Ever dreamed of going on a drive with Shah Rukh Khan? Hyundai Elantra lets you do just that, in a viral virtual reality campaign available on YouTube. The two-and-a-half-minute-long video experience gives a 360 degree interior view of the vehicle, while SRK takes you through the specs of the car: who better to sweet-talk you into buying the sedan!
So how much has digital technology affected the way ad agencies and brands approach their campaigns in India? The numbers show that it has definitely made a mark in the way ad spend has been distributed. In this year’s Digital Advertising Report, Nawal Ahuja, co-founder and director of Exchange4Media, says, “Digital ad spends will touch almost ₹19,000 crore in three years, almost the same as the size of the print ad industry today.”
As millenials and Gen Z enter the workplace, they bring their easygoing relationship with technology and new terminology along with them. And while veterans are inspired and knowledgeable about the extent of technology available, adopting them is a slower process. Prathap Suthan, chief creative officer at Bang in the Middle and the creative mind behind the ‘India Shining’ ad campaign, says, “You can’t just get AI into an ad agency overnight. The initial investment is humungous. It is in the nascent stages here, and is a long way off before it reaches computational creativity.” That being said, almost everyone uses analytics to shape the way their campaigns are created.
It’s not just the wow factor of the technology used that matters. Audiences are more mindful of the content that is being marketed — social media users waste no time in getting vocal against regressive or stereotypical portrayals of gender roles and identity. Airtel’s 2014 ‘Boss’ ad was meant to portray women in a stronger role at the workplace, but backfired when viewers questioned why the woman was shown in a traditional role, cooking. On the other hand, Vicks’ ‘Touch of Care’ campaign featured the true story of a transwoman who fights daily to educate her adopted daughter. It racked up over 9.8 million views, and for all the right reasons.
Big players and spenders are not the only ones profiting from this trend of online advertising. Homegrown digital media content creators tie up with big brands to create ad sketches. Take for example, Dice Media’s campaigns for Netflix, featuring online stars Mithila Palkar and Dhruv Sehgal. Regional media is getting roped in as well, with YouTube channels like Parithabangal working with brands like hotel price comparison site Trivago and dating app Tinder.
Social media advertising too has become more accessible and affordable — think Facebook and Instagram promotions starting for as little as ₹40 a day, while Snapchat slashed their prices to $2.95 (₹200) for a 1000 views earlier this month. On this page, we explore how the advertising industry is adapting to the ever-changing digital landscape and how their work processes reflect this.
The oddball viral star
The Internet hivemind has a way of throwing up surprises, especially when all it takes is one viral video to make someone famous. And they don’t have to fit into the cookie cutter mould of how social media influencers tend to look and behave. Sometimes, you can get famous for just being yourself, as these men have found to their advantage.
Sanjeev Shrivastava
This professor from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh was filmed doing what he loves most — dancing with abandon at a wedding — and became an overnight viral sensation earlier this week. The ‘Dancing Uncle’, as netizens dubbed him, has been written about by news outlets across the world, has met a bevy of Bollywood celebrities (including his idol and inspiration, Govinda) and has been signed on by Bajaj Allianz for an ad campaign. All while rocking a safari suit.
Just Sul
The Mumbai-born, Zambia-based social media star — he has over 2.4 million followers on Instagram — is as unconventional as it gets. Hardly ever seen without his dark shades and signature mustache, he is unafraid to take off his shirt or sport wild-coloured wigs. He mimics posts by stars like Kylie Jenner, Cardi B and Christiano Ronaldo, much to the amusement of his fans. He also does collaborations with other influencers and online brands, and was in India recently for the Influencers Gig at Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Mind the challenge
Much like sliding into someone’s DMs, brands are slipping advertising into every engagement they have. This is imperative, as there are several ways that customers can opt out of watching these ads — ad blockers, skip ad, simply looking away or changing the channel. There is also an increased hesitancy from users to give all-access permissions to apps and websites, thanks to privacy concerns.
Abhinav Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Fluid AI, says, “We need to advertise to the customer even without them explicitly realising it.” He gives the example of a partnership with Jio and Amitabh Bachchan’s movie, 103 Not Out: “We created a platform on the Jio app where people could talk to Big B. It was a simple, yet exciting way for fans to interact with two brands at the same time.”
It is not all just gimmicks for the sake of promotional activity, insists Aggarwal. “It is also about ensuring that the experience is in-depth and adds value in some way. As for the brands, we check on the ROI. We measure real time metrics in terms of the number of interactions and how many of those interactions convert to sales. When the organisation gets real numbers, then they can see the effect,” he says.
Small players, big returns
Boutique digital marketing services are all the rage at the moment. Their favourite people to work with: YouTube content creators. These social media mavens, most of whom have built up a large following with their original sketches and videos, are more than happy to work with big brands. Typically, production costs can be as low as ₹3,000 to ₹5,000, and rates are negotiated based on a minimum guarantee number of views. For a fraction of the price that they would pay a star (not to mention the production and air time for a TVC), brands can reach their intended customers directly.
