Mumbai: Today, the influencer is the agency, writer, producer, editor and publisher; all wrapped into one. We seek to learn from our traditional counterparts and are going to keep earning their relevance in the coming future. What does the future of the business really look like? Is the influencer a moot point of concern, or the disruption is real. Also how are traditional players innovatively using influencers to add firepower to their campaigns. Over to the star players.
The session began where moderator Group M business head- entertainment Vinit Karnik asked Havas Group India Group CEO Rana Barua about the changes in the advertising stand of point be it digital or social media to which he responded, “From the Indian point of view there are dramatic changes that is happening and we can see the cultural changes in all sorts of medium. Consumers are getting definitely more powerful in the kind of content they want to see. That’s one phenomenal change which is happening.”
VMLY&R India CEO Saurabh Saksena shared his viewpoint regarding the changes in advertising, “While it is great to talk on changes that are happening, there are some things that are remaining constant as well i.e the need to be creative. I am not talking about creative expression but the need for platforms to be creative, be it radio, advertising. Consumers have a lot of power, there is a penalty if we dont respect their time. So yes, a lot has changed and a lot has remained constant and there is more pressure today for advertisers to value the consumer's time.”
Quotient Ventures CEO co-founder & group Gangs T Gangadhar shared his thoughts on the topic, “ As long as there is need for building brands and businesses, there will always be a great need for advertising. You need to be interesting and inspiring so as to gain consumer’s attention.
Optimal Media Solutions (Times Group) COO Rohit Gopakumar commented on the future of print medium, “Looking at what we are going through right now in the future for us, we realised that print in smaller towns is actually growing and my vernacular brands are launching new editions where today most of the print is shutting down. I think we have an opportunity to try to pick up local to local.”
Leo Burnett CEO South Asia & chairman BBH India Dheeraj Sinha was quite optimistic regarding this topic and said, “ I feel it's the best time to be in the advertising business because when I was born in this business the only thing we could play along with is words and images. But today we play with technology, you could be devising a product or a solution. And that's what makes today’s world exciting.”
Reliance Broadcast Network ( BIGFM) CEO Abe Thomas said, “There are two clear trends that are happening. First, clients are now looking for solutions. Secondly clients are shifting to business outcomes. This is becoming a sizable revenue strain for us on this platform.”