Changing face of digital advertiisng

The mix available to the digital medium is not just websites anymore. There are websites, blogs, videos, virals, social, search, rich media, mobile, etc., which together offer an unprecedented, connected media of consumer conversations, whether it is brand to consumer or consumer to consumer. And sometimes, these conversations can be self-perpetuating, offering opportunities for elongated brand stories.

The clients in India continue to remain price conscious, though now willing to put more dollars behind digital than before. But it is still a very small percentage as compared to the percentage that digital spends command in overseas clients’ marketing plans. And while the Indian brand manager comfortably spends crores of Rupees on TV commercials and print advertising, she remains circumspect on digital and expects immediate ROI. In international markets, customers are willing to invest in their digital assets, ‘farm’ them through continuous digital spends on search, social, etc., and then enjoy the returns of the digital brand presence once it crosses a certain threshold size and becomes a virtuous cycle of self-propagation.

Augmented reality will soon be a game-changer for India. It is an area with boundless possibilities, it might be too early to call it a game-changer. However, it will certainly have implications for marketers and digital agencies, and both will need to keep up with the technology. As an automobile company recently displayed, augmented reality can be used to generate vast consumer attraction and interaction models.