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Tag: youth

  • The youth are also bringing about a cultural change in terms of their influence in advertisements, films, music, television, web and others, says Aditya Swamy

    Aditya Swamy on 6 Gen X facts brands must know

    Aditya Swamy

    By Aditya Swamy

     

    Youth today are coming together to bring about social and cultural change

    Besides the social change, for instance the Meter Down campaign or the Anna Hazare’s anti corruption movement. The youth are also bringing about a cultural change in terms of their influence in advertisements, films, music, television, web  and others.

     

    The generation gap between parents and children is breaking down

    For this generation it is the family which is first over friends. In fact, young people today see their parents as role models and know that it is their parents who will stand by them in both good and bad times.

     

    Warm is the new cool for this generation.

    This is the generation which is in touch with their emotions as they want to make the world a better place, and they want to be a better person. This generation is also very quick to help those that seek their help whether it’s about finding a new home, a restaurant, a job and so on.

     

    This is truly an empowered generation

    Because most of them believe that they can bring about a change in the society or their country. Therefore for a brand to give the youth a platform where they are able to display their empowerment becomes a very powerful tool for brands to engage with their audience.

     

    Technology is equal to life

    The youth today are born into a world where iPhone, iPad, tablets and other mobile platforms are just part of their life. For brands to connect with the youth they must look at how their content can evolve around the four different environment i.e. television, mobile, web and the real life screen. Therefore bringing the four together to engage with the youth.

     

    This generation is already inspired

    So they are not looking at brands to inspire, but they want the brands to engage them. Gone are the days when a Shahrukh Khan is seen as an inspiration, today their role models are those people that brought about a change in their surroundings or country and so on. So brands must start having a two way conversation with their audience and once a brand initiates a two way dialogue that’s when it builds a connection with their audience.

     

    Aditya Swamy is EVP and Business Head – MTV India

     

  • The coming years will see massive newspaper wars because the category is on the decline curve. And each brand will have to be very smart and proactive to survive.

    Anil Thakraney: So then what must The Hindu do?

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The Times is on a rapid expansion drive. They’ve recently launched multiple editions in Kerala, including in small towns. This is quite understandable. Newspapers are in a slow death mode in large towns, and it makes sense to penetrate as many towns as possible to delay the inevitable demise of the newspaper as we know it.

     

    And this portends a serious challenge for incumbent brands. How can they protect their turf? How can they retain their readers in the face of stiff competition? It’s not going to be an easy task. The Times, which is a powerful challenger, has many strengths – the group has deep pockets, tremendous marketing fire power and the newspaper is wholesome; a healthy mix of serious news and entertainment. If the local brands remain lazy and complacent, they will struggle hard, that’s for sure. Deccan Herald learnt this lesson the hard way in Bangalore.

     

    Let’s take the current battle raging between The Hindu and The Times in Chennai as an example. The ad war between the two has already been discussed, and I mentioned in the Debrief section of this portal that I quite like The Hindu’s spirited fight back. But in terms of the content itself, what can the newspaper do to stay alive and relevant? This is a tough one; but allow me to put forward two critical points: The Hindu must NOT dump its image of an ultra serious brand. This is the newspaper’s core strength, it has been so for many decades, and it must be protected.

     

    If they attempt to emulate Times’s please-all mix, they will become a me-too brand and quickly lose the battle. Sticking to their core values will ensure they don’t disillusion their loyal readers. However, at the same time, they have to win over the hearts and minds of younger readers. Already, there is pressure from the internet, so this is going to be a huge problem. The Times is, anyway, particularly strong in its youth appeal. The trick here is not to dumb down the content and dive into a full on filmi and party coverage.

     

    The youth of India aren’t dumb. Yes, they enjoy entertainment coverage, but they also have their own serious issues to worry about, which include education and career opportunities. And this is what The Hindu must tap into very aggressively.

     

    The Express tries to do that but they haven’t achieved much success, and that’s because they are pretty clinical in their approach, and don’t make enough song and dance. The style of presentation and the marketing of youth-related stuff is critical. Features on career prospects don’t have to be boring; they can be made to rock. And marketed in such a way that the youth of Chennai perceives The Hindu to be a newspaper that understands their needs and concerns.

     

    As I said, it’s going to be a tough one. And I used The Hindu only as an example. The coming years will see massive newspaper wars because the category is on the decline curve. And each brand will have to be very smart and proactive to survive. Interesting times await!

     

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    PS: I am not a huge fan of authors who parade themselves at Litfests. And an even lesser fan of authors who tweet. I have always believed writers must remain enigmatic and should be known only through their books. That, the mystery enhances a writer’s appeal. Here’s an interesting article from The New York Times, it  explains the authors’ obsession with Twitter.

     

    Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/books/review/why-authors-tweet.html?_r=2&smid=tw-nytimes&pagewanted=all

     

     

  • Facebook has arrived in India, ranking highest in interaction. But are Indian brands ready to realize and value the impact of social media, or is it just a feel-good factor for them?

    In your Facebook, in your brand?

