Goafest 2011 got underway at Varca Beach on Thursday, with a conclave featuring representatives from advertising agencies and advertisers. Pondering over whether the advertising industry was ready for the coming decade, conclave Chairman Mr Srinivasan K. Swamy of RK Swamy BBDO set the ball rolling.

He said, “The truth is technology today is a great leveller. We see increasing media options, but reduced consumer connect. The agency of the future will be unlike the traditional agency as it stands today.”

Mr Swamy explained that to grab emerging opportunities, the advertising business of the future will need to take more risks. “The business has to become more entrepreneurial with less ‘Wall Street control', he added.

As Indian companies spread wings abroad, there is a need to create communication that can travel across markets, observed Mr Rajiv Dube, Director, Group Corporate Services and Director, Aditya Birla Management Corporation. “In the auto industry, for instance, we see manufacturers working with suppliers to conceive products for the future. And the future that is unfolding is very different from what we have seen so far.”

Life after traditional media

He made his case with the example of entertainment content being consumed without advertising. “I don't think we have explored enough alternative ways of communication. Digital is growing, but specialists have to help advertisers create newer ways to connect.”

Substantiating on the media-technology overlap, Mr Mayank Pareek, Managing Executive Officer, Maruti Udyog, said, “We are bound to see more integration of content and technology. Are we really ready for it? During the World Cup, we saw a DTH provider offering the match feed without advertising. If that is the future, then what can we do about it?”

He noted that going forward, along with the challenges of global scale and urbanisation, marketers will have to understand and communicate to the large, emerging rural markets.

Measurability is key

The need for greater accountability was underlined by Mr Pareek in his address. He said, “There is talk of greater pay for the agency partner. The pay is never an issue. But we would like to see both success and failure being shared. We need more tools for evaluating the ad efficiency. The existing systems cannot do justice to the heterogeneity of India.”

Mr Dube concurred: “The pay structures for agencies of tomorrow will have to be a mix of fixed and variable components. Clients looking at long-term strategy are willing to pay, but agencies will have to link returns to the fee structure. The fee could still be 15 per cent, but it may be a fixed fee of 8 per cent and the rest being a variable.”

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