Designing '2015 Experiences': 5 experiential marketing takeaways from 2014
Experiential marketing experts highlight 5 key learnings from 2014 that set the ball rolling for amplified, collaborative and integrated experiential properties for 2015
Experiential marketing is about connecting consumers with brands through live face to face experiences, creating personal and relevant memories. With consumers being bombarded with traditional advertising, experiential marketing picked up really well in 2013 and 2014. exchange4media spoke to experiential marketing experts, who highlighted 5 takeaways for the year 2014 and expectations for 2015-
Brian Tellis, Chairman, Fountainhead Entertainment
1. Political, festival and the wedding sector are not areas that use to get into balance sheets of event management companies. But in the last one year, there has been a substantial change in that.
2. As far as corporate India is concerned, there was a general sentiment jump towards experiential marketing. This year, some of the brands seemed to increase their marketing spends towards experiential marketing substantially.
3. Whether it is for entertainment purpose or communication purpose, usage of technology played a major role in experiential marketing. Gone are the days when TV screens and projectors were used during events. Today everyone is moving towards LED screens. Social media was used to dress up and enhance the value of events which helped the experience to stay live and advanced.
4. Brands invested more and more on intellectual property events.
5. There was a serious resurgence in sporting intellectual properties. For instance the IPTL, Pro Kabbadi League, Football League, and others saw brands spending huge money.
Viraf Sarkari, Director, Wizcraft International Entertainment Private Limited
1. With a direct drive to sales there is going to be greater ROI pressures from clients and the measurement metrics have to be clearly defined at the start of campaigns to later be able to demonstrate success and this is even more so if there is to be no direct link to uplift of sales. This is also due to the nature of campaigns themselves, as they begin to get more and more integrated and as agencies we have to find a balance.
2. Clearly what follows is that activations must look to lengthen the conversations with consumers beyond just the event and wherever possible and relevant as marketing budgets are being scrutinized ever more tightly.
3. First mover advantage over gadgetry and digital, fun and completely original experiences coming as a mix of these will become increasingly the order of the day and we need to own them first. As an example RFID will soon become passé as low energy Bluetooth emerges.
4. Everyone is talking viral and video and as agencies we say it doesn’t work like that, there is no formula for that. But at the core of all viral are original experiential ideas and at the bottom of that is conviction. And it is increasingly taking all the heavyweights the agency can bring to the table to push ideas across with conviction. Therefore internally agencies need to develop client relationships even more deeply.
5. CSR is already big and will only become bigger, consumers are conflicted between consumerist impulses and the aspiration to do good and be good resulting in a form of guilt. As a result there is a growing hunger for the guilt free kind of consumption, one with less worry. A global study put these kinds of consumers at 2.5 billion (representing one third of the global consumer class). These consumers are defined by their love of shopping (78 per cent), desire for responsible consumption (92 per cent) and their trust in brands to act in the best interest of society (58 per cent). Today brands need to demonstrate their 'guilt-free' credentials and experiential is often the chosen medium to reach this goal.
Sameer Tobaccowala, CEO, Shobiz Experiential Communications
1. The call of duty extends much beyond the ordinary. This past year we’ve witnessed clients seeking much more beyond the regular scope of work. The need for an agency that can add value to a campaign with a 360 degree approach has now seemed to have become the benchmark – something we’ve anticipated and are primed and ready to deliver.
2. There’s always room to outdo and impress I’m sure this is a given, nonetheless a vital point to always bear in mind. And here’s where technology seems to be playing a large roll, in bringing today’s creative ideas to life, thus making brand experiences more tangible and experiential of course.
3. Partnerships truly matter at the end of the day at Shobiz, we take great pride in nurturing fruitful partnerships with some of the world’s leading brands – the likes of the ever evolving Tata Group for example. Year on year, it’s a privilege to support our trusted client base with their corporate advancements and milestones along the way.
4. Excited about new relations established. We’ve made some new friends along the way this past year as well. New clients who have shared a new found appreciation of our service, when it comes to brand creativity and on ground delivery. Seeing these new relationships through this year and on to the next seems very positive and promising.
5. New pool of talent results in new ideas 2014 saw a rise of many young faces in our organization who always tend to bring in a fresh sense of thought and direction. We firmly believe that people are the lifeline of our industry, and so this pool of talent constantly needs to be as lively and energized as ever for the best performance outcome.
Atul S Nath, MD, Candid Marketing
1. Business expertise is not built in the short term; it takes a long time to hone skills and develop an expert level of delivery. Many in the Activation and Experiential Marketing business are trying to layer on the digital and mobile expertise but most are failing and learning. It will take time.
