Brands Must Adopt Effective Communication Strategy: 16th Marketing Conclave

Brands Must Adopt Effective Communication Strategy: 16th Marketing Conclave
The 16th Marketing Conclave organized by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), held on Aug 27-28 with the theme ‘Towards The Tipping Point’ was inaugurated by Shri Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises. Shri Javadekar stressed on the need to counter fake news and termed fake news as more dangerous than paid news.

The marketing conclave, which is one of the biggest in India saw industry leaders share their insights on the post-COVID scenario and how through responsible marketing, consumer demand can be regained. Delivering a keynote address, Harsh Mariwala, Founder & Chairman Marico mentioned that it has it is now crucial for brands to innovate on a perpetual basis. He further stated with the world facing an unprecedented crisis, and the role of innovation and purpose in brand building has drastically increased as organizations look to create a meaningful connection with their consumers.

Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group & Chairman, IAMAI Digital Advertising Committee, said: “The current times have taught that messaging and communication has never been more important, the content has never been less commoditized and the reason to look beyond the shares of customers wallets, has never been more crucial for business sustainability.”

Ajit Mohan, Vice President, Facebook spoke about the pandemic’s impact on the digital world. He highlighted that the digitally influenced purchase has shot up by at least 15-20% for some of the largest consumer categories such as apparel, mobile phones packaged consumer goods that traditionally had offline chains.

Tushar Vyas, President, GroupM South Asia in his address said: “I’m glad MarCon 16 is happening at an appropriate time when everyone is curious to understand and decode what is the scenario going to be in the post-pandemic world. There is a visible change in consumer trends along with how brands are evolving their marketing tactics. COVID-19 has given a rise to challenges and changes across the marketing ecosystem but on the other side, it has offered a fresh perspective into the new reality and help accelerate digital adoption. Digital, data, and technology have a larger part to play in the post COVID world to help turn the tide, he said.

Nitin Paranjpe, Chief Operating Officer, Unilever, in his keynote address on ‘Way forward for early adopters’, said: “Purpose creates relevance. When you find meaning or a way to touch people’s lives around issues that matter to them, you drive better effectiveness, efficiency, and better returns.”

Sharing his perspective on Fantasy Sports, Harsh Jain Co-Founder & CEO Dream11 outlined the importance of proper marketing and gave an insight into how marketing will work if the product is good.

Girish Agarwal, Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group spoke about how the regional newspaper industry is growing while English newspapers are recording a dip in readership. He however said that at the same time, digital news platforms recorded high growth. Thus, as a change of strategy, print reporters, besides writing articles for newspapers have begun to contribute to websites.

Jagran News Media CEO Bharat Gupta stressed on the need for creating trust and credibility. He said that these two factors should be of paramount importance for content creators in the digital world. He further said that the focus should be to embrace change with innovations as legacy alone will not help traditional companies survive.

The conference was wrapped up with a very interesting panel discussion about the challenges and opportunities that an agency faces when there is a paradigm shift in the Marketing Ecosystem. Anant Goenka, who moderated the session said brands should invest in finding a role in society and look for a larger purpose. He stated the importance of communication and how a brand should focus on building up a relationship with their customers.

Ashish Bhasin, CEO APAC and Chairman India, Dentsu Aegis Network Consumers said today the consumers are very smart, particularly the younger generation. He asked brands to be responsible in their messaging and not focus only on earning a brownie point. Sam Balsara, Chairman and Managing Director, Madison World when asked about how brands go about finding a larger purpose, said younger people get attracted to a brand’s cause and when a brand takes up a cause, what they should look for its authenticity.

In an interesting session on the evolution of story-telling in India, famous author Amish Tripathi, in his conversation with noted filmmaker Anand Tiwari, opined that any story without a philosophy embedded in it is like a body without a soul, and there is no purpose. He said that there must be a philosophy that must be conveyed in the story. It is up to the readers to accept those philosophies or reject them. But the key should be to provoke the readers to think.

The conference also saw an interesting chat on Audio: The Way Forward between Neha Dhupia, Indian actress, and Amarjit Singh Batra, Managing Director, Spotify India.

The conference had an online gathering of more than 3000+ registered delegates from across the globe with 150+ speakers. Some of the speakers at the two-day conference included Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group; Harsh Mariwala, founder and chairman; Marico; Satyan Gajwani, vice-chairman, Times Internet; Girish Agarwal, Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group; Mark Read, CEO, WPP; Nitin Paranjpe, COO, Unilever; Harsh Jain, Co-Founder & CEO, Dream11; Sam Balsara Chairman and Managing Director, Madison World; Ashish Bhasin; CEO APAC and Chairman India, Dentsu Aegis Network; Vishnu Mohan Chairman & CEO, Havas Group; Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands India, Film Director Bharat Bala among others.

