down by stuff like loyalty to boss/agency as we used to be. So if they don’t get a good deal (monetary or opportunity) they move on. They have innumerable options – advertising copywriting is not bigger or smaller than content writing or opening a wedding ideas shop with friends or something else.

     

    I guess fundamentally, they are experimenting more than we did, they take less load than we did/do. Long ago, after I finished seeing a complete fresher kid’s folio, he asked to see mine. I kicked his butt for not doing his homework, but loved the attitude. We are in a people’s business.

    Moral of the story: You can’t take designations and dignity to the bank.

     

     

    Mythili Chandrasekar, SVP & National Planning Director, JWT India

    The youngsters absorb so much from the world around at a blistering pace, and are intuitive culture and technology experts. They challenge conventional wisdom and it is good to be constantly tested. Free flowing and lateral thinking is something we can learn. Some very young colleagues have stunned me with their depth of work and speed of learning.

     

    While one cannot generalise, I do find disrespect for dress codes, time and casualness in tonality ends up working against youngsters being taken seriously. They certainly seem to have better work life balance, and are able to switch off far more easily – too late to learn that! After a point it’s not about age, but character. Those who are tenacious, unrelenting, passionate, bold, and thorough are those who stun you and teach you every time.

    Moral of the story: Study hard, study fast. Dress for comfort, but save the ‘Frankie Says Relax’ t-shirt for under the comforter.

     

     

    Pratap Suthan, Managing Partner and Chief Creative Officer, Bang In The Middle

    This was when I was a CD in Grey Delhi in about 1999. I had a trainee for about six months – he was really good at his job and had a lot of spunk. I wanted to hire him as a junior writer, but apparently we didn’t have the budgets. I kept delaying telling him because I wanted him on board, till the time he asked me what the status was.

     

    When he realised that the branch head couldn’t bring him on board, he walked into his office, gave him a piece of his mind and got out, only to start his own agency. That boy is Sidharth Rao of Webchutney. That day I learned that if you are convinced about something, you should stand by it no matter what anyone says. All it takes is belief and some spine.

    Moral of the story: Never listen to your branch head. And go with the gut every time. (At your own risk.)

     

     

    Sumanto Chattopadhyay, ECD – South Asia, Ogilvy India

    The most obvious fact is that the young colleagues are digital natives and we are digital dinosaurs. That is one area I have learnt everything from my juniors; I harass them and pick up a lot of internet and socialmedia related things from them. I can now ideate on digital campaigns today, and the only reason I can is because I had juniors who were complete whizzes at this. They’re born into it and have been using technology since the time they were in school.

     

    Another thing that is amazing is their comfort level with all kinds of apps and software to get things done. They find ways to easily put together a little film for a presentation, for instance. These little things seemed so difficult but they’re not; they helped me break that barrier. We belong to the doctor-lawyer-professor-bano generation, where we were told to pursue our passions only after first securing an academic degree and a steady job.

     

    Our mentality was to stick it out whether or not you’re enjoying your job. While there are good and bad sides to this way of thinking, I am going to say that the changes in the world and economy give youngsters the option to not waste their time at a place they aren’t having fun. The flipside is that they decide in three months that they don’t like advertising and quit. Three months! At least give it a year?

     

    Sure, go ahead and explore if you like something or not, but three months is too short a time. Some people are too hasty in deciding if something is working for them. They just need to find their happy medium. I like that they explore and have the confidence, but just take your time.

    Moral of the story: It’s never too late to learn.

     

     

    Narayan Devanathan, Executive Vice President and National Planning Director, Dentsu India Group

    The natural ease with which they carry themselves, knowing their place in the world (at the centre). Their ability to keep me grounded with an “Ae, kidhar ja raha hai, pehle good morning toh bol de.” Knowing how to be wrong with complete confidence, and most of the times, with a good idea of what failure looks like. Being completely comfortable with uncertainty, with “maybe” as a valid life choice.

     

    Work hard, party harder (I haven’t been able to apply this as effectively as them though.) But time and again, the young ones have taught and reinforced to me the idea of embracing uncertainty. “We’re dating currently, but he’s at IIM Ahmedabad and I’m here in Delhi, and I’m not sure if we’ll be in the same city after he finishes. I might find somebody else by the time he comes back. Or he might. Ya, I know we’ve been together for five years, but who knows what will happen tomorrow? I’d like to marry him, but that’s too far away.”

