Saurav Chakraborty , Associate General Manager, Digital Direction

Online advertising, which has seen a year-on-year growth of around 21% over the last five years, is arguably the most cost-effective way to reach audiences in India, particularly the urban youngster and more affluent population. Users have maintained their time spent on the internet over the last year, and growth is especially pronounced on social networking sites — where Google’s Orkut and Facebook are among the
market leaders to complement use of email, search and portals.
 
2009 was the time when the slowdown was huge, and the obvious signs were when “Measurability factor” of Digital was used by brands as a way to achieve “Leads” and “Acquisitions”. It is fine for an established brand like ICICI or a Citibank to generate leads via Digital, but not for a new brand as they have to establish awareness first. Thankfully, the trend is changing in 2010 and we are seeing more brand campaigns happening on Digital medium.
 
My movement from Mainline Advertising to Digital in 2005 had made lot of skepticism among friends and well wishers because that time Digital was an on/off medium for clients. I stuck to my decision though and looking at the growth of Digital Media in the last 3 years, I don’t regret my decision a bit. According to MAGNA global advertising forecast report 2009-10 Online advertising is expected to account for Rs 1,800 crore in revenues by 2015. With its low costs, costs per action (CPA) models have ushered in the use of ad networks in internet advertising. By this speed in five years, Digital will become a prime medium, because of “Growing Internet Penetration”, “The Social Media Rage” and “Mobile Browsing”. By that time I would like to be at a position where I can provide standalone solutions to brands that can use the Digital Medium to reach to their audiences in an Innovative and Engaging manner.
 
Brand building in Digital world requires planning at speed of convergence. The Changing Consumer who’s multitasking more than ever and has a plethora of options available when it comes to brands. Thus one has to approach this new animal with “Unique Value Proposition” in order to engage and entice him. One of the ways to brave this situation is to suggest BIP oriented plans – Branding, Innovations and Performance. A successful Digital Plan needs a mix of Home Pages(For Impact),Inside Pages(for Cost Efficiency) and Ad Networks(Google and others on a Cost Per Click Basis) to create the right balance. It is not sufficient anymore to evaluate campaigns on the basis of clicks only, but also in terms “Time Spend on Microsite” , “Bounce Rate” , “Visitor Loyalty” etc. We at Digital Direction have been providing such info to clients and that keeps them satiated. We have to go beyond Print and TV and break the shackles of general conventional thoughts. The audience of today is more MOBILE than ever. Catch him/her in the car(through radio) , in malls(through BTL) , at office(through portals) , at leisure (through Social Media). Basically catch them when they look for info and not vice versa.