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The consumer is not e-moron

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Pratima Harigunani
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Pratima H

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NEW DELHI, INDIA: Advertising genius David Ogilvy has left us many wise secrets and ridiculously true insights about wooing the evasive word - customer. The veteran and pioneer of many breakthroughs and concepts once remarked - If you want to be a good copy-writer, spend two years on direct response.

While many of his ideas and philosophies were often shrugged away as too-ahead-of-their-time; he was evidently one really early bird to think seriously about the real impact of a digital marketing strategy.

On the other hand, marketing wizards have always wondered the moot question aloud and in lonely agony alike "I know one half of my advertising goes waste. The problem is I do not know which half."

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Interestingly, this ‘half' is a figure that sometimes becomes ‘three-fourths' and at times, even ‘ninety-nine per cent'.

Now picture how the technology industry has seen a swell of digital marketing euphoria, skepticism and anticipation; all together, influencing the way products are sold, talked about and even consumed. Hopes have erupted time and again expecting highly from the digital zeitgeist to change the ‘half' to ‘one-fourth' and if not that, then at least scoping out the ancient ‘which half goes waste?' question.

Incidentally, Gartner in a report sometime back, highlighted that twelve years ago technology spending outside of IT was 20 per cent of total technology spending; but it will become almost 90 per cent by the end of the decade, and much of this change is being driven by the digitization of companies' revenue and their services.

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Organizations, it underlined; are digitizing segments of business, such as moving marketing spend from analog to digital, or digitizing the research and development budget. Not only that, organizations are digitizing how they service their clients, in order to drive higher client retention while they also attempt to turn digitization into new revenue streams. Is that why Gartner also predicts that by 2015, 25 per cent of organizations will have a Chief Digital Officer.

That would be something to watch. But meanwhile, a lot of issues flank this new strategic needle, and quite eerily, they keep reminding us of another Ogilvism "The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife."

Let's see if someone; who has been juggling many colourful digital Rubik squares with his marketing métier so far; can help us in deciphering this space a little better?

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A conversation with Kalpit Jain,Chief Operating Officer, netCORE Solutions, where he slices up the digital Pizza into good, bad and grey sides with a clean swipe.

Should CIOs read between the lines when industry-watchers laud new trends like BYOD or growing consumerization of IT?

A lot of decisions are changing today for sure. Marketers are changing their approaches and so it also changes the role of a CMO. Today, it' a mixed basket. We will only see Internet penetration in India grow more and we would need specific solutions and apt innovation to match it.

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So the shift to digital marketing is not vague any more?

The shift is definitely happening. Companies are figuring out and experimenting a lot. They are moving their marketing budgets from outdoor to digital in many instances. FMCG sector is a good example here. The benefits are clear: sharper ROI, exact measurement models, effectiveness-on-the-go etc. E-commerce, as you can see now, is a space in itself today, and a different game altogether.

It's not surprising to reason why. With the number of Internet and mobile Internet users hitting the 100 million and 80 million mark respectively, today's organizations are focusing on their Digital Marketing efforts more than ever in order to keep pace with the ever changing consumer dynamics. To take a leaf out of a recent Hubspot research about 78 per cent of Internet users conduct product research online. That's why, it is critical for organizations to stay on top of the consumer's mind by investing time in building and nurturing strong relationships with them.

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Any specific mediums where the shift key is being pressed strongly towards digital ones?

Mostly it's print or TV where strategy and spends get converted to digital areas. That's why many print majors have started digital shifts also.

What are the grey areas here?

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There are certainly challenges to confront. The digital audience itself is a very small percentage of the overall population, for one. SMS was the most cost effective tool once but now things have changed. Mobile apps are on the rise. Even then, the consumption is limited to only one segment and even there, we have to see serious users. But at the same time, organizations should strive towards gathering consumer preferences through various online mediums and use this information to make customized offers to their consumers. I feel that consumers should feel that organizations value them beyond just the point of sale - that they mean more than mere consumers.

Digital for sure caters to the much-sought-after ‘aperture concept' for marketers. But doesn't better targeting advantage run into issues related to privacy, intrusion etc.? Like what we have seen with Facebook or Instagram cases?

Yes, very granular level of targeting is what digital marketing helps with. It's possible at a level which can not be conceived with any other medium. But there's a flip side to it as well. There is a line of privacy. If things have gone wrong, enough corrective measures have been taken by at least some players to plug loopholes and rectify errors. This is a continuous process.

Is it where regulatory presence will be relevant?

So far the only area has been the SMS related guidelines by TRAI. Each medium, and so digital too, will have regulatory interventions as the industry grows. It is true for every industry.

Do we have enough and rightly-poised digital agencies in India yet, in your opinion?

Yes, some good work is happening around. Some majors have built up separate arms to cater to digital medium also. There are some serious companies also as I can see. A lot of companies could evolve ahead.

What has Netcore's journey been like?

It has been 15 years and we have learnt a lot with our observations on the many changes this space has gone through. Digital communications, mobile strategy, acquiring new customers as well as retaining old ones has been in the scope. Our focus has gone up on SMS, Voice, email components which are very relevant for a market like India. We are providing innovative digital communication solutions in the Email and Mobility domains. We have also emphasised enterprises to be more customer centric and deeper in their engagement through many strategic workshops organized at the Internet Retail Expo, for example.Â

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