     

    By Ritu Midha

     

    Though there have been, and are other social networking sites, none match Facebook – whose growth has been phenomenal – in terms of usage and the buzz around it. Brands, keen to be where their target audience is, seek it out and in spite of issues like low internet penetration, power cuts and low literacy levels, social media and more specifically Facebook is seeing exponential growth in India.

    A study by Experian India released in September 2011 indicates that Facebook, YouTube and Orkut are the top three social networking websites in the country.

    As per the study, search engines continue to be number one in terms of visit share in the month of August 2011 with 17.25 percent visit share, while social networking and forums are at number two with 13.99 percent.

    The study also indicates that social networking sites are amongst the top three sources of traffic for these industry categories: Automotive, Community, Computers & Internet, Education, Entertainment, Food & Beverages, Health & Medical, Lifestyle, Music, News & Media, Shopping & Classifieds, Sports and Travel.

    When it comes to specific social media sites Facebook is at number one with a 52.47 percent visits share, while YouTube is a distant second with 20.34 percent share (July 2011). And when one looks at percentage change this August vis-a-vis August 2010, Facebook has seen a whopping 88.46 percent growth from 27.85 percent to 52.49 percent.

    And as per a global Cisco study, within certain countries, including India, updating Facebook was ranked as the highest priority, even more than hanging out with friends. Of all the countries surveyed in the study India ranked highest in the frequency of Facebook interaction, with 92 percent of students and 98 percent of employees checking it daily.

     

    Facebook, thus, has arrived in India, and if the growth rate is any indication it is not a storm in the frying pan. However, one wonders if Indian brands have really begun to value the impact of social media, or is being on social media just a feel-good factor for them? Says Mr Ashok Lalla, President – Digital, Euro RSCG, “There certainly is a lot of enthusiasm among Indian brands to get onto the social media bandwagon. Unfortunately, most get on thinking that a fan page, or an app or a Twitter handle is all that it takes to crack the social media code. However, we are also seeing some brands take a more mature view of social media, and these also better integrate social marketing with the rest of the marketing and communications mix.”

    Mr Alok Kejriwal, CEO and Co-Founder, Games2win, too agrees that brands are at different stages of evolution as far as social media goes. He remarked, “Some of them use social media well, some of them are learning and some of them are completely ignorant. The brands who get it are those who have young CEOs and managers rather than the ‘Silver Foxes’ who run the companies that run the brands who live on the dark side of the moon. Think Vodafone vs Air India.”

    Talking specifically of Facebook, where most of the consumer action is at the moment, while a few brands are working on specific Facebook strategies, others just want to fit it in. Mr Lalla said, “I’m not sure if brands have reworked their overall communication strategies, but they certainly have recast and extended them to include social media. Facebook clearly is the first and most popular part of most social media plans. That’s not surprising, since it’s got the largest number of social media-active people in India.”

    Interestingly, one notices that brands look at gaining as many ‘likes’ as possible – a ‘like’ on a page can get a fan Rs 1,000 off on a luxury cosmetics brand – while a few others believe that the ultimate is to make the customers win a contest, and give away an expensive handset. These mostly work as tactics for the moment. As soon as the contests and discounts are over – so is the people’s interest in that specific page.

    What, then, would be an ideal Facebook strategy for a brand? Kejriwal explains, “Listening and not marketing. Brands and their decision-makers need to listen to the whispers on social media – their ears should be on the railway tracks picking up tremors and the train before it arrives in their face. Facebook is a reactive and conversational media for brands rather than a pro-active and defensive media.”

    It effectively means that ‘likes’ are not a good enough benchmark for a brand page on Facebook. Mr Kejriwal declared, “No way! Likes are silly. It’s like saying that the number of units sold of a sachet is the sign of the success of a brand! Less Is More on Facebook for a brand. The quality of conversation – not the quantity – is important.”

    “The real impact comes when brands look at ‘Life beyond the Like’. And focus on identifying and nurturing the ‘fans’ that have real brand love, and the potential to turn into brand advocates,” added Mr Lalla.

    Social media, and more specifically Facebook, opens doors for two-way communication between the brand and its audiences – and it is that conversation that brings the biggest value to a brand. Mr Lalla elucidates, “Today a brand is no longer about what marketers tell consumers it is, but it is what consumers tell other consumers it is. In this context, it makes immense sense for a brand to be receptive and responsive to its audience. That’s where a two-way communication (conversation) helps.”
    It is largely youth brands looking at a presence of Facebook – an effect of the perception that it is largely young and happening who spend time of Facebook. However as per Mr Lalla, the fastest growing demographic on Facebook worldwide is the over-50s. So, used right, social marketing via Facebook can make a difference for more than just youth brands. Brands, perhaps, are waiting, to witness a few big success stories before taking Facebook more seriously. In times to come it will become even more intrinsic to marketing, and brands will gradually learn to appreciate the influence it can create on their audiences.

    ER = Engagement Rate, average number of total interactions to the pages posts divided by the number of fans in the last 30 days
    RR = Response Rate, the pages response rate to the user questions posted on the wall in the last 30 days
    PP = Page Posts, the number of the posts by the page in the last 30 days
    Score = The score of the Facebook page, a Socialbakers only metric that we create out of 30 different parameters

    Source:

    http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-pages/brands/india/
http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-pages/media/india/