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Byline: The Goan Network
There is a lot of buzz around digital platforms of advertising like Google, Facebook and YouTube, but companies are yet to find a way to ensure that digital advertisement creates impact in a time-bound manner.
This was a crucial take-away from a panel discussion at Goafest 2016 happening at Grand Hyatt in Bambolim. Goafest is a prominent ad fest as it brings top companies and advertising agencies of the world on one platform.
Chandramouli Venkatesan, managing director, Mondelez India, said: “There is a coolness attached to digital platforms. But, it is important that the money spent on such platforms results in business and when that happens, there will be a digital revolution”
Other participants in the panel discussion concurred that it is very important for any ad idea to translate into good business performance in terms of profit and loss (P&L) account.
Oliver Maletz, head of connections planning, media & international communication at Volkswagen, AG, said, “Stop selling to us. If you have a good idea, prove to us that it works through profit and loss account”
Maletz reminisced about his early days at work as he said, “When I started working, it was all about building a brand, but somewhere down the line, the attention got deviated.”
Venkatesan continued, “Today, businesses are going through a cycle. The focus is more on business generation. Earlier, we were comfortable focusing on creative because business was coming.”
Clearly, times are tough today as companies in India and outside are struggling with weak economy. In such a situation, they want the best from every buck spent.
While advertisers are hard-pressed to make sure that they make the most of every penny spent on ads, the other reality is also that India is fast changing as a market-place.
Samar Singh Sheikhawat, senior vice president marketing, United Breweries, said: “The mistake we make is we paint everyone with one stroke. I grew up in Delhi, but it has changed totally today as you don’t hear Punjabi anywhere. You hear Oriya, Tamil, Bengali and many other languages which shows that the character of people in Delhi has changed and the same is the case with other places as well.”
The market-place is definitely more complex and challenging today and therefore the expectations from people working in ad agencies are huge, Sheikhawat said adding that Agencies need to invest both in super specialists and generalists.
