Guest Column: Conventional advertising not as diffusive, disruptive, and decisive as digital advertising: Nitin Gupta, Xapads Media

Businesses that confine themselves in small social shells hardly enthral their prospects with innovative products and services. Because people don’t like reserved and introvert brands, they respond to brands that communicate with them again and again. Marketers who are aware of this rationale make every possible effort to make their presence felt in the biosphere of their target audience. And the smartest are those who chose the communication medium as per the choice of their prospects.

Today, even a naïve marketer is familiar with the fact that none of the conventional advertising formats are as diffusive, disruptive, and decisive as digital advertising. Indians are smart to emulate technological revolutions, and in digital advertising too, they are among the forerunners. Being the centre of mass in BRICS nations, India has to create successful examples in the field of trade and commerce, and no doubt, advertising is the most powerful catalyst for business growth.

The Arrival of Smart Age

After independence, the Indian ad industry has progressed from being miniature to a full-fledged large-scale industry, and now it is the second fastest in Asia, after China. While small businesses are avid to transform their functionalities and working approaches by joining the current digital revolution, the pioneers are already celebrating the change. The duo of 0 and 1 has accelerated the pace of advertising to newer heights, and this growth is not going to take any rest. According to a combined study by CII and KPMG, India’s digital advertising industry is growing at 33.5 per cent (CAGR) and by 2020, its value will surpass the Rs 255 billion (Rs 25,500 crore) mark. Soon, this transition phase will be over, and the industry will reach towards the growth stage. That will be the time when the impact of digitization would be rather noticeable in the country’s economy, but at this inception stage, experts believe that the share of this sector in India’s GDP will remain around 0.50 per cent in the next two fiscals.

A Speedier Transition

It is not only the internet or Social Media that is fuelling the growth of digital advertising; there are multitude transformers that are empowering the vertical. Though content has been always the prime force of advertising, after the advent of digital media, it has become the soul of advertising. Beyond jingles and copies, content plays a versatile role in social media channels, networking sites, blogs, and mobile apps. Furthermore, the induction of programmatic advertising and digital wearables, developments in the world of advertising are quite unprecedented and thriving in the last couple of years. But the most commendable factor in the growth of digital advertising is none other than the rising interaction between the marketer and its audience. Now, a brand can more easily anticipate the needs and wants of potential customers and they too are quick to share their feedback on Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Google Plus, and thousands of other digital channels.

Factors of Influence

Demonetization has slowed down the country and the digital ad industry, however, mobile continued to excel and enhanced the game to a greater extent with good customer experiences and profitable results. The smart device, highly engaging content, and 4G internet will further lure the consumers in the coming years. Despite automation, the digital marketer will be solely responsible to deliver better experiences to the consumer using multiple channels. The agencies, advertisers, or publishers will be served if they’re able to ride on a nascent technology, predictive marketing, and data wave for creating the analytical model.

Presence of Conventional Media

In the conventional advertising landscape of the country, newspapers and magazines are gradually losing their charm, but television continues to acquire the top position with an annual growth rate of around 10 per cent. Though radio is far behind than television in terms of revenue, it is also growing at the same rate (10 per cent), whereas, cinema ads are likely to grow at 20 per cent or higher. It is the financial sector that invests most in advertising in India, thanks to lenient RBI policies, which could leverage a favorable business environment in the sector.

The Rationale of Growth

Digital advertising in India has reached the USD 1 billion (Rs 100 crore) mark in FY 2016-17 and is likely to grow at an average of 14 per cent annually. TV and print media contribute to a large extent while digital media stands around 12 per cent of the overall ad share, but it is expected to grow up to 24 per cent by 2020. The reason for such immense growth will be a shift from man-made to automated mediums owing to greater efficiency, reliability, and benefits of precise targeting. There is a wide scope of growth, especially when one looks at the rising smartphone penetration, projected to boost by up to 800 million over the next half decade. Robotics and AI (artificial intelligence) would make things even better for the industry. The ad space has evolved around tech giant based six verticals: social, desktop, video, mobile, native, and programmatic.

Policies Matter

In order to get benefits from the present technological scenario, the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre recently started the Digital India campaign with full enthusiasm. Under the Digital India programme, the government proactively supports the digital advertising industry, and positive sentiments have been inculcated in the minds of young entrepreneurs to harness digital technology for sustainable and inclusive growth.

(The author is Founder and CEO of Xapads Media)

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com

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