2. If it’s on the magazine cover, it’s not an emerging trend, it’s already emerged.
3. Don't just follow the bhed-chaal, create a path for yourself in the experiential space and your brand will rake in the results.
4. Be Loyal to your agency, and your agency will be loyal to you. Works the other way too.
5. Brand-Activation Agency relationships need to and will climb to the next level, if given a chance from both sides.
Ankur Kalra, MD & CEO, Vibgyor Brand Services
2014 has been a great year for the experiential domain – event properties have been created, improvised upon and strengthened to create powerful experiences for customers. Activations have set new benchmarks and generated interest in consumers like never before.
1. Experiential properties are the way forward
We have seen just about every kind of event property being tried in the past year, some of them have succeed in the very first go while others are struggling to make a mark. However the writing on the wall is very clear – creating a strong intellectual property yields much better results in the longer run than creating one off event experiences. Properties have a life cycle of their own and can be customized, optimized and tweaked to suit consumer and brand preferences. Most have the potential of being turned into powerful brands themselves and influence consumer preferences, case in point being Sunburn and NH7 Weekender.
2. Experiences define events, not brands
Most of the old school experiential organizations have created events around client or brand requirements – this is something that is going through a massive rethinking process. Events are no longer about promoting a brand, that is just incidental. New-age experiential agencies have found interesting ways of integrating brand experiences into events as opposed to the earlier hard selling methods. Brands weave their way in through branded photo-opportunities, contests and live experiences which make the event more fun but are far from its mainstay.
3. Collaborations and Co-sponsorship
The marketplace is transforming from an era of generalists to now an era of specialists. Agencies, companies, creative hot shops are all choosing their domains of excellence and are delivering better value in those specific areas. It now makes sense to collaborate and bring specialists together to create powerful experiences. Various industry platforms such as EEMA have also helped in creating opportunities of different agencies and individuals teaming together to bring in unique combinations of talent together.
4. Looking beyond sponsorships
The experiential industry need not rely solely on brands to fund experiences and properties. Strategic planning and have cast the net wide to include ticket sales, digital, mobile, content/ intellectual property, F&B sales and various other opportunities which are now leveraged to reduce the dependence on just brands to fund properties.
5. Amplification is the Key
The amplification of an event is the game changer, when we are able to amplify experiences of those present through Social, Mobile, Radio, Television or any other medium that is when we can leverage 10X, 100X or 1000X value from it. Events which are not amplified properly are confined to the audience which is attending only which leads to a very high cost per contact and therefore low chances of monetization.
Expectations from 2015
1. Relevant Social Amplification
The Social media explosion has brought about an excess of information on all possible mediums. 2015 should bring about some rationalization in the amplification of messages on various media, brands, consumers; agencies would move towards targeted social media messaging and reduce the clutter caused by grabbing just any platform available.
2. Sharply Focused IPs (Both in the B2B as well as B2C space)
Experiential agencies have woken up the power of Intellectual properties but yet need to sharpen their focus on both the consumer as well as the brand front. Both in the B2B as well as B2C space properties will have to be created which cater to a distinct gap and are able to break the ice with a specific set of target audiences. These properties will have to be distinct, unique and should have the capability of providing exceptional value to the brands associated.
3. Collaborate and co-create
Great experiences are getting inclusive. Something that gets many people involved and working together is bound to attract more interest. The dynamics are simple– more people multiplies the conversation multi-fold. Crowd-funded campaigns, collaborative art installations, collaboration among artists, co-producing, co-creating – the trend of leaving a bit of you in something big, will be big this next season.
4. Consumers will be willing to pay for awesome experiences
It is easy to create an event and get a few hundred or thousand people to attend it – but unless consumers don’t find enough value in it they will not pay for it. This is a trend expected to be seen in 2015 wherein consumers start paying for experiences that they get in addition to the brands paying for them. The true test of a successful IP is that consumers themselves pay for it and demonstrate loyalty by attending again and again.
5. Accountability – ROI Focus
This has been the ‘bad word’ of our industry, often used and abused but the fact of the matter is that accountability is not an option anymore. Unless we are able to demonstrate a tangible way of calculating return on investment to the client we will not be able to get them to spend more on us. The industry will have to devise a way to calculate returns which are quantifiable and comparable. The client should be able to evaluate returns expected from Experiential Property A Vs Experiential property B basis the amount of money spent on them. 2015 should be the year where organisations can offer this matrix to clients.