     

    This was a 20-year-old intern who worked with me several years back. I have no idea who she is with right now, but I don’t think she’s worrying about it. The value of persistence: A girl applied for a position in a previous job of mine, and after I met her, I was pretty sure I wanted to be on the same team. Except we didn’t have the budget to hire her then. So I told her, “Listen, I’m pretty bad at keeping in touch. But call me regularly. And if I don’t answer, message me. And if I don’t respond even then, email me.” She did all three for three weeks continuously.

     

    I managed to wrangle a budget out of the management to get her on board after that. I hope I apply these lessons regularly. But those who work with me will probably be able to better speak about the impact. In life, I definitely am more actively trying to embrace the uncomfortable, the uncertain. As I said elsewhere sometime back, I’m discovering the joys of confusion. Clarity is overrated, if you ask me.

    Moral of the story: Don’t date anyone at IIM-A. Embrace uncertainty and confusion every morning and there’s no shame in being stalkerishly persistent. However, try and stop short of a restraining order.

     

     

    Pratap Bose, former COO, DDB Mudra Group

    I remember once going through my worst crisis ever on the IBM account, and by the end of the evening it looked like we would lose the account through a horrible mishandling which had the worldwide IBM CEO and CMO threatening hell and high water.

     

    At 9 o’clock in the evening, when I was in the depths of despair and totally at my wits’ end, a young colleague came over and said to me, “Sir, why don’t you go home and sleep on it? It never seems so bad in the morning after you wake up.” To this day, I follow that advice I learnt from my younger colleague. In life, no matter how disastrous or how enormous the problem, it always seems smaller after you have slept on it.

    Moral of the story: Snoozes, not weekend getaways are the pillars of success.

     

    (With Inputs from Ravi Balakrishnan, Amit Bapna, Shephali Bhatt, Mukta Lad & Priyanka Nair.)

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2015, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

    All Rights Reserved, Licensed to republish

     

  • Do the extra-long ads like the Pepsi and KitKat had around Diwali send the message better than the shorter ones?

    Do looooong ads work for brands?

     

    By Priyanka Nair & Mukta Lad

     

    3.33. 3.53. 4.40. 7.16. Before you shut this paper and run a mile, we will have you know that this isn’t a complicated math problem coming your way, but the durations of some of the ads you’ve been seeing of late. With our daily dose of listicles masquerading as news for our seriously short attention spans, one would think quick and easy fixes are the way to go.

     

    The world of advertising begs to differ, though, offering a paradox. A spate of really long ads are the not-so-new kids on the block, where brands are taking the liberty to take as long as seven minutes to narrate their mostly heartwarming stories, The year is seeing a lot of the films that take their time to tell the tale, both internationally and back home.

     

    Pepsi’s ‘Ghar wali Diwali’
    KitKat’s Diwali
    Kissan’s ‘Joy of Togetherness’
    Fortune Oil’s ‘Ghar ka Khaana’
    Google’s ‘Reunion’
    Tata Sky’s ‘PrisonBreak’

    Most recently, KitKat and Pepsi jumped on the Diwali bandwagon, and two much talked about long-format films were born. They are usually released online, making it an inexpensive medium to tell powerful stories. But with such ads clearly becoming a regular trend, we have to ask; are brands really justifying the length of their communication with stories that are compelling enough? And do they work?

     

    Piyush Pandey executive chairman and creative director, Ogilvy & Mather India and South Asia, the man behind Fortune Oil’s emotive four-minute ‘Ghar ka khaana’ ad, believes, “With long-format, your single responsibility is to the viewer. It’s like people who make movies. A viewer of a long-format ad has made the effort to click on your film. It’s not like he was sitting around watching something else and the ad came on. It’s your responsibility to make sure he feels rewarded after the time spent and says ‘I must share this with my friends.’ I am assuming as professionals we know that we have a responsibility to the brand.”

