Our FMCG clients want more engagement-generating capabilities: Arun Srinivas, Meta

Meta’s recent studies carried out with Nielsen and Kantar revealed that digital platforms are growing in terms of relevance for the FMCG sector. Arun Srinivas, Director and Head (India), Ads Business, Meta pointed out that in the past couple of years, some marketing trends have revolutionised the digital marketing and advertising landscape. “Over the last three years, television viewing across cohorts has declined. If, for example, three years ago, 100 people were watching TV, that cohort has dipped to 82-83 now. And at the same time, digital viewing has gone up,” he said. 

The growth in digital consumption has increased across demographics in different parts of India. As Srinivas noted, there is a growing cohort of gen z and gen alpha on digital, and even the rural or tier 2 & 3 markets have seen a surge. “The job for iconic brands in the FMCG stable remains the same, which is reaching the right consumer and doing so in a meaningful and relevant manner,” he added. 

The shift of spend on digital by FMCG brands has also yielded higher return on investment (RoI). For instance, the Nielsen study noted that the RoI, which is the incremental revenue generated per Rupee invested is 1.42 for digital mediums vis-a-vis 0.95 non-digital mediums. Within this, the RoI from Meta is 1.76 for every rupee invested. Both the studies highlighted that the investment by FMCG/CPG brands on digital platforms like Meta poses stronger returns indexed to traditional channels across categories including food, household care, personal care, baby care, laundry, and health & hygiene. 

Additionally, Srinivas mentioned that the crux is not merely in the spends. Brands have lost penetration because of not spending enough on consumers' changing media habits. “Category penetrations have declined, for instance in tea, toothpaste, shampoo etc. The large brands have lost out to potentially nimble-footed, digital-first brands,” he said. Hence the strategy for the larger brands, according to Srinivas, should be to ask, "How can we reach our consumers more effectively and efficiently?" which is where the ROI aspect comes in. 

What Meta’s FMCG clients are seeking at the moment is developing the capability to generate engagement. Srinivas mentioned that this engagement may be in the form of creating engaging ads for Instagram, or having engaging conversations on WhatsApp, etc. “Today a lot of them have adopted these surfaces, but are far from perfecting it,” he said. According to him, this is probably because historically this landscape has seen creation of one asset for television, and then taking it to print, radio, outdoor and digital.  

However, with the tectonic shifts happening, there comes a need to change the strategy. Srinivas cited reels as an example to explain the same. “Reels are viewed everyday. You can’t live with the same content piece in theory for months. These burn out much faster than potentially the TV assets. So brands ask how can they become nimble-footed, create fast and how can they be evocative so people would want to pause, reflect and also process the whole ad,” he explained.  

Meta has also been testing new ad formats on its Instagram, wherein users are now coming across non-skippable ads. Digital advertising specialists note that non-skippable ads ultimately contribute to a more effective advertising ecosystem where brands can maximise their reach and impact.  

WhatsApp marketing is another crucial aspect that brands are seeking at the moment. Srinivas shared that beauty brands like Lakme and L’oreal have access to their top consumers through beauty advisors, etc. “Now the question is as to how can they continue to develop meaningful conversations, when should they send an outbound marketing message, how should they send offers and how can they segment the cohorts. So many of them have begun this journey, but how they can improvise on it is what they are after,” he added.