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Social Beat wins SEO mandate of Tata CLiQ tag rss
The account was won after a multi-agency pitch
e4m e4m Social Beat has won the SEO mandate for Tata CLiQ, one of the fastest-growing omnichannel marketplace in India. Social Beat has been entrusted with optimizing existing content, as well as launching new, optimized category pages systematically on Tata CLiQ’s platform to scale monthly organic traffic by 2x over the next year. The account was won after a multi-agency pitch and will be serviced by Social Beat’s offices in Mumbai.
Shishir Kataria, Director - Marketing, Tata CLiQ, “Shoppers, e-commerce or otherwise, continue to heavily rely on search and discovery throughout their shopping journey, be it engaging with the latest fashion trends or hunting for the best buys. No wonder a platform's ability to be a part of this journey organically drives significant consideration for it amongst potential shoppers. We, at Tata Cliq, are confident that Social Beat will help us develop and optimise content that is highly discoverable to grow our engagement and revenue. Our goal continues to be to drive more and more shoppers to our platform with optimised and curated products and relevant content.”
Vikas Chawla, Co-Founder, Social Beat said, “We are thrilled to partner with Tata CLiQ in their growth journey. We aim to scale traffic to the Tata CLiQ platform manyfold over the next year. Our team of specialised SEO and Content strategists will be working closely to achieve this”
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ShareWill OOH dazzle this festive season?
As the celebrations begin, experts tell us the trends and challenges for the OOH sector this season
Be it the flower-clad taxis in Mumbai for Made in Heaven Season 2 promotion or Zomato’s ‘kheer mangoge kheer denge’ billboards, India's OOH advertising sector has undergone substantial transformation and expansion in the recent years. Even though the medium was severely hit during the pandemic years, it has now managed to rebuild its status. Now, with the onset of the festive season, elections and the cricket world cup, OOH is expected to see more and more advertisers come on board.
Amarjeet Hudda, Chief Operating Officer, Laqshya Media Group, believes most of the clients spend a lot of money during the festive season, especially for Durga Puja, Dussehra and Diwali, targeting their customers in a festive mood. The categories that spend heavily during these months are Auto, Consumer Durables, Real Estate, Organised retail, and E-commerce.
According to Dipankar Sanyal of Platinum Outdoor, there was a huge surge in the festive season last year, and he expects the same this year too. “Last four to five years have turbulent for outdoor. It was picking up in 2019, but then Covid came and everything went flat for two years,” he mentioned.
According to EY-FICCI’s M&E Report 2023, OOH media grew 86 percent in 2022 to Rs 37 billion. The value includes traditional, transit and digital media, but excludes untracked unorganised OOH media such as wall paintings, billboards, ambient media, storefronts, proxy advertising.
Sharing the brand’s perspective, Shivam Ranjan, Head of Marketing, Motorola-APAC, said, “We are going into this festive season with a strong mix of media, including OOH. Within OOH, we are focusing on digital OOH, due to its capability of programmatic serving, measurability, and near real-time insights that allow us to be agile with the communication and optimisation of our campaigns.”
With urbanisation, improved infrastructure, rising consumerism and an increased spending power, clients' expectations from OOH advertising too have evolved. “The clients expect better ROI on every investment, best in class innovations, tech-led planning and execution. Today, technology plays an important role starting from planning the campaign, to measuring metrics to ROI,” Singh explained.
Another trend that Sanyal has observed is that traditionally advertisers looked at spending on OOH nearly two weeks prior to the festivities, but now, most advertisers have now started advertising a week earlier so that they can get maximum eyeballs. Additionally, the digital OOH advertising (DOOH) has also emerged big. The digital OOH screens increased to around 100,000 and contributed eight percent of total segment revenues.
“Now with digital, there is more space for advertisers to come in one frame. Because of this, you can see it is getting more attractive. The innovations too are coming in at a much lower cost and creating a greater impact,” shared Sanyal.
The only challenge with the medium, according to Ranjan, is OOH being a fragmented industry with lack of measurability and agility. This becomes a serious issue for ROI-centric brands. However, the growth of DOOH, which is dynamic, agile and measurable, is giving marketers the confidence to invest in the medium backed by relevant data and outcomes.
Adding to this, Hudda highlighted that availability of good media spots is the biggest challenge in this season as media assets are limited and demand is very high. Due to the gap in the festive season, many clients are not able to fully optimise their campaigns. Rather sometimes, clients are even compelled to divert their budget which adversely impacts the industry, he shared.
