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IAA Retrospect: Venkatesh Kini shares mantras for brands to remain relevant in a complex, 'social' world

The President, India & South West Asia of Coca-Cola, in a delightful presentation, showed why it is important to create simple yet provocative conversations to engage the attention-deficit consumers

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IAA Retrospect: Venkatesh Kini shares mantras for brands to remain relevant in a complex, 'social' world

IAA Retrospect: Venkatesh Kini shares mantras for brands to remain relevant in a complex, 'social' world

The President, India & South West Asia of Coca-Cola, in a delightful presentation, showed why it is important to create simple yet provocative conversations to engage the attention-deficit consumers

Shanta Saikia | Delhi | March 13, 2015

(Left) Srinivasan K Swamy and Venkatesh Kini (Right) (Left) Srinivasan K Swamy and Venkatesh Kini (Right)

In the changing dynamics of today's world, social is the new reality. Brand communication today needs to reflect the power of a story well told and appeal to a higher purpose, yet it still should be about emotions.

Speaking at the annual IAA Retrospect & Prospects in Gurgaon on Thursday, March 12, 2015, Venkatesh Kini, President, India & South West Asia, Coca-Cola, threw light on the key shifts that have taken place in brand communication. The annual review was hosted by the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) and presented by Colors.

Commencing the evening's proceedings, Srinivasan K Swamy, President, IAA India Chapter & Vice-President - Development, Asia Pacific, noted that IAA was the only body that focussed on all three verticals – ad agencies, media bodies and advertisers' body.

He also pointed out that the India Chapter of IAA was observing its Silver Jubilee in 2015 and mentioned three major events lined up in the coming months: the Olive Crown Awards on March 27, the IAA Leadership Awards on April 18, and the IAA Silver Jubilee Summit in August.

Kini began his presentation by promising to “reveal the secret Coca-Cola recipe” and for the briefest of seconds, a complex scribble of formulae did flash on the screen, but before anyone could grasp it, the screen went blank! He then went on to throw light on how the way people are consuming information is evolving.

Consumers remained the centre of every communication and understanding consumers as well as consumer trends had kept Brand Coca Cola relevant over 128 years, Kini said. He noted that while earlier many people accessed one screen, today one person accessed many screens.

It is not the fragmentation of media, but the fragmentation and shortening of attention span of people. And in such a world, the biggest shift that has happened is moving away from communication to conversations. Kini further said that the concept of target audience is gone and today, every consumer has a global audience. Today, marketing is about creating brand experiences that appeal to the target audience.

New rules of consumer engagement have emerged, where stories are started and spread with or without the communication agencies. “Today, a teenager with a smartphone can create ads,” Kini remarked.

In such a changing world, Kini had six mantras that brands need to follow in order to adapt and remain relevant to consumers.

Be share-worthy: The first mantra is to be provocative, for which brands will have to take a few chances. He cited the initiative that Coke undertook to build a stronger bond between India and Pakistan. As part of this initiative, coke vending machines were set up in Delhi's Saket area and in Lahore, Pakistan. A screen set up in these vending machines enabled people in the two cities to not just see each other, but also touch a special area on the screen that had scanners. Kini pointed out that no money was spent to advertise this initiative, but the campaign went viral through the people.

Be simple: “If you can't grab someone's attention in five seconds then you have lost them,” said Kini. In today's attention deficit world, it is necessary to keep the communication simple and short. If you cannot describe what yu are trying to do in a hashtag, then you are not simple enough.

Be disruptive: There is need to look beyond the usual platforms to engage the youth. Kini cited the example of how Coca Cola “provoked happiness” through music via Coke Studio. Today, Coke Studio has become a youth brand in itself, thus taking forward the Coca Cola brand legacy.

Be constructively discontent: Kini stressed on the need to be contemporary, what had worked earlier, may no longer be relevant. However, at the same time the change should be so radical as to create a disconnect with the brand. He pointed out that the Coca Cola logo, colour and even the shape of the bottle had not been reinvented over time. But the communication has changed over the years. To demonstrate his point, Kini cited the example of the original Hilltop global Coke campaign that was released in 1972, which showed people from diverse cultures consuming Coke, thus promoting unity. In order to contemporise this campaign, Coke partnered with Google to connect the world through technology. As part of this campaign, people could gift a Coke to anyone across the world via an email. Special vending machines then dispensed the Coke and the recipient could send “thank you” messages to the person gifting the Coke.

Be collaborative: In order to get the brand communication across, there is need for brands to work together with different platforms. According to Kini, there are four forms of media – Owned media, Earned Media, Shared Media, and Paid Media.

For Coca-Cola, the ad spends are in the ratio of 70:20:10, where 70 per cent of the ad spend is demarcated for measured media, while 20 per cent of the spends is on new media, such as social media. Ten per cent of the spends is for disruptive initiatives.

Be with a purpose: “Brands will do well by doing good,” noted Kini, who stressed on the need for brands to have a higher purpose in order to connect better with the consumers. “Twenty-first century branding is about creating a better world,” he added. He spoke about Coke's 'Support My School' initiative, wherein schools across the country are provided with better amenities.

Summing up his presentation, Kini remarked that the world was becoming more complex, where brands needed to be part of a network. There is no way of telling what the changes will be.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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