2022: Looking back to look ahead

I left advertising in 2011 and came under non-compete for five years. I had to look for other avenues for my talent and time and chose to explore opportunities in mobile and digital. It was still a virgin territory. Mobile (read SMS marketing) was then dominated by various VAS providers who illegally (or by connivance) stole data from telcos and monetized it at penny prices. Digital was basically email marketing (again unauthorized data bases) and some rudimentary SEO/SEM.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the decade when I was away from ‘mainline’ advertising (some call it the legacy business today) before coming back this year to helm Rediffusion and Everest – two venerable agencies that have been amongst the best-in-class for decades.

During my time away from ‘traditional’ advertising, I experimented with and learnt many new tricks and trades:

• I partnered with Airtel (and later Voda, Idea, Reliance and Aircel too) to create some very interesting solutions that were precursors to much of what masquerades as ‘digital’ today. I had access to profiles and data of almost 300 million subscribers at Airtel (anonymized, of course) and we ended up creating some hi-impact communication.
• We ran campaigns for HUL’s Wheel month after month on OBD (Voice messaging) to reach customers in rural areas who could not read an SMS. The secret sauce in this was to figure out who these ‘nirakshar’ (unable to read) customers were and how to identify and segregate them. Today, 10 years later, I bet no digital agency worth their salt can deliver this target audience to Lever or other FMCGs. Why?
• I ran a year-long campaign for a cab company to give them customers at the Bangalore airport – sometimes as many as 2,000 a day – in an era when there were no apps. No digital company, even today, despite better technology can identify a customer at a geo-location accurately and serve up an offer in that real-time aperture for an appropriate product. Wonder why.
• I placed a bidding engine for programmatic on top of Voda + Idea data giving us a distinct advantage over the probabilistic data conjured up by most adtech companies even today.
• I patented a CTA (call-to-action) trigger 8 years ago that obviated the need to remember call centre numbers. You could just dial **BANK to reach them. It was a roaring success. I see no such innovations happening at ad agencies today.
• I meandered into a different space some years ago and decided to do a doctorate on Human Brands from FMS Delhi. I then set up the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) that is today, without doubt, the tallest authority on celebrities. We have so far advised at least a hundred brands on their choice of a brand ambassador. Not very many agencies that recommend or use celebrities actually know much about them. Today, I have a 60,000-respondent research base that analyses any celebrity on over 200 data points. Why are other ad agencies not investing?
• Last year, I tied up with the world’s largest ‘voice agency’. Why? Because ‘voice’ will drive the digital world going forward – there are already 400 million Google voice assistant users in India – and touchless transactions will become the norm in the days ahead.

I am so glad I got to spend 10 years outside ‘advertising’, as we all call it. I got to learn consumer addressability – that too with accuracy. In 2022, and beyond, accurate consumer targeting will become the No. 1 requirement for all brands. And that is what will separate the men from the boys. Non-specific, non-measurable, non-assignable communication will fade away in the years ahead.

The ad agency of tomorrow needs to re-skill and upskill. On my return to the agency business, I see that most creative people are quite low on digital familiarity, and very diffident about looking at solutions beyond TV and the Press. This can be changed – and changed pretty quickly – but then it requires a change of mindset and a willingness to learn.

• In 2022, if you are looking for a job, just remember saying, ‘I am a Creative Director with 20 years’ experience’ will not work. Because the hiring manager will want to know if you have relevant experience … read mobile, digital, social, influencers … even basic coding, UI, UX, analytics.
• In 2022, if you are an Art Director, think vertical. 90 per cent of all videos will be viewed on a vertical screen and a horizontal frame will not work.
• If you are a copywriter and can’t write for OTT, your future is going to be somewhat cloudy. ‘Content’ is the new mantra, and it is no longer a 30-seconder on TV.
• Client servicing, going forward, is going to involve discussions at client offices on Metaverse, AI, AR, Blockchain, Machine Learning, Digital Twins and such. If you have to participate and contribute, new learnings will be necessary.
• In media, there is a new learning every day. If you don’t understand deep-linking and social commerce in 2022, you’ll be dead.

I am on the wrong side of the age divide but I am still sensitive to the fact that tomorrow will be different from yesterday. And as the old adage goes, only the fittest will survive.

(The author, Dr. Sandeep Goyal, is MD of Rediffusion.) 

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com