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Banking on positive consumer sentiment: BFSI optimistic on doubling festive AdEx : Cache
Some categories within the sector, however, may spend more in the quarter that follows the festive season
The BFSI sector is expecting a surge in demand for loan during the festive season and is looking at increasing its ad spends to cash in on the celebration spirit. Industry leaders say they are hopeful of witnessing a good growth in the number of applications for auto loan, home loan, credit card and health insurance during October, November and December due to positive consumer sentiment this year. However, though most of the BFSI players are planning to double their advertising budget this time compared to the previous year, there are some who are not investing too heavily on marketing during the festivals as they plan to save the money for the fourth quarter.
According to Shailendra Singh, MD & CEO, BOB Financial, they witness incremental growth every year during the October-December quarter, and they anticipate an increase in consumer spending as well as new enrolments for cards this year too. “There remains a surge in customer demand for credit during the festive season,” said Singh.
Singh shared that the company is fully geared up for the launch of #FestiveShoppingRewards on all Bank of Baroda credit card variants under the theme ‘Reimagine Festivities’. They would kickstart festive offerings with the start of Navratri.
The festive season does not just see the demand for credit go up, but there is an increase in applications for health and motor insurance too during this time of the year.
Aabhinna Suresh Khare, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, BajajCapital Ltd, shared that among insurance products, health insurance and motor insurance reign supreme during festivals. According to Khare, the demand for mutual funds and SIPs too sees a hike.
“Overall, the festive season presents an opportune moment to secure insurance coverage. A plethora of attractive products and services are on offer, with financial institutions extending special discounts and promotions to entice new customers,” said Khare.
The company launched #BlessMeGanesha campaign during Ganesh Chaturthi. “Our goal for this festive season is not only to provide financial solutions but also to create memorable experiences and deepen the connection with our customers,” said Khare.
Though all major sectors spend heavily on advertising during the festive season, within the BFSI sector, some categories spend more in the quarter that follows the festive season.
Explaining the trend, Samir Sethi, Head of Brand Marketing, Policybazaar.com, said that the festive season has varying impacts on the BFSI sector. In the banking sector, for instance, the demand for loans surges as many individuals purchase items and undertake home renovations. Conversely, in the insurance category, the festive season doesn't result in significant changes. Instead, the insurance industry experiences its peak season after the festive period, particularly during the fourth quarter of the financial year.
“As the festive season approaches, there is a noticeable increase in car sales though, leading to a surge in the demand for motor insurance. Consequently, we see a significant uptick in the requests for motor insurance policies. During the festive period, there is an upswing in demand for various categories, such as electronics. However, in the insurance sector, this period doesn't significantly affect us, so we don't run specific campaigns targeting festivals. Nevertheless, we do roll out multiple campaigns throughout the year, and some of them may coincide with the festive season,” said Sethi.
According to the TAM AdEx report on BFSI sector across media for H1, the advertising volume of the sector grew on TV, radio and digital, but declined in the print medium. The report indicated that ad impressions on digital saw 91% rise during Jan-Jun '23 over Jan-Jun’22. The increase was 32% for radio and 4% for TV. The ad space of the BFSI sector decreased by 7% in print.
Speaking on media mix, Singh shared that BOB Financial has a good mix of customer segments belonging to Tier I, II and III. So, understanding their needs and preferred form of media channels, the company will reach out to them through relevant media promotions. “For the easy discovery of our offers, we shall have a dedicated offers page with regular promotion of top offers on our social media and other digital channels,” said Singh. Without disclosing the figure, Singh shared that the company’s promotion budget has surely increased from last year and it will be visible through their multi-channel promotional activities.
According to the TAM report, in the BFSI sector, life insurance is the leading category on TV and radio whereas mutual funds is the top category on digital.
Khare highlighted that in recent times, Bajaj Capital has observed a significant growth in audiences on online platforms and the changing preferences of their clientele. “This observation led us to recalibrate our marketing approach, placing a heightened emphasis on digital avenues,” said Khare.
He further added, “Our promotional efforts are primarily digital-focused, accentuating areas like social media engagement, search engine outreach, content-driven marketing, and targeted online advertising. As we approach the festive season, we've fine-tuned our online approach. By harnessing the insights from data analytics, we aim to grasp our clients' needs and inclinations better, ensuring our content is both tailored and pertinent.”
Khare also mentioned that Baja Capital has doubled its advertising budget compared to the previous year.
“This increase in our ad spend signifies our confidence in the opportunities this festive season presents. This impressive surge in our budget allocation underscores our dedication to maximizing the potential of this festive season and driving significant expansion within our business. We firmly believe that this increased investment in advertising will not only elevate our brand presence but also lead to an exceptional uptick in customer engagement and sales.”
For Policybazaar.com, the media strategy primarily involves a blend of television and digital platforms, an approach that has remained consistent in recent years and is expected to continue in the foreseeable future.