     

    For T Gangadhar, MD, MEC India, it was the advertising during FIFA that has lingered on in his mind, especially the riveting spots by Nike and Adidas. “The episodic treatment, the fleshing out of the idea, the execution was such that there would have been no other way to create them except through the medium of long-format,” he says, admitting that he really didn’t notice the amount of time he was investing in watching them.

     

    Globally, too, brands have asked their agencies to deep dive into this particular style of creative build up for some time now. From Johnnie Walker to Dove and many in between, several brands have tried and tested using this narrative style for some years now.

     

    Apart from Fortune Oil, KitKat, Pepsi, Google’s ‘Reunion’ and #PledgeToVote, Tata Sky+’s ‘Prison Break’ and Kissan’s ‘Joy of Togetherness’ are some of the Indian ads that went much beyond the proverbial 30 seconds.

     

    Narayan Devanathan, EVP and national planning director, Dentsu India Group thinks of this trend as a fad, though. “To me, this seems like the work of diva creative directors who want to cash in on lack of extra mediabuying costs, the freedom the internet offers as a medium and the fact that they might be able to wiggle out a few favours from the directors in the same budget,” he says bluntly.

     

    Perhaps brand managers are looking at creating these epics as a feather in their cap. But Devanathan and Gangadhar would rather brands didn’t make long-format ads a fashion statement, please. It is best if the idea defines how much time it needs to unfold, instead of the other way around. But is there a formula as to who should or shouldn’t leverage this medium? “Boring brands have gone ahead to create some interesting long format ads, while some interesting brands have put out some boring ones,” says Gautam Kiyawat, CEO, Madison Media, implying that anyone with a good story should go ahead. But what makes marketers give a green signal to agencies?

     

    Mayur Bhargav, general manager (Chocolate and Confectionery), Nestlé India mentions that his digital centre noticed that India’s successful Mars mission was generating a lot of positive discussions on social media. They went ahead to create the KitKat Diwali film, knowing that its topical nature rated it high on the shareable scale.

     

    Gangadhar, however, wasn’t too convinced by the film. “If the video is going to be longer than 30 seconds, then it needs to become more content and less ‘advertising’, especially for the internet, where brands aim at making content people would want to share. The KitKat Diwali film, to me, was quite ‘addy’ in that sense.”

     

    Senthil Kumar, JWT India’s NCD and Suresh Eriyat, director, Eeksaurus, the men who made the KitKat film, believe that there making these spots can be a challenge. “It’s easier to hide the imperfections in 30 seconds, but the long format tests almost every limit that creative guys know of,” Kumar reveals. Eriyat elaborates, “Unlike short format ads, the biggest challenge in a long format ad is losing objectivity.

     

    Another danger is that it can end up becoming boring and monotonous. I am of the opinion that if one sees the KitKat campaign out of the context of Diwali, it may seem irrelevant.” At the end of the day, what do consumers feel about these ads, really? Devanathan, donning his planner’s hat, mentions, “The Pepsi ‘Ghar wali Diwali’ film, to me, lacked Pepsi’s youthfulness and Kurkure’s wackiness.”

     

    But advertising and planning be damned, he says, considering consumers didn’t really care about the ad’s length or whether it had the brand’s values at the core. They were touched by the emotion and shared the ad nevertheless, making it a viral success.

     

    The long and short of storytelling on digital is that the canvas is yet to reach its creative tipping point, as brands are taking their own sweet time exploring the medium.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • With below-the-line gaining a bigger share of ad budgets, a cross-section of the A&M frat on its efficacy

    MxM Monday: Is BTL gaining acceptance as a must-have in a media plan?

     

    By Ananya Saha

     

    Is Below-the-Line (BTL) advertising gaining bigger share of clients’ advertising budgets over the last few years? How innovative has BTL become, and what are the challenges it still faces?

     

    Anwesh Bose, Senior VP, DDB Mudra Max

    BTL has gained prominence over the years and will continue to do so as advertising communication is evolving from a ATL-BTL model to a Through the Line (TTL) model. The lines have blurred between ATL & BTL giving rise to a new phenomena where a medium can take the form of ATL or BTL depending on the need of the communication. The challenge today is for the communication professionals to justify the Return on Investments on any form of media and the pitch will keep getting higher. It is time for the industry to jointly work on a multimedia optimization model that would justify investments.

