Innovate across sectors

This week, we feature Roshni Das, Director - Marketing, Intel India . She talks about how brands can benefit from 360 use of communication, what Intel does differently, the ways to reach out to varied audiences and much more.

How have brands changed the way they market to a younger audience?

Today, marketing has evolved from a passive broadcast to an always-on, engaged narrative. Millennials and GenZ have evolved both the media they consume and the way they consume it – one, non-linear, where multiple media is consumed all at once, two, on-the go.

This change has encouraged businesses to drive synchronicity in their messages across different media, build a content story, and even change the media they leverage. Social-selling and the e-commerce upswing has also played a powerful role in democratising the access of both products and marketing, driving brand to localise at scale to stay relevant.

How can brands create a lasting connection and sell to the youth of today?

Affinity and authenticity are key to sell to these generations; where affinity means we segment and sharply target audiences with custom messages, and authenticity is where we have focused on real messages that are meaningful to our customers’ lives:

· Emphasise customisation: Customisation can be about putting different cohorts from both a media and creative perspective, including custom messages that dial-up specific features, adoption of vernacular language where applicable, and even different media such as forums, reviews and comparison websites where applicable.

· Use reviews: 68 per cent of millennials globally report that they won’t make a decision until they have discussed it with people they trust, be it choosing the neighbourhood to live in or starting a business. By this logic it is important to encourage customers to leave photos and reviews.

· Reward through Social media: Add incentives to your marketing plan to harness the power of a millennial on social media. For example, a coupon or discount in exchange. Digital wallet advertising companies are doing this quite well.

· Let videos speak: Evolve your videos considering the three-second attention span of the average Facebook user, use creative cuts to keep in mind the proximity of the mobile screen vs the television screen and layer with text to keep in mind the sound-off consumption.

· Audio and video podcasts: According to National Public Radio, one of the biggest podcast producers in the US, the number of downloads of its podcasts in India has risen three-fold from 80,000 in 2015 to over 335,000 in 2018. While advertisers and brands are yet to adopt podcasts in a big way, several Indian brands are creating powerful content that resonates with audiences on the go.

What are the technological advancements that have brought about the current trend?

Connectivity for all and product innovation. Once you have connected devices – learning, connecting anywhere in the world becomes seamless and hassle-free, automated payments have also helped the change.

Better technology or better ideas – what is Intel’s take?

It depends on the outcome that brands want to achieve. At Intel, as we’re actively building the future, in our progress from a PC centric to data centric and finally future-driven company, we’d like to believe that better technology is the better idea! Intel’s ‘AI for good’ is focused on utilising Edge technology to solve bigger problems or bring better experiences for our customers. Having said that, an idea can turn into an innovation, leveraging new-age technologies. For example: Intel Falcon 8+ drone was essential when it helped Arctic researchers study polar bears in the arctic region. Intel deep learning technologies and resources along with mentorship from Intel engineers helped explore problems that affect Earth. With humanisation at the heart and wearing my marketer hat, I wouldn’t take away the power of an idea. Some recent examples include great ideas by our consumers that have been powered by technology like Intel’s Dharavi campaign and Intel’s Our Superheroes campaign.

How does Intel curate effective customer experiences?

Today, the customer has transformed from a customer to an instant brand advocate with even more power to influence your brand and business than ever before. Customers can become the best resource for growing your brand, and hence it is crucial to not only listen to them and address their feedback and queries, but also to leave them with experiences across touchpoints that make them positive brand advocates.

Analytics on Edge devices powered by Intel — like cameras, signs, kiosks, etc. — can provide real-time feedback and adjust to the environment immediately, making sure that the experiences meet the demands. The ability to gather information and act on provides a more personalised and interactive customer experience.

What can brands take away from Intel’s way of customer engagement?

One, brands need to enable a two-way dialogue. For example, Intel has an active listening hub that has a real-time pulse on the customers’ voice and weaves this into content and marketing programs. Actionable insights need to be followed post listening. Two, data transparency and trust are key. Data privacy issues have been making some sensational headlines these days. Despite this, consumers are willing to share their personal data if they see value in the brand. So, the onus is on the brand to ensure that the data is not misused to maintain customer trust. And three, wear your customer’s shoes once. Be prompt in answering customer inquiries, visit the shop floor, and make some deliveries— or anything that puts your brand on the front line where employees interact with customers.

What steps can brands take to stay ahead of the curve?

One, humanising and contextualising communication helps connect the audience and makes them feel valued. Two, innovate across sectors - brands need to apply innovative solutions across sectors- be it in your communication, product ranges or the shop floor. For instance, TrailGuard AI uses Intel® Movidius® Vision Processing Units (VPUs) for image processing. It enables the camera to capture suspected poacher images and alerts park rangers. Three, test and experiment - put aside some dollars to test and learn. Companies should be creating an innovation fund just for a learning agenda.

Three important focus-points brands should prioritise to be a winner?

#1: Clear product proposition - when people buy a product, they are looking to buy seamless experiences. For many consumers, a brand’s value proposition is the first thing they encounter when exploring a brand. So, having a clear, concise value proposition is more important than ever.

#2: Be real. Be authentic. Be relevant. - Be real about the problems or needs your brand is trying to solve and stay true to that in the tone and personality of the brand.

#3 Two-way dialogue- in this consumer centric world, companies must demonstrate a foundational purpose. The fundamental shift from mass marketing to one-to-one conversations on social platforms requires brands to behave and talk like real humans -- in both marketing and internal corporate affairs.

How do you approach localisation?

While the global standard is crucial to present a consistent brand personality across geographies, the local view allows us to stay relevant. Localisation can be on the basis of audience and this is reflected in our media choices for India, where we would look at digital, print and other traditional means. Additionally, even digital choices within India are localised keeping in mind the country’s consumption trends including OTT, language consumption, cricket, etc. Our creatives too reflect the local view, for example in 2018 we launched the SMB campaign in India, that was a 100 per cent made for India campaign focusing on the small and medium business segment that spoke about the massive opportunity that GST brings to small businesses and interestingly enough we added humour to our campaign to make it more relatable for the Indian audience. In addition, we have campaigns that are global but universally address millennials which is the Intel Campaign featuring Jim Parson. “Parson” also built localised messages around the “Brain of the PC,” that tick with the local audience.

This article is part of a brand initiative by The Hindu BusinessLine to profile marketing professionals from across India.

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