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OMD appoints Dileep Raj Singh as Head of Digital for APAC
Singh will report to Charlotte Lee, CEO of OMD APAC
OMD has added a Head of Digital (HOD) to its Asia Pacific (APAC) regional leadership team with the hiring of Dileep Raj Singh.
Singh is a digital native and brings with him a wealth of experience across product, media agency and client side in APAC, North America and the United Kingdom. His last 10 years have been spent building diverse digital marketing teams covering areas like performance marketing, digital media planning, ad/martech, product marketing, branding and measurement.
As HOD, he will accelerate OMD’s digital leadership agenda, rooted in helping clients address their business challenges and digital ambitions. He will be supporting OMD’s local teams in APAC on operational excellence, and digital transformation frameworks and roadmaps; and the development and implementation of our digital leadership agenda. He will also be working hand in hand with both our regional and global networks to initiate complementary workstreams for our clients in APAC.
“We will continue to invest and win in digital as part of our wider goal to be our clients’ most trusted business transformation partner,” said Charlotte Lee, CEO of OMD APAC.
“It is our global ambition to continue our leadership position in digital, data and technology. In line with this ambition, we are excited to have Singh come on board the OMD APAC leadership team. His background of agency, in-house and start-up experience position him perfectly to understand and address our clients’ business needs,” added Lee.
“Digital media and access to our audience, as we know it, is changing quite rapidly around us. This puts most of us in a delicate but remarkable position, a position from which we can shape and contribute to conversations about the next evolution of digital media. As we embark on this journey, I want to leverage the strength of the OMD network – people, technology, data, tools and platforms – to help our clients pivot and navigate through all the new and evolved possibilities in digital media. With this, I aim to position OMD as an unrivaled partner for our current and future clients; to dominate and succeed in this incredibly competitive and multifarious digital realm,” said Singh.
Singh will report to Lee, and work closely with the team including Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), David McCallen, and Chief Client Officer (CCO), Sadhan Mishra, to drive and support APAC local markets as well as regional clients on digital, data and technology needs.
Mishra was promoted to CCO of OMD APAC recently in June 2023. He will continue to be CEO of OMD Singapore, a position he was promoted into last August. Mishra has been with OMD for over 13 years and in his concurrent new role as CCO, he will focus on key client relationships, understanding their business needs and ensuring we remain a critical partner on their transformation journeys.
McCallen was elevated to the role of CSO of OMD APAC in April 2022, and was previously the CSO of OMD New Zealand for five years where he helped the agency to attain the top place in the market for new business, overall billings and award wins. Since starting in the APAC role, his focus has been on connecting and elevating strategic best practices across the region, building capabilities across a range of strategic outputs, and supporting new business growth both regionally and locally.
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Chandrayaan 3: Brands over the Moon
Some of the best moment marketing posts on India's crucial lunar mission
The nation is in a celebratory mood with its moon mission Chandrayaan 3 making its smooth landing on the lunar surface on the evening of August 23, 2023. The Pragyan rover is in pursuit of discovering water on the moon and is a vital feat for India's ambitious space research.
To celebrate this momentous episode in Indian space research history, netizens have taken to the internet to express their excitement, hopes and fears for the nation's lunar mission. Joining them are brands who have crafted creatives to mark the historic occasion and capture the emotions of the nation who have their eyes set on the moon. Here is our pick of some of the best Chandrayaan 3-moment marketing posts.
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BCCI rakes in Rs 4670 cr in Women's Premier League team auction: Jay Shah 26 Jan
WPL has broken the inaugural auction record of Men's IPL in 2008, tweeted Shah
As expected, Wednesday turned out to be another historic day in Indian women's cricket with BCCI having a windfall gain of Rs 4,600 crores by auctioning five team franchises for the first season, a higher sum compared to what men’s IPL franchises offered to the cricket body during the launch in 2008.
Adani, IndiaWin Sports, Royal Challengers, GSW- GMR cricket and Capri Global have won the bid, BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted.
Shah shared in a series of tweets, “Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid.”
“This marks the beginning of a revolution in women's cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity. The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women's cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder.”
“The @BCCI has named the league - Women's Premier League (WPL). Let the journey begin…”
The country's top corporates had bid aggressively for the league. Over 16 groups including IPL franchise owners, Adani group, Torrent and Haldiram were believed to be in the fray.
Given the popularity of IPL in India, the event is touted to be a big draw for all stakeholders involved.
The BCCI was reportedly expecting ₹4,000 crore gain through team auction.
It’s noteworthy that Viacom18 has won the Women's IPL media rights for Rs 951 crore for the next five years creating euphoria around the league whose first season will be held in March.
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