CMO VIEWPOINTS

Online is the way forward

TV is getting fragmented and print is used mainly for tactical reasons. The way forward for marketers is online, which is engaging and measurable at the same time

More than being experimental, marketers are using emerging mediums

Aneesh Khanna
Senior Vice President & Head, Marketing and Product Management, IDBI Federal Life Insurance

Advertising trends that emerged in 2011 While most life insurance brands communicate, using an emotional tone of voice to reach out to their target audience, we at IDBI Federal chose the tone of humour to communicate a rational differentiation. Online media was a game changer in the last year. Online advertising gave consumers 24/7 access to targeted brands, offers and discounts. Hence online medium today is utilised to reach out to target audiences to solicit and undertake business transactions, making it a far more effective and measureable medium. On media mix in 2011 and 2012 Over the past two-three years, we have been active in the television medium nationally, as it ensures reach across the length and breadth of the country. We also consider outdoor medium in select markets, to create an added impact.

On experimenting with new media More than experimental, marketers are conceptually utilising emerging mediums in media that have today shown effective reach and penetration to connect with the desired target groups. Although the new media, which largely consists of online medium still comprises of barely 10-15 per cent of the marketing budgets, it is growing fast. Financial products and services today are far more approachable with the help of online space, consciously developed by brands across the sector. More and more life insurers are making their products available online. Since, most products in the sector need solicitation to make an informed decision, the simpler term plans are gaining popularity in the online medium. On scope for innovation At IDBI Federal, we look at innovation differently, by ensuring that we gain higher

impact through any medium selected within the given budget. This is possible with innovative messaging and concepts that not only grab attention but also ensure lasting impression in the minds of the consumer. On advertising trends in 2012 Online advertising took significant leaps forward in 2011, and, riding a wave of technological advancements and savvy companies looking at not just clickthrough rates but actual visitor engagement, should continue to generate positive brand awareness in 2012. As smartphones and tablets became a part of our everyday lives, business owners conversations shifted from Why should I advertise on mobile or build a mobile website? to How do I get started?. Specific ad campaigns and mobile applications have been devised by marketers to scale up reach by engaging customers in their choice of focused medium. This shift will see a rise in the coming year based on improvised systems, products and technologies that marketers will use to build, serve and measure mobile ads. n

Online medium today is utilised not only to communicate but to reach out to target audiences to solicit and undertake business transactions
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Slowdown fear will continue for a while

Tarun Khanna
Head, Marketing, Fiat India

On advertising trends in 2011 Internet has in reality come of age in 2011. A lot of brands have actually increased their spends on the medium and it has in reality started to pick up. Many automobile brands have even had launches over internet. On media mix in 2011 and 2012 Currently, 80 per cent of our marketing budgets are focused on TV and Print. TV is very crucial for us, because it is a key medium to build the brand for. Print is

more for the tactical purposes. Internet is also an important medium for us also because our audience is very active on this platform. For a brand like us, we will be active on digital throughout the year, but we will not be active on TV the entire year, still the spends on TV wll be much higher than on internet. In 2012, our spends on internet will grow significantly. We expect our internet spends togrow up by 50 per cent if not 100 per cent in 2012.

On advertising trends in 2012 As far as media spends are concerned, it will get more and more targeted. Markets are evolving a lot and advertising will vary a lot from market to market. Slowdown fear will continue for a while. Internet will get really big in 2012. A lot of brands are using internet now for the sake of being there but it will become more important to have the right digital strategy in place in terms of what internet does to your brand. n

The pressure would be to engage consumers more and more

Sameer Suneja
Managing Director,PerfettiVan Melle

On advertising trends in 2011 There has been lot of confusion between marketers and media owners on the social media front. More companies are becoming aware about the importance of internet media but they are still not sure about how to utilize the medium for the benefit of the brand. On marketing budget in 2011 We spent about 10 per cent of our revenues on advertising in 2011. Percentage wise it was the same in as 2010, but obviously

since the revenues in 2011 were higher so were the ad spends in absolute terms. On media mix in 2011 and 2012 I dont think there is too much change in the media mix for the FMCG sector. I do think that more people are ready to use radio a little bit more than they used to earlier. We are still largely driven by television about 90 per cent of the total ad spends. But we have started to focus more on the internet and radio. In the coming few years we will slowly evolve

with more spends on radio and internet. On advertising trends in 2012 Looking at the way media is consumed now, the pressure from the marketers end will be to engage consumers more and more on each platform, yet at an affordable cost and in an impactful way. A lot of going back to table will happen. In the last two years, marketing has been stuck to the formula like this much of TV and Print and then a bit of Radio and Outdoor. That style of thinking is going to change in this year. n

