In-depth: Fast-evolving tech has made communicating a tough task for brands

Appointment-driven viewership driven by over the top (OTT) media services such as Netflix is gradually snatching viewers from TV and online news publishing has millennials glued at the cost of newspapers.

Marketers are sensing this growing trend as the death knell for traditional advertising and are already focusing more on tech-based advertising platforms. Content marketing and content integration have become the key words for them.

But no matter how fast marketers move, they’re still having a tough time keeping up pace with the evolving technology. The crisis, however, is still some distance before it reaches the Indian shores. But with the falling attention span of users, traditional marketers are already struggling even if they are deploying machine learning and artificial intelligence.

How marketing evolved in digital age

For the longest time, the world of marketing revolved around the often quoted four Ps — Product, Price, Place and Promotion. But like everything else, technology is changing the game in marketing as well. With new media and new tools coming into play, are brands also basing their marketing strategies on these ever-emerging new trends and new technologies?

Kartik Sharma

Kartik Sharma, CEO, Wavemaker, South Asia, is of the view that technology is the force that is going to impact every aspect of business and marketing inevitably will also be influenced by new technological trends and tools.

Several new-age brands, being run millennials, are already giving legacy brands a run for their money through innovative advertising on social media and e-commerce platforms.

Experts say several new brands such as Nykaa, Voylla and Beardo among others have got much better connect with the young consumers than the legacy brands in their same categories.

Technology shaping the future of brand communication

A prime example of the impact that technology will have on how brands communicate with audience is the revolution that Jio has brought along with it, feels Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar.

Jio took the country by storm by making data affordable. It had a major role to play in the jump in video consumption in the country. Now, with the advent of Jio broadband on the horizon, Jasani believes yet another revolution is close at hand.

Shamsuddin Jasani

“If more people start subscribing to online streaming platforms like Netflix and Hotstar, that will propel the number of appointment viewership and when that happens, brands will need to get into content. Because of the way things are changing and advertising itself is evolving, brands will need to do a lot more of content integrations going forward,” said Jasani.

And content marketing or content integrations are taking the centre stage for many brands. More and more budgets are being allocated to this and marketers are also seeing the results.

On the other hand, tools such as machine learning and artificial intelligence are changing the game for marketers by making their ads more targeted and by allowing them to understand their audience in greater detail.

“Machine learning helps us understand who is buying our AC, whether they are first-time buyers or repeat buyers, does the customer have the potential to buy another AC, when is the customer likely to replace their AC, etc. In short, machine learning helps with the analytics and understand our customers better, which in turn helps us target them better,” said B Thiagarajan, Joint Managing Director, Blue Star Limited.

Thiagarajan also believes that the proliferation speed of technology varies and therefore and it becomes important to keep pace with what is happening in the space.

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