ad:tech Delhi was finally upon us. I was very excited as this was the first time India was hosting the event. As I walked into the reception area at Hotel Leela in Gurgaon I saw a flurry of activity all around. The Atmosphere was electric as Digital marketing enthusiasts, experts and newbies got their first taste of Adtech in New Delhi. So after finally getting settled in and grabbing my cup of coffee, I was ready to experience and of course gain some dollops of wisdom, tips and strategies from this event.
Adtech New Delhi 2011
After the formal introductions by the Adtech team & following the lighting of the lamp, first off is Babs Rangaiah who is Vice President of Global Communications Planning at Unilever. Not many would guess that Babs grew up in a small village outside Bangalore. With an impressive bio like having spearheaded innovative campaigns like Dove’s Evolution, I was all ears for this session of Adtech.
Keynote Babs Rangaiah Adtech New Delhi
Babs starts off impressively saying that if the 19th century belonged to the British, the 20th to USA then the 21st definitely belongs to the Asian giants China and India. Armed with an arsenal of videos, Babs uses the Dove Evolution videos to drive home the point that this entire campaign was exclusive to YouTube and was not aired on the idiot box. This campaign won the Cannes Lion and became a viral video on YouTube. Here is the video
The next campaign he shows off is the AXE ‘Wake up Service’ one. This witty campaign was based on interesting statistic that 80% of mobile users use the mobile as an alarm clock. Carrying forward the concept, the sexy AXE angels calls you at the time and then wake you up (if that doesn’t wake you up, I don’t know what will). Have a look at the video
The next video although long is something every digital marketer will relate to. It’s a hilarious dialogue exchange between the Advertiser vs. the Consumer played out between a typical couple. In the middle of the humor is an important line spoken by the woman “You are not even listening” which a common problem in this industry where the consumer doesn’t get digital advertising solutions which address the consumer’s need and requirements. Hmm I for one hope that changes soon. You can see this hilarious video below
Babs also speaks briefly about the emergence of social media and topics like the facebook social graph, likes, twitter. For social media, he outlines a few tools he likes to use which are
• Addictomatic.com– Allows you to create a custom page with the latest buzz
• Spyfu.com – Well the name says it all. Allows you to snoop on your competitor’s keywords and adwords
• Siteanalytics.compete.com – Helps in measuring your brand’s social footprint
• Klout.com – Shows how influential you are on the web.
• Google.com/adplanner – gives you a host of statistics making your digital ad planning a whole lot easier
Phew time just flew in this interactive and interesting session. A few key takeaways that I took from this session are
• If you create videos which can go viral videos, you can engage your audience actively and improve your branding on the web.
• Sharing of video content via social media or other channels promote your brand and also expands its reach.
• Also with the emergence of social media, it’s actively participate in online conversations and be proactive. Such steps can only enhance your brand online.
Elisa Steele Keynote – The Future of Digital Marketing
Fresh from the leanings and knowledge from Babs Rangaiah’s keynote, I settle in for Elisa Steele’s keynote on “The Future of Digital Marketing”. For those who don’t know, Elisa Steele is the Chief Marketing Officer of Yahoo. She starts off commenting on how the customer of today has changed. With the recent influx of Smartphones, more and more consumers are accessing websites on mobile devices. Also today’s consumers love videos. It is a huge engagement opportunity for brands. Hmm… hard to keep taking notes as she is talking at a fast clip.
Elisa Steele Yahoo Keynote Adtech Delhi
She moves on to social. It is not just about fans but rather creating engaging conversations. She says sometimes you need to step back from the conversation and let fans answer questions posted by other fans. She talks about a local Indian brand – Hippo who used Twitter to refine their supply chain. They posted a question to their followers about which retail stores were not stocking their product. Hippo then made sure that within 24 hours the store would have stock. This led to a huge jump in sales – 76%…wow!!
During Q&A Elisa Steele was asked if there is an opportunity for “marketing outsourcing”. She says the answer is a resounding Yes & Yahoo is already doing this. She said she found that in addition to our computer skills she also found Indians to be very creative.
That is a nice pat on the back for us! (give myself a mental slap on the back). Aside to myself start a marketing outsourcing business, need to investigate this. Phew that’s the end of this session.
Please note: Credit for all the photos go to the photographer Naina Redhu.