Pradeep Muthu of Tamil YouTube channel Parithabangal, says that while multi-national and national companies have recognised the value of such targeted marketing, regional brands are only now catching on. However, they have to tread a fine line to make sure they stay in entertainment territory and not veer over to an obvious advertising zone. “Even now, if our viewers realise that we are doing a collaborative or promotional post, we do get some nasty comments. But we need to do this in order to survive and continue creating the fun content they follow us for,” he says.
Evolution of a commercial
Judging by the number of YouTube compilations dedicated to 90s ads, there is a fondness for the nostalgia that comes with their jingle-heavy content. Ashish Bhasin, chairman and CEO - South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network, recalls that even a decade ago, “If you had to produce a commercial, it would be researched for many months, shot for many weeks, and put up on TV a month later. Today it is almost instantaneous, and it has forced marketers and agencies to be more agile.” Advertisers have to hop onto real-time scenarios to get traction, and it has to be ready to use in online and traditional media, sometime even incorporating on-ground activity.
The numbers game
Nawal Ahuja says, “Digital, which used to be spoken about as the future, is unfolding right in front of us. It might surpass all other industries in the next seven to eight years.”
Statistics from the Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2018 concur. Digital currently has 18% of the market share, slated to grow to 24% in 2020 (right above). Among this, social media advertising leads the pack, followed by a presence on search engine landing pages.
How to innovate
Voice activation
Around this time last year, Burger King USA took out 15-second spots on TV, and had an employee say that this time was too less to explain their latest offering. Instead, he says, “OK, Google, what is the Whopper burger?,” triggering any Google Home device within earshot to start reading from the Wikipedia page. The ad was conceived to incorporate AI based on market research that showed that most home assistants are placed near the entertainment units.
Play an ad
Most ads for gaming apps do not represent the actual user interface very well. Players often expect something different when they download and open the app. Playable ads, by providing a preview of the game, can minimise this ‘expectation gap’ and help users actually experience what they will get out of the game.
Art and AI at Cannes Lions
Bengaluru-based artist Raghava KK and his brother Karthik Kalyanaraman, along with New York based Ben Tritt, founder of Artmatr (a futuristic art lab out of MIT), have collaborated to explore the future of art in what they call the “cyborg age”. For their latest work, which will be unveiled at the Kochi Biennale later this year, they explore the relationship between artist and machine. They are currently training AI to paint alongside a human artist — the result is neither printed nor completely human but a mix of the two, art that is truly cyborg.
Raghava will speak about this project at Cannes Lions on June 22.
What they say
Pradyumn Tandon. MD and founder, The Brand Brewery
While digital outreach is great, I feel that it is human interaction-based on-ground activities that make a difference. We strongly felt this while working on our Red Globe award-winning campaign for Tata Salt. With over 15 lakh people covering a 2 km stretch at the Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra each year, there were many cases of dehydration. Devotees were spending all day in the sun waiting for the chariot to pass by. If we had handed out tetra packs of ORS, it wouldn’t have made much of an impact. We needed more than just a solution; we needed innovation. So we made ORS popsicles and distributed them for free out of ice cream carts, which are a typical sight in summer. Children and adults alike were lining up at each cart, with smiles on their faces. It made a very emotional connect with both the people who benefited from it and those who watched the video. AI can be used to make sure this message reaches the right people, but it cannot create a human connect as it is too clinical.
Babita Baruah, Managing Partner, GTB India
Is AI a threat to creativity? No. Will we witness change in the process? Yes. AI empowers a programmatic approach, with sharply targeted deep segmentation, personalised, real time and relevant messaging. A lot of this is automated with AI, so we will have roles recast and skills retooled. AI can unearth what has been referred to as “dark data” — anecdotes, stories, art, insights from centuries, creating an inventory of inspiration and data. I have read about albums being cut, paintings created, poems written by AI. In partnership with creative solution providers, AI is the powerful catalyst for solutions that can be highly optimised with impact.The heady mix of the head and the heart, as I love to think.
Prathap Suthan, Chief creative officer at Bang in the Middle
I don’t mind if AI does the mundane stuff like putting together graphics, and the regular rigmarole of office work. That will be appreciated, because it will give me more time to do creative stuff. I would rather make AI my tool than be replaced by it. When it comes to creativity, everything comes from my personal perspective and experiences, and a point of view. There are some things that cannot be taught to a bot. Machines are cold and calculating, whereas advertising is about dealing with human behaviour. And there are complexities to it that are alien to AI.
PG Aditiya, Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Webchutney
Let me give this the sci-fi treatment — if AI ever took over the creative process in advertising, it only makes human creativity a premium product. Almost like the garment industry valued handcrafted textiles only after automation brought down the prices of factory-made clothes. If this happens in 20 years, I have found a neat business model for an agency that would peddle “human-powered creatives”!