     

    Narayan Devanathan, SVP, National Planning Head, Dentsu India Group

    That’s a very broad question, but going by overall trends, the answer is probably yes. The more pertinent question, how much bigger is “bigger?” Who is measuring this? How does it differ by category? What all goes into the definition of BTL? For example, with the expansion of modern trade in retail, you’ll obviously see a lot more BTL money being spent on in-store merchandising, POS and promotional campaigns. A second factor affecting expanding BTL investments will likely be the short attention spans and the myriad of choices and screens that consumers interface with today. TV, radio, web and mobile are probably vying for the consumers’ attention simultaneously at all times. But with definitive metrics, the impact of last-mile tactics and campaigns will be a key differentiator between brand success and business success. All this does factor into the fact that, yes, BTL as a share of clients’ ad budgets is seeing an upsurge.

     

    Innovations can happen on three fronts: technology, measurability and the balancing act between strategic and tactical objectives of the campaign.

     

    On the technology front, something like RFID, for example, can turn walking behind a shopping cart into inputs for a shelf-stacking strategy in-store. A combination of GPS, augmented reality and a promotional scheme can turn a mobile phone into a CRM platform. But innovations like these and others depend on the evolution of both marketers and the retail (and other parts of the brand) environment.

     

    Technology can also be the difference between best-case guesstimates and data-driven strategies that reduce wastage of marketing investments.

     

    Finally, marketers have to find ways to close the gap between strategic and tactical goals. If brand-building is a strategic goal, how do you use BTL not just be a one-off tactic or part of promotions but contribute to brand-building?

     

    All said and done, as with ATL, the point of all communications, regardless of medium, is to create stories, conversations and transactions (not always monetary) that people want to engage in. If that perspective is missed, then we will continue to see a “line” and see “below” and “above” this imaginary line that only marketers – not consumers – see.

     

    Nina Jaipuria, EVP and Business Head, Sonic and Nickelodeon India

    Nickelodeon has always believed in the virtues of experiential marketing through on-ground engagements. While TV helps in reaching out to millions of viewers, it allows for only one way-communication. On the other hand, BTL promotions despite the high cost per contact have the potential of making the engagement truly memorable for consumers. There is nothing that can replace the experience and thrill that kids feel when they meet their favourite Nicktoons Ninja Hattori, Dora, SpongeBob or Keymon in person.

     

    In addition to engaging our young viewers at schools, malls, retail chains etc, we also conduct van activities that helps us reach out to smaller towns and villages in the interiors of India. For example during the launch of Motu-Patlu, we engaged kids in over 30 towns like Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Agra, Mathura, etc in Uttar Pradesh and Gwalior Khandwa, Indore, Ratlam, Bhopal, Jabalpur, etc in Madhya Pradesh. We often do mall activities to celebrate days and occasions that are important to kids.

     

    At Nickelodeon, we are constantly seeking new and innovative ways of connecting with kids all through the year. In-store promotions and toon visits at retail stores further helps in strengthening our on-ground presence when it comes to merchandize

     

    Brand partnerships also play a very important role in creating unique propositions for designing innovative on-ground programmes. BTL promotions are thus an integral part of our media plan as they enable us to connect with our consumers and give them a ‘Touch. Feel. Play.’ experience. In today’s day and age, it is imperative to be present across multiple touch points and to tangibilize the brand.

     

    Uday Mohan, Executive Director – North, MPG India

    With the increasing fragmentation of the media space it is not enough to just make “contact” with the consumer, but more importantly to “connect” with him. First hand experience of the product/service offering and the customization of it allow this impact extending it to sales as also brand perception. It is here where the relevance of BTL in the overall marketing/media mix is increasingly gaining importance.

     

    BTL is now moving from its earlier perception of basic activation to being an integral part of the consideration set at the media strategy formulation stage itself. FMCG for the mass audience spends even up to 25 percent of their advertising budget, luxury would spend more. Auto, telecom, food outlets also see the merits of BTL as we see more spends and ideas. It is getting very innovative using insights and planning; 3M Scotch-Brite came up with Wash your Bill, where you had the choice of washing dishes over paying the bill, adding a fun twist to the old adage of ‘pay your bill or wash the dishes’. The activation connected with a younger audience, made them use the product, gave immediate gratification, put it up on YouTube and created word-of mouth.

