DIGITAL

ALMANAC
2022 #BWDDBAlmanac

Doing
Digital Right
Comprehensive
strategies for
building an
effective and
sustainable
digital presence
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Digital by Default!
They say sharing is caring but isn’t sharing through digital
just the best thing ever?

Organisations that view digital transformation as mainly

a technological difference from traditional transformation
are certainly oblivious to the multi-hyphenated traits
that digital embodies. The power of digital today can
conveniently metamorphose organisations from a process-
defined world to a data-driven world. Especially in the
past decade, digital has transcended all geographies and
demographics, cementing itself in the commanding
position that is enviable to many other offline mediums.

This BW Marketing World-DDB Mudra Group ‘Digital

Alamanc’ encapsulates the far-reaching presence and
impact of digital, with experts getting into the roots of
its various branches. It serves as a playbook for business
leaders and modern marketers to stay as relevant and
strategise their objectives better, keeping their consumers
at the heart of all efforts.

Edited by Soumya Sehgal

Art & Design by Shivaji Sengupta Copyright 2022 BW Businessworld
INDEX

4 Note from Editor-in-Chief
6 Foreword
8 Executive Summary
Section – 1 The Big Guns

12 Social
20 Search
30 ORM
36 Messaging Platforms
Section – 2 The Game Changer

46 Ecommerce
Section – 3 The Future-Oriented

52 Display and Video

62 Programmatic
Section – 4 New Kid On The Block

74 Gaming
Section – 5 The Big Picture

88 Advertising Ecosystem
90 Emerging Trends
97 Telecom

98 Last word
 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE

DR ANNURAG
BATRA
Chairman & Editor-In-Chief
BW Businessworld &
exchange4media Group

4
All Hail Digital!
If at all there were any lingering doubts about the necessity of digital transformation for business
longevity, the pandemic has silenced them. Of course, this digital mandate isn’t new, it’s simply
been brought into sharp focus in the past few years. Before the pandemic set in, a paradigm shift
towards digitisation was already underway. Current events have only accelerated this scenario,
evidenced by the shift in spending towards digital businesses.

We know digital adoption has taken a quantum leap at both the organisational and industry
levels. Certainly, the importance of digital transformation cannot be overlooked. Brands that
rest on their existing laurels can be surpassed by those that invest in advancing their digital
capabilities.

If we view an organisation as a living organism, digital transformation powers the backbone,

muscle, brain and heart of the organisation.

Staying competitive in this new business and economic environment can only be achieved by
new strategies and practices. Already, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR) and even
the Metaverse have been expanding what’s possible in the world of digital marketing, but we’re
going to see exponential leaps in what this technology is capable of over the next few years.

We have also seen the prevalence of technology in marketing which is becoming more
conversational and personalised. Global economic growth has been boosted by the digital
transition, and it is opening its doors for new businesses to thrive and cater to the customers’
needs. The rate at which digital technology is advancing is really exemplary. The world is already
witnessing the emergence of Web3! Indeed we are marching towards a better future.

This ‘Digital Almanac’ by BW Marketing World & DDB Mudra Group aims to capture the nuances
and nuggets of this digital era that we all live in. It is particularly riveting for me to be a part
of this book as our organisation, that perhaps began its journey with traditional media, has
confidently transitioned to a digital-first publication today. Our digital properties and presence
are a testament to this medium’s roaring success and this Almanac could not have made a more
timely entry.

5
 FOREWORD

ADITYA
KANTHY
CEO & MD
DDB Mudra Group

6
Digital For Good
It seems like just yesterday that social Our experience in physical stores is more
media and search were shiny new toys for connected to our online experiences.
marketers to play and experiment with. Ecommerce, data, and personalisation
Today, with the rapid pace of innovation is helping create seamless in-store
as digital technologies evolve, we’re in an experiences. And then there’s the world
age where the possibilities are endless. of the Metaverse, Web 3, NFTs and crypto
Innovation has unlocked new channels for offering a tantalising realm of experience
brands to tell stories and create experiences that bridges the new and familiar. Take
for their audiences. And with audiences gaming for instance, which offers a window
taking to these channels, brands must at into this world, and the closest we have to
times, reinvent to stay relevant. this lived experience of possibilities.

