Surge ahead with digital communications

Kapil Ohri reports in afaqs.com

The Fifth Digital Marketing Conference, organised by the Internet and Mobile Association of India in New Delhi, focused on 'Transformation of digital agencies from technology enablers to brand champions'.

Shantanu Sirohi, Co-Founder and Vice-President, Interactive Avenues, talked about the role of digital agencies. He pointed out that brand champions are media agnostic. To prove this, he gave examples of some of the ad campaigns that Interactive Avenues did for ICICI Prudential, Travelguru.com and Travelocity.com, wherein the core idea was conceptualised for the Internet and then taken forward, either as a print ad, a television commercial or an outdoor campaign.

Mahesh Murthy, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Pinstorm said, "Brands have to become technology savvy in order to derive the benefits of the digital medium." Citing the example of live Twitter posts updated by some of the conference participants, he said, "Technology enables you to carry out live researches, listen to consumers and track performance of your efforts and allows you to react quickly."

Pushkar Sane, Chief Digital Officer, North and South Asia, Global Head of Social Marketing, Starcom MediaVest Group, pointed out that in order to derive better return on investment (RoI), marketers need to become closer to consumers and understand their online behaviour.

Kushal Sanghvi, Managing Director, Media Contacts, said, "The definition of digital agency has changed." He explained that agencies have moved from buying exposure to extracting response from consumers.”

Prasad Shejale, Managing Director, Logicserve, said, "The basics of brand building do not change from one medium to another. It is the same for print, TV and digital medium as well."

Ruchira Raina, Managing Director, Dentsu Communications, and National Business Head, Dentsu Media, said, "Marketers should use the internet to connect, share and discuss with their target audience." She added that marketers should move beyond investing in the digital medium for experimentation only; instead, they should invest in the Internet with more seriousness and conviction.