     

    Lack of quality data is a major challenge that BTL faces as there are as yet no set parameters for evaluation. Another challenge is the infrastructure and operational co-ordination required from global and nationalized brands of mass appeal where delivery to target audience becomes an issue. For example even Pepsi in its ‘Open Happiness’ campaign could create the reach because of the use of digital and social, else the cost would go out of hand. BTL activation for a mass brand would require innovative use of the media mix to get the desired effect.

     

    Ambika Sharma, MD & CEO, Pulp Strategy Communications

    There is a definitive shift in perception, below-the-line is media that barrier is fading, it is new media which adds the rich creamy layer to the traditional media plan. Inclusion of BTL in a plan has increased steadily but has seen a stronger spike in the last 2-3 years. It is not in the perfect place that it could be in the consideration set but it is no longer ignored like it used to be a decade ago.

     

    BTL is now increasingly being evaluated and included when developing the mix, for the simple reason that it cannot be ignored, as it is the only media that allows people to experience the product outside of the retail format. Below-the-line activations can be great when done cleverly. The medium provides the freedom to engage with your core consumers and almost always has the potential if designed wisely to be quirky and attention-grabbing.

     

    BTL needs to be carefully considered in the planning process and not as an after thought. A well-thought-out, through-the-line campaign (or 360-degree approach), will always have more impact than one curtailed to a limited approach. This is perhaps the most positive change where in some marketers are consciously choosing BTL within their plan with specific deliverables in mind. This way the plan is tighter knit, and the ROI is richer. This change has reflected in a higher share of voice for activation in the media budget.

     

    Other factors have also contributed, one is what we call the “Ego” slice in the media plan, prominent some time back its the forced fit into the prominent / upmarket ATL mediums because “presence there was a must” at times this ate into the working budget which would have been considered for new media including activation. This is no longer the case. Activation / BTL is holding its own in media plans and gaining its due in media budgets.

     

    Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice President - Marketing, United Breweries Ltd

    We do not call it BTL, but refer to it as activation or leveraging. I would say that activation has always been an important part in the UB Group’s marketing intervention. And today it is almost equal to our sponsorship amount. So if we are involved with an event, property or platform, and suppose Rs 50 lakhs as sponsor, we will spend an equal amount in leveraging it or BTL. I would say, it is practically 1:1 for UBL and our portfolio of brands when it comes to the ad pie division of BTL with other media.

     

    I think a lot of things are happening apart from the display being used in this medium. The kind of consumer touchpoints being used, digital and social media is becoming a big thing and is being used increasingly as activation by us. Video mapping, production technologies have improved a lot. There are new techniques we are using from overseas in terms of projections, holograms, video mapping on walls etc. the ways to reaching out to consumer is getting innovative whether it be direct mailers that we do or CRM or get-togethers. The kind of media being used in activations is seeing innovation and substance that is being used in production is getting innovative.

     

    This medium faces challenges in terms of credibility and execution capability. Anything that you do in BTL needs to be relevant to your product, your target audience and to your brands’ positioning. A large part of differentiation in BTL goes towards execution.

     

    Raghu B Viswanath, Founder & Managing Director at Vertebrand Management Consulting

    Media today is fraught with many challenges. While the overall ADEX spends has been growing at a much higher rate than GDP increasingly clients are questioning whether they are getting enough bang for buck they have spent by advertising in media.

     

    Earlier brands focused on getting more eyeballs translating to more awareness on the brand. Since the competition intensity was earlier relatively low mere awareness got translated to purchase. That is not the case today. With increasing competition and very little differentiation, it is important for brands to not just enhance the brand – building efforts on awareness creation, but to go beyond and engage their customers meaningfully. This in turn means that brands need to connect with their customers through as many touch points as possible. So, non-traditional (BTL) lends itself to this two-way communication. The rules of the game is not about seeing or hearing. It is about experiencing the brand with all the senses. Hence, touch feel and other sensorial connects with the brand, is the need of the hour.

     

    For many brands, BTL is becoming a more significant component of their marketing spends (almost equal to ATL). I believe this trend is expected to grow, as brands pursue serious efforts to engage better with their customers.