We need to become digital listeners

The first agenda of being a change agent for Indian Marketing would be developing the skill and comfort in digital conversations with consumers.

These conversations are real and in real time — and have to be first accepted by marketers and then quickly acted upon.

In my judgement, we are definitely consumers of the digital medium, and find it up our street to leverage it for brand marketing.

We have to transcend being digital marketers to being digital listeners and engage in real conversations, one-on-one, with our consumers.

A second agenda for change would be that of building deep and lasting relationships with the multitude of specialist agencies that we work with — creative, media, PR, digital, packaging, and so on.

We need to learn the art of getting the multiplier factor from our agencies — it is not about the power of one consolidated agency as much as the power of multiple specialist minds coming together around the brand cause.

A third agenda I would like to see is actually that of continuity and keeping the faith. The fundamentals of consumer behaviour remain the same — the means to reach consumers and engage with them is dynamically changing.

I would like marketers to keep the faith as far as branding and insight principles go — we should be accepting of dynamism in this fast changing world, we should not be enamoured of it or fearful of it. Fundamental good work will continue to be the cornerstone of any marketing strategy.

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