In
the first part of this report, exchange4media had looked at the
potential that digital marketing offers. While there is growing
interest from advertisers in this medium, traditional agencies are yet
to make any significant switchovers. However, there are a number of
traditional agencies who have come up with their digital arms and are
in the process of exploring the medium.
‘Visiting card’ online agencies
Citing a few reasons as to why things might have
been a little tough for the traditional agencies, Atul Hegde, CEO,
Ignitee, explained, “Unlike offline, for the online medium the entry
barrier is high. More than talent, it is a mindset issue. Also, most
agencies have taken the easy route out by starting ‘visiting card’
online agencies. Agencies have to realise that there is lot more to the
digital business than adapting offline creative into banners and doing
plain media buys on portals. Mindset change is the need of the hour.”
Some of the traditional agencies have come out
successful with either their digital arms or through integration with
big digital agencies. Leroy Alvares, Country Head, Tribal DDB, felt
that lack of talent was the biggest reason for traditional agencies not
coming out big in the digital space. “Even if we have got integrated
with Mudra for quite sometime now, there has been a certain level of
independent thinking that we have applied in our work, which is
important for any digital agency. In the digital space, understanding
of the techniques changes by the day, and that poses the biggest
challenge,” he added.
According to Webchutney’s Rahul Nanda, “The Internet
is a medium which needs to be treated in its own individuality and not
compared with print or TV. Hence, the thought process, the approach,
and the understanding, all need to change accordingly. Making the cut
will eventually happen, but will they be at the cutting edge of digital
creativity? Only time will tell.”
Krishna Kumar, Founder & CEO, Media2win, noted,
“Most of the independent digital agencies have been start-ups and they
have employed entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial approach to business
is the key factor. Specialisation comes with focus and the ability to
be flexible, and that is the biggest reason for the success of most of
the digital agencies.”
Social media to evolve beyond the buzz
Just as the digital medium emerges as a more evolved
and mature medium, the advertisers are looking out for newer methods
and techniques to reach out to their TGs. This has got most of the
digital agencies devising latest strategies and creatives, of which
social media has created quite some buzz. But what seems to be a bigger
challenge is to take social media beyond the buzz and make it work.
Commenting on the growing buzz around social media,
Manish Vij, Co-founder, Quasar Media, said, “The commercialisation of
social media will not be that big. It will still be a platform where
marketers will experiment this year in various ways and formats. We
think social media is a platform that helps in connecting. Marketers
should concentrate more on the way they will make their brand
interesting enough to get connected with the customer and not forceful
social media campaigns.”
According to Ignitee’s Hegde, “Social media will
definitely be the buzz factor for the digital media in 2009. But how
well brands and digital marketing companies can leverage it, is
anybody’s guess. More than it being commercialised, I hope as an
industry we are able to leverage it and make it an effective
communication tool to build brands rather than just a device to create
buzz. Social media desperately needs to evolve from looking good in
PowerPoint presentations and actually making an impact in the life of a
brand.”
In-game advertising is slowly evolving as an
important tool for interactive marketing. Recently, Games2win has
created a unique application on Orkut to promote Marico’s Hair and Care
Almond Gold brand. This was strategically done to serve the dual
purpose to expose new users to the brand and also leverage the existing
community on Orkut.
Commenting on the newer interactive methods, Alok
Kejriwal, Founder & CEO, Games2win, said, “It is going to be a slow
and tricky process. Banners on social media sites in India and
elsewhere in the world are not working. Either brands are very nervous
to place ads in social pages that they do not have control or sanity
checks on, or banners are getting un-noticed since friends are busy
interacting with each other. ‘Fusion’ marketing is the business model
to get brands to spend on social media. In terms of consumer influence,
and I do believe that social media is now impacting purchase decisions
in this country.”
Whether social media emerges the pop hero of digital
marketing or not, whether traditional agencies join the digital
marketing fray in a big way or not, the fact that digital medium has
piqued the interest of the media and marketing industry in India proves
that this medium has chalked out its success story for the year.
Also read:
Digital agencies upbeat about 2009: A welcome note to traditional advertisers – Part 1