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CMO VIEWPOINTS

There will be more focus on emerging media such as mobile

Shefali Chhachhi
Director, Marketing, Max Bupa

On advertising trends in 2011 Biggest online ad spenders were the travel, BFSI, auto and telecom sectors. FMCG sector, a large advertiser on traditional media platforms, is only now increasing spending on online advertising. Low media penetration particularly across SEC B, C and D segments offers significant headroom for growth. Discretionary spends are expected to grow and entertainment and leisure platforms are likely to become beneficiaries of this trend. As metros and tier 1 markets near saturation, media companies are looking to penetrate the tier 2 - tier 3 towns and rural markets. For e.g. multiplexes have expanded across tier 2 towns, while DTH players have helped achieve greater C&S penetration across rural India. On marketing budget in 2011 The year 2010 was our year of launch, so our marketing spends were higher. In 2011 our spends were in line with our business plan. Last year, our focus was on TV, radio and outdoors followed by print. On media mix in 2011 and 2012 We have always followed a 360-degree integrated marketing approach. During our launch phase, the focus was more on ATL. Going forward we will increase the share of BTL in our overall marketing mix.

On experimenting with new media With increasing mobile and internet penetration, these are emerging as more efficient and impactful media for reaching consumers. More and more people are accessing information on the go and these mediums provide ample room for innovation. So yes new media like online and mobile advertising are attracting attention of many marketers. We have recently introduced our mobile heath application HealthFirst to help our customers health information on the go. This application enables our customers to access information on hospitals or emergency numbers, at their fingertips. Last year, we launched a new health website to support the health promise movement www.YourHealthFirst.in. The website gives people actionable tips, health advice, health information which would enable them to keep their promise and seek any help if need be. Over 50, 000 people across India have taken a health promise so far. On scope for innovations If you have a big marketing idea, any medium can be used to innovate. For one on one conversations and quick optimization social media is a powerful tool. Radio is a very flexible medium which is very effective for direct and tactical messaging. It also helps in building brand salience and is a cost efficient medium for advertising

in smaller towns. At Max Bupa, we follow an integrated marketing approach. Marketing budget in 2012 In 2011, we focused more on tactical and BTL routes to expand our reach and this will continue in 2012. On advertising trends in 2012 Advertising efforts will reflect the marketing task. The health insurance category calls for customer education as the awareness levels are low. Hence, most of the players will focus on building category awareness. At Max Bupa, we will maintain a balance in building brand and category awareness. Social media become the key influencer. In India, social medial reaches 84 per cent of the online user base. Emerging gaming platforms and innovative technological devices such as tablets will further pave the way for growth of social media. DTH is already witnessing high growth and will continue to grow as DTH bundles the power of TV, Print, Direct Marketing bundled into a single platform. There will be more focus on Emerging Media such as Mobile. This is because of the following reasons: 750+ million mobile users in India; Easier & cheaper access to Mobile Internet; India is the second largest mobile internet market in the world; and Rise of Apps & App Stores However, traditional mediums like Print and Television will continue to drive advertising revenues. Print is expected to be the largest contributor to the overall advertising revenues closely followed by television through 2015. n

The health insurance category calls for customer education as the awareness levels are low. Hence, most of the players will focus on building category awareness
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We have doubled our digital spends as compared to 2010

Lutz Kothe
Head, Marketing & PR, Volkswagen

On advertising trends in 2011 The digital media has emerged as a success story for the year 2011, however advertisement volume continues to be driven by the television medium with double digit growth witnessed. The World Cup and the IPL 4 have been the key growth drivers for advertising and viewership. We expect a similar trend to continue in the current year as well wherein the digital media will receive more focus while television and print will continue to have the higher pie of overall spends. On media mix in 2011 and 2012 Print and TV has been the lead media with print contributing 34 per cent and TV 42 per cent of our overall spends in 2011. As for the digital media we have doubled our spends as compared to 2010, currently contributing eight per cent of overall spends. In 2012, we focus will be on digital media, while we continue to be present on print and television too. On experimenting with new media Participation in the new media has definitely increased e.g. we ran the worlds largest Twitter campaign during the launch phase of the new Jetta mid of last year. Following this, we launched Planet Volkswagen an interactive portal that opens up twhe world of Volkswagen not only for customers but also to anyone who loves cars and especiallychildren. It is a known fact that new media is growing at a very fast pace. In September 2011 as per IMRB report the claimed number of internet users in India stood

