Content Jam 2018: From Content Silos to Content Ecosystem

Unlike legacy media, where a brand knew where, what, when and how its content would be seen, today brands are dependent on media scenarios that include multiple variables before any form of content is shown to a particular consumer. How then are brands changing from focusing on self to monitoring and preparing for the big picture of where their content will be seen? How should brands identify, partner and collaborate with other ecosystem players to ensure that their content makes maximum impact in a desired way? All this and more was answered during a panel discussion at e4m Content Jam 2018 named From Content Silos to Content Ecosystem. 
The session was chaired by Devendra Deshpande, Head Content Plus, Mindshare. Prachi Mohapatra, CMO, FBB, Sudhanshu Nagpal, Head- Biscuit Category, Mondelez India, Sachin Killawala, Marketing Director, Nivea India, Amitabh Pande, Deputy Marketing Manager, IKEA India and Zoya Pandey, Head- Marketing Excellence Abbott Healthcare were among the panellists.

Deshpande opened the panel discussion by talking about how things have changed compared to the earlier days. “Even earlier we had traditional mediums like print, television, radio and multiple mediums. Now we have digital but the question is, have things really changed?” he asked.

Nagpal said, “Coming from a marketer's perspective on how things have evolved, there is one rule which remains constant- whatever you do, consumer is at the heart of it. We need to know what consumers are doing, where they are spending time and many behaviour-based things too. Rest of the rules of marketing are changing and very fast at that. It is kind of scary as a marketer to keep up with the changes. But we need to know what factors are driving these changes. Digital is growing, data is becoming cheaper and data usage is increasing. Most importantly, the way a consumer is consuming content whether it is news, entertainment or any information is evolving very rapidly. Our TG is more on digital platforms.”

On the other hand, Pandey thinks that everything has changed for marketers. “Things are changing so fast and marketers are really trying to keep up with the changes. With digital explosion we have far more aware and empowered customers. The challenge is that there is so much of information because they don’t know which data is authentic and which is not. Also the whole ecosystem has become far more complex. There is also a lot of behavioural change happening out there.”

Killawala believes that only the medium has changed but not the property. “The challenge which we have now is how to minimise the content to adapt to the medium because your content and messaging has to be the same. Also, the content for every medium has to be different, it can’t be the same on television and YouTube."

Taking the discussion further, Mohapatra, who handles a fashion brand said, "Today the consumer is different and also it's important to know on which platform they are consuming content and how much time they are spending on each platform."

Pande had a pertinent point as she said, “Content fundamentally fits in an ecosystem. Content creators don’t think in silos. Brands lives in Silos, content doesn’t. Also, consumers don’t live in silos, they live in a natural and spontaneous ecosystem.”