About IAMAI

The Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] is a young and vibrant association with ambitions of representing the entire gamut of digital businesses in India. It was established in 2004 by the leading online publishers, and in the last 16 years has come to effectively address the challenges facing the digital and online industry including mobile content and services, online publishing, mobile advertising, online advertising, e-commerce, and mobile & digital payments among others.

Sixteen years after its establishment, the association is still the only professional industry body representing the online industry in India. The association is registered under the Societies Act and is a recognized charity in Maharashtra. With a membership of nearly 300 Indian and overseas companies, and with offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata, the association is well placed to work towards charting a growth path for the digital industry in India.

Digital Revenue Of New York Times (NYT) Crosses Print Revenue For First Time

Digital revenue for The New York Times (NYT) for the first time in its history exceeded its print revenue, the company reported in its second-quarter report on Wednesday.
The newspaper business of the US is looking more and more like a digital shop, and it has to show it with the subscription numbers.

Digital revenue for The New York Times (NYT) for the first time in its history exceeded its print revenue, the company reported in its second-quarter report on Wednesday. The Times also added 669,000 digital subscriptions for a total of 5.7 million digital-only subscriptions and 6.5 million overall subscriptions. In 2019 the organization set a target of hitting 10 million subscriptions by 2025.

For the quarter ending June 30, these additions amounted to an 8.4 percent increase in subscription revenue.

The total revenue of the Times dropped from $436.3 million the year before by 7.5 percent to $403.8 million. Revenue from ads was the hardest hit, dropping 43.9 percent. As with other media outlets, advertisement sales took a hit during the pandemic as brands reduced discretionary spending. The Times CEO Mark Thompson said last quarter that as the company saw lower competition, the company expected its ad revenue to “drop between 50 and 55 percent.”

The Times reported on Wednesday that, due to the continuing impact of the pandemic, it expects ad revenue to decline by about 35 percent to 40 percent in the third quarter compared with a year ago.

“This was also one of the most important quarter of my tenure as CEO of The Times,” Thompson said in a statement. “We have recorded our best ever results for new digital subscriptions, and for the first time in our history overall digital revenue has surpassed print revenue – a significant achievement in The New York Times’ transformation and a testimony to how much we have accomplished over the past eight years.”

Last month The Times named Meredith Kopit Levien as its next president and chief executive officer, who is the newspaper’s current chief operating officer. On 8 September she will succeed Thompson. Levien said she intended to continue investing in journalism and also wanted to add more non-news items and video games.

The Times has continued to invest in audio storytelling, reporting last month that it will purchase Serial Productions and a collaborator with “This American Life.” Levien lauded the Daily podcast ‘s performance on Wednesday’s earnings call stating that its reach is now “vastly greater” than the regular or Sunday paper with “somewhere over 3.5 million” listeners per day.

“We think The Daily plays a role in getting people into The Times and people feel our brand ‘s real affinity,” she said.

Operating income for Periods dropped from $37.9 million the year before to $28.8 million in the second quarter of 2020.

This is the Influence of Social Media on Coronavirus !

Divided by nations, united by love and the internet. The article is just a token of appreciation to everyone who is taking the initiative to spread awareness on social media about the pandemic virus.
Gone are the days when a notice used to be there on public notice boards and shared through loudspeakers. If there is anything that needs awareness, then people, institutions, and governments select social media awareness.

From the perspective reach to spreading out the word, the process is much fast as compared to the spreading of COVID-19. Yes, there is a plethora of false news from unidentified sources talking around vague data but at the same time, both (the internet and social media) have spread awareness from time to time.

Every potential user has a device through which he/she can get updates from any corner of the world. Connect with each other and stalk their favorite movie stars. From recruitment to getting user feedback, social media has been a magical spell.

Let’s try and dig the internet and see the scene of social media awareness during the fast-spreading coronavirus.

World Health Organization, Bollywood Stars & Their Initiative of Social Media Awareness –
World Health Organization (WHO) has partnered with short-video platform TikTok to create awareness around COVID-19. The partnership will give the opportunity to influencers on the TikTok app to create their own videos that provide viewers with informed medical hygiene tips.

Celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Sachin Tendulkar were seen participating in the Safe Hands challenge on Twitter. Through their videos, celebrities tell fans and followers the importance of personal hygiene and nominate other celebrities to do the same.

