Digital will gain prominence at the cost of traditional mediums, says Prasun Kumar of Magicbricks

There's likely to be a fundamental shift in Indian advertising in the year 2021, says Prasun Kumar, Chief Marketing Officer, Magicbricks. He said not only more monies will move to digital, there will also be significant progress in terms of technology, which will change the overall consumer experience. 

"Brands will invest in creating newer experiences by using available and emerging techs such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and video-enabled engagements. Storytelling will also get strengthened," he told BestMediaInfo.com. 

Kumar said digital will gain prominence but it may come at the cost of some traditional mediums. 

“More categories and brands would allocate higher dollars to digital media, including performance, social and display. This would mean digital taking a higher share of the wallet and it will be at the expense of some traditional mediums," he said. 

Talking about overall adex growth, Kumar said, "Advertising spends should bounce back to pre-Covid levels by the first quarter of next fiscal year as more and more categories and brands start driving their growth agenda."

Kumar said the pandemic made consumers more cautious when it comes to spending and brands have to look at innovative methods to get them back. "Post the pandemic, consumers are likely to be more cautious and will respond to new stimuli, including brands using storytelling to drive empathy and preference," he said.

Talking about how the role of agencies would change in the coming year, Kumar said, "Agencies will have to re-orient themselves to deliver on-demand, low cost, digital-oriented content more and more. The era of twice a year TVC production is over and brands would want to work with partners who bring in good understanding and execution capabilities in the digital domain. Producing a 15-second video for Facebook will overtake the 30-second TVC production norm.” 

Magicbricks to strengthen advertising efforts 

Magicbricks is planning to enhance its marketing budget for next year as it aims to get back on the growth trajectory. 

“The growth agenda that was put on the backburner in 2020 should be back on the table next year. Factors that would help drive these would be deeper digital penetration and usage, changed consumer behaviour towards property investments, availability of cheaper credit, increased supply of ready inventory and new launches,” he added.

“The category is likely to continue its growth and revival momentum. Real estate is one of the largest contributors to GDP and is vital for the macro-economic revival of the country. Hence, enough and more policy efforts are likely to continue to help it grow. With RERA and other efforts, consumer confidence is coming back and that is likely to spur demand," he said. 

Kumar said the industry will witness a rebound in the next year. 

"The residential property market is likely to fare better and be the growth engine of the category. The commercial market will also likely start rebounding on the back of expansion of economic activities,” he said.   

Talking about the learning from the pandemic, as a marketer, Kumar said martech has started becoming more important now. 

“It is well learned that to mitigate any future disruption, one has to rely more on predictable and nimble marketing operations driven by technology. Therefore, in the coming year and beyond, adoption of technology in marketing processes would definitely be one of the key agendas. Technology will be the biggest asset a marketer would have at her disposal. The rapid pace of change would mean developing an ability to keep abreast and respond quicker to the changes. Martech will have to enable all this and marketing professionals will have to reorient themselves accordingly and fast,” he added.  

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