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Ad:tech 2012: Show me the money, the digital way

Best Media Info,

The concluding day of ad:tech witnessed discussions on how marketers are evaluating the power of digital media as a medium to drive their business objectives

Given that the digital user base is expected to cross 300 million by 2015, mobile media will be an indispensable part of any media mix strategy. On the third and concluding day of the digital marketing, media and advertising event Ad:Tech 2012, the panel discussion on ‘Mobile Marketing’ offered insights on how marketers are evaluating the power of mobile as a medium to drive their business objectives.

Dippak Khurana, Co-founder and CEO, Vserv.mobi, said that topping applications downloaded on mobile are casual entertainment and mobilegames (70 per cent globally) and marketers should try and capture this space to advertise. He observed, “Only 6-7 per cent of mobile users own smartphones and 90 per cent of users own feature phones. Usually, applications are made keeping smartphone users in mind, thus losing out on 90 per cent of the probable customer base. Hence, it’s important to know your TG before creating any application.”

With traditional methods of “spray and pray” proving ineffective in today’s interactive and dynamically expanding digital marketing world, engagement and conversation with social media becomes imperative. The panel on ‘Successful B2B digital marketing strategies’ saw the panelists talk about ways to use the power of Internet to build visibility, generate leads and drive loyalty.

Jocelyn Cripps, Regional Director of Marketing, Financial Times, said, “We as brands are overwhelmed by the amount of data generated. What is important for your digital strategy is to use the data judicially and very smartly.”
S Sridhar, Director-Marketing, Dell India, noted, “As digital marketing becomes pervasive, it becomes important to make it more incisive and not intrusive.” He added that even as budgets were not growing at the desired speed, ROIs have become that much more measurable.

Hari V Krishnan, Country Manager, LinkedIn India, remarked, “Brands get curated in digital space. But with democratisation of Internet, brands are retrofitting the ideas meant for B2C (business-to-consumer) space in the B2B (business-to-business) space. This is a huge mistake.”

Brijesh Agrawal, COO, IndiaMart InterMesh, noted how a large number of marketers who never wanted to market themselves now want to be present in the digital space. He cautioned, “It is important for B2B marketers to reach the relevant targeted base with relevant message.”

As we build up trustworthiness in social media channels, we are becoming comfortable with the idea of allowing social technologies to transform our shopping experience. At the ‘Social Commerce’ session, panelists highlighted how brands could make the most out of this situation. Ishita Swarup, CEO, 99labels, observed, “Two years ago, when we set up our online store, e-commerce did not exist. We had to reach out to women via social media.” Kirthiga Reddy, Director, Online Operations, Facebook India, noted, “Even as e-commerce sites are using only a fraction of social media, ‘follow’ or ‘like’ on Facebook does not account as social marketing.”

Farshad Family, MD, Nielsen Media, India, and Facundo Maldonado, Global Head of Social Media, Ybrant Digital, talked of the new measurement tools to analyse the social media efforts put in by brands and marketers and channeling them accordingly.

Buoyed by the response that ad:tech 2012 got, the organisers are contemplating a Bangalore edition this year.

Read more at http://www.bestmediainfo.com/2012/02/adtech-2012-show-me-the-money-the-digital-way/