If you are still wondering how to be safe during such auspicious time, just lock yourself in a room and browse Instagram, Twitter, and other social media apps. If you have a Twitter account, just look out for #safehands and I’m sure you will grasp things that work a protective layer to fight against coronavirus. Here is some glimpse about the social media awareness campaign:

social media awareness - next big brand
Twitter’s #safehands challenge – Have a Look!
social media awareness - nect big brand
PussyCatDolls Contributing to #safehands challenge
How can our Bollywood stars stay silent during the chaotic scenes? Amitabh Bacchan, Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Madhuri Dixit, Ajay Devgan are amongst some famous faces who are active faces of social media awareness about COVID-19.

corona virus awareness - next big brand
Hugh Jackman singing a gentle song and asking fans to stay safe!
corona virus awareness - next big brand
Watch this short video of our Bollywood stars spreading awareness about COVID-19
While platforms might be different, but all of them have just one thing to say – Stay home, stay safe and act wisely!

social media awareness - next big brand
Virat & Anushka requesting to stay at home and maintain social distancing.
How Are Multinationals Contributing To Social Media Awareness About COVID-19?
Social media platforms have always been a sweet spot for companies to express and notify. How else can a company sitting in the US communicate its employees sitting in India that they have decided to shut down the vicinity for undisclosed time?

social media awareness - next big brand
UNICEF spreading awareness through its Twitter platform
When people are confused about what to do and what not to do during this chaotic time, Google launched the COVID-19 page which talks about safety tips, statistics and much more.

However, Google’s initiative towards social media awareness about coronavirus is only for the US people as of now. Realizing that people’s information needs expanding, the search engine is trying its best to spread awareness with valid facts and figures.

corona virus awareness - next big brand
Nike spreading awareness through Instagram.
A number of additional links that provide authoritative information from health authorities have also been added.

“The new format organizes the search results page to help people easily navigate information and resources, and wit will also make it possible to add more information over time as it becomes available.” – Emily Moxley – product manager at Google.

Then we have our favorite messaging app, WhatsApp who is much more hyperactive in terms of social media awareness. While the social media app has been criticized for spreading fake messages and news, this time WhatsApp has all the reasons to prove its messaging app as generous and engaging.

coona virus awareness - next big brand
OYO Rooms and it’s moment marketing!
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that citizens in the country can text a WhatsApp bot – MyGov Corona Helpdesk – to get instant authentic answers to their coronavirus queries like symptoms of the viral and how they could seek help.

The bot was built by Mumbai-based Haptik Technologies which is from the house of Reliance JIO acquisitions.

“The MyGov Corona Helpdesk has been engineered to fight rumors, educate the masses and bring a sense of calm to the current chaos-like situation. We are committed to assisting the government with all our possible strengths and resources and hope that this chatbot can help the government of India spread the right information across the nation.” – Aakri Vaish – Co-founder of Haptik. (Source)

Through this social media awareness program, Narendra Modi and WhatsApp are trying to reach out nation’s 1.3 billion citizens and communicate to stay at home as much as possible for the next few days to prevent any explosion of coronavirus case.

Let’s talk about a brand which is the perfect example to utilize social media platform for awareness, promotions, engagement and to stay in the memories of users. It’s Amul!

When a 73-year-old renowned brand talks about ‘staying safe’ and maintain social distancing, I guess it’s got to be pretty serious and worth noticing once. Here are some print ads rolled out by Amul with a hope to spread awareness among its consumer base through the internet and social media.

social media awareness - next big brand
Amul requesting not to panic. Supply and demand will be met.
social media awareness - next big brand
Amul’s initiative to maintain calm during COVID-19
social media awareness - next big brand
Amul is set and ready to make your dinner and breakfast deliciously delightful.
Are We Also Spreading Awareness?
Definitely yes! Don’t think that because you’re not a famous influencer you cannot spread awareness. I’m sure that while you are scrolling down Facebook and Instagram’s feed you are loaded with covid-19 updates, messages, tips and instructions from your friends, their friends and likewise.

While you can also be a voice on social media, always avoid spreading the wrong word and don’t encourage wrong things to get shares and views.

Here are some posts and stories of my contacts who are trying to spread awareness through their social media platform. Remember, we all belong to a community while the internet and social media act as a strong linkage between communities and people.

social media coronavirus - next big brand
A user spreading awareness on COVID-19
social media awarenss corona virus - next big brand
A user spreading awareness on COVID-19
social media awareness corona virus - next big brand
A user spreading awareness on COVID – 199
social media awareness corona virus - next big brand
A user spreading awareness on COVID-19
social media awareness corona virus - next big brand
A user spreading awareness on COVID-19
Summing Up:

Yes, covid-19 is a fast-spreading virus but it still can’t match the speed of the internet (and social media). If we can’t spread awareness or if we don’t have generous to contribute, let’s contribute by sharing valuable links and information which can be useful to calm the public during the chaotic time.

This was just a sneak-peak into how people, economies, and companies making people aware of coronavirus through social media. We hope to see the same level of activeness from our internet users.