at 112 million. Off this about 71 per cent of users in urban cities were social media users what better media than a twitter campaign for a carline like the Jetta. Similarly, Planet Volkswagen has been established to connect, educate and create interest in the brand with this large audience an audience without the bar-

rier of time and distance. On scope for innovations Though we at Volkswagen have been delving mainly in print innovations, a well thought out innovation without losing the key communication objective can work very well in any other media as well. n

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Name and address of individuals who own the Publication and partners or shareholders holding more than one percent of the total capital: Owner: M/S Adsert Web Solutions Pvt. Ltd. B-20, Sector-57, NOIDA 201301, UP. Shareholders Holding More Than One Percent of the total Capital of the owner Company: 1. Mr Anurag Batra, R-282, GK-I, New Delhi - 110 048 2. Mr Nawal Ahuja, C-2/2533, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110 070 3. Mr Amit Agnihotri, 505, Plam Grove Appartments, Sector-50, Noida, UP 4. Mr Shushil Pandit, 1A/49, Ashok Vihar, Phase-I, New Delhi-110 052 5. Ms Mona Jain, E-159, GK-III, Masjid Moth, New Delhi-110 048 6. Hive Communications Pvt. Ltd, 1, Nizamuddin East, New Delhi-110 014 I, Anurag Batra, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. Sd Anurag Batra

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CMO VIEWPOINTS

TV as a lead medium has become very fragmented

Harneet Singh Rajpal
Vice President, Marketing, Dominos Pizza India

On advertising trends in 2011 TV as a lead medium has become very fragmented. So the TVRs that we used to get are not there anymore. From that perspective doing an effective media planning and achieve the target reach is becoming more and more difficult due to the fragmentation of the medium. Also, consumers are spoilt for choice today, with so many programmes and so many channels. So, then it becomes the case of how right you get the mix of genres. Second big thing that we have noticed is the advent of the digital medium. No marketer can ignore the digital medium now. Unfortunately there are not many agencies that have depth of knowledge, which can help us on digital marketing. So there are a lot of trials and experimentation happening and experimentation is not always efficient. So a lot of money goes but it does not go in a scientific and efficient way. So, right now, that medium is kind of flux. While you try to work with the best in the industry, they also have limited knowledge due to the medium being new. Another trend is that, mobile has started to take a lot of consumer mind space. With the coming of smart phones, people are spending very less time on TV. So, firstly there is a fragmentation hap-

Fragmentation of consumer mind space is another challenge due to the presence of so many media channels
pening on TV, secondly there is a drop in the viewership. So, that makes the task of reaching the consumer much tougher. So fragmentation of consumer mind space is another challenge due to the presence of so many media channels. As a marketer, you have to be present where the consumer is. So, it becomes more and more difficult to track consumers and decide the strategy that should be taken. Mobile is another new medium but again, the knowledge of the medium in people driving this industry is very limited. Most of them are trying to follow what global trends are. But what happens globally does not happen in India. Indians have a unique way of understanding and digesting media. The leaders of the media will have to decide the way of going forward. Last are the social networks. Social sites like Facebook have become really big. But I would see this as a two-edged sword. I love this medium because I am in touch with my consumers. But it is equally risky because, if something goes wrong, it spreads like wild fire. But the good part of the medium is that it always keeps you on your toes. You know that people are always watching you. So you have to be careful about the product you are providing, the services you are providing, about the interactions you are having. On advertising trends in 2012 Social media is going to be big, digital marketing is going to be big. TV will remain the lead medium, however the format might change, consumption might change- instead of consuming it through the idiot box that you have at home you will start consuming it on your laptops and desktops. Marketing budget for 2011 4-5 per cent of our revenue. Its been in this range for the past 2-3 years. Media mix in 2011 and 2012 This financial year, for the first time, we have started investing in digital marketing. Till last year we were only using TV as a lean medium and tactically we were using radio and outdoor. So this year a large chunk of our marketing budget is going into digital marketing.

No marketer can ignore the digital medium now. Unfortunately, there are not many agencies that have indepth of knowledge of digital
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