ad:tech New Delhi 2012: Taking advantage of real-time marketing

Shiv Singh of Pepsico, Arvind Rajan of LinkedIn and Gian Falgoni of comScore highlight the power of digital and social media for consumer engagement

Ananya Saha | Delhi | February 24, 2012

For the second year in a row, the capital is playing host to the world's No. 1 digital marketing event, ad:tech New Delhi 2012, which kick-started today on a high note amidst halls and exhibition area packed to capacity with leading digital experts from India and 15 other countries.

The conference is featuring 18 panel discussions and presentations, 14 workshops, over 70 hottest digital media companies, and seven keynote sessions.

Welcoming the delegates, Rammohan Sundaram, Event Chairman and Founder, CEO & Managing Director, Networkplay Media, said, “We promised to make this second edition of ad:tech in India bigger, better and bolder, and I'm excited to see such a huge turnout this year which is set to surpass our footfalls during the last ad:tech. All this would not have been possible without your undying faith in the power of the digital, whose time has arrived. This packed hall full of delegates, speakers and partners from so many different parts of the world, bringing in vast knowledge and experience, seems to have turned Delhi into the digital capital of the world!”

Shiv Singh, Global Head of Digital, PepsiCo, opened the two-day ad:tech 2012 conference with his keynote address in which he stated that in today's connected world, it is not a question of gaining GRPs anymore, but of ensuring GRPEs (Gross Rating Point + Engagement).

Listing out five planks to boost consumer engagement, Singh said, “In today's connected world, it is important that brands engage with consumers through real-time marketing; ensuring connectedness in real-time; embracing start-up culture; going deep on location and mobile marketing; and transforming measurement.”

He also highlighted the dark side of real-time marketing that includes social data, trend data, digital ad data, interaction data, CRM data and advocacy data. Apart from focusing on location to reach the target audience in real-time, and leverage new forms of research, Singh said brands “need to weave social media through everything they do”, like building campaigns and platforms around them.

Arvind Rajan, Managing Director and Vice-President, Asia Pacific and Japan, LinkedIn, spoke about how data-driven networks enhance brand engagement.

Gian Fulgoni, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, comScore, gave an overview of the current digital landscape in India. He highlighted how the digital world is expanding rapidly on two measures: by addition of new users and/or by growth in the time spent by original users.

He said, "If you are a brand, build as many fans as you can since it is easier to blow out brands' reach through friends of existing fans." His presentation on website visitation among exposed fans and friends of fans on Facebook versus average Internet user weighed largely in favour of brands which used a “friends and fans” strategy.

Fulgoni also advised brands against putting any communication on a brand's fan page because "once the consumer 'likes' your page, they hardly revisit it. Marketers should reach out to fans via 'newsfeed'."

On online advertising, he said, "Social networking is a key driver of PC and mobile activity, thus, cannibalising many other activities. Online advertising is effective, both as a direct response and branding strategy."

"Ad-effectiveness needs to be measured 'beyond the click. Facebook represents  an efficient way to amplify reach and trusted persuasion; accurate measurement of the delivery against media plan is critical," he concluded.

Ad:tech, now in its second edition, boasts of being the number one digital marketing, media and advertising event.

Ananya@BestMediaInfo.com

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