When consumers experience your brand While it’s hard to make accurate
across different touchpoints, telling a predictions in the unpredictable
consistent story through each channel environment we’ve been experiencing
makes for a seamless experience and builds over the last two years, the Digital
trust. It’s an intricate balancing act. Are you Almanac 2022 dives into key trends in
saying too little? Are you saying too much? the year ahead that will influence life
Are you borderline intrusive? It’s inspiring and our approach to digital marketing.
and exciting to see brands trying to get It’s a handbook that shows brands what
this balance right. Honestly, no one really is possible and hopefully inspire ideas on
knows how this will play out. The key is to how you may want to apply this to your
stay curious and engage in the subject. brands and businesses. Some of these may
not be feasible immediately but give you
Over the last decade, the first phase of this a direction of where things are headed.
experimentation has been interesting to Others are musts that require deeper
watch. Brands engage consumers through attention, while some trends are ones you
influencer and OTT collaborations or can try, regardless of size.
Twitter, Instagram chatter. Ecommerce
has added a new dimension to consumer I hope you find many takeaways from this
behaviour. Earlier, people would try and labour of love from the DDB Mudra Group
trust, now they trust a YouTube/Amazon and BW Marketing World. Enjoy this read.
review before they try.

7
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

RAMMOHAN
SUNDARAM,
Country Head &
Managing Partner –
Integrated Media,
DDB Mudra Group

Digital: The Juggernaut

It gives me immense pleasure to launch the The proof of the pudding is the overtaking of
BW Marketing World & DDB Mudra Group’s television AdEx by digital AdEx comprehensively
‘Digital Almanac’, bringing India’s digital media by the end of 2022.
landscape to the front seat. As a digital nomad,
I have seen the ups and downs of the digital And the growth is coming from some of the newer
ecosystem until it settled well to where it is today. entrants in the ecosystem- gaming, metaverse

8
engagement opportunities, ecommerce and the creating content, the subsequent distribution
world of video advertising. All of these are the of the same is leading to economic benefits for
pivots with which digital AdEx is growing leaps the consumer, which wasn’t the case earlier. The
and bounds. number of influencers from tier 2 & 3 towns is
ruling the roost with the amount of content they
Gaming, for example, is under the spotlight for a are generating. Many consumers are living their
few years, given the demography of our country entertainment journey through audio-visual
and the penetration of mobile phones which caters platforms and video forwards on chat platforms.
to the need of the on-the-go consumers, a typical All of this has added to tremendous growth and
behaviour of the GenZ audience. Data-driven by adoption of video-driven advertising.
ecommerce is apt for brands to capitalise on, due
to the precision of audience-related targeting that This Almanac is a sincere effort to cover some of
brands are today exposed to- thanks to the shift the recent and relevant topics in digital including
in consumer sentiments post the pandemic. The but not limited to ecommerce, video & display,
tremendous growth of ecommerce advertising is programmatic, gaming, social, search, ORM and
a testament of India’s receptive audience that is instant messaging.
intent-driven by purchases.
All of what we are witnessing could not have been
Data, as we know, is the backbone on which any possible without Jio entering our lives in 2016 and
technology can fly in the MarTech world. That to have contributed to this book is an absolute
said, programmatic advertising has been there honour. I would like to thank Gulshan Verma,
for over a decade, but it has finally come to an CEO, JioAds and his team for supporting DDB in
age where even a shopper’s data can easily be launching this Almanac. It also somewhere seems
matched outside of the shopping environment. like a natural fit given Mudra was born at Reliance
This helps in targeting intent-based potential with the vision of Late. Shri AG. Krishnamurthy
customers for brands to capitalise on. The level and Late. Shri. Dhirubhai Ambani. Given the
of spillover that existed is now not only mitigated camaraderie between Reliance & DDB over the
but is close to eradication. The power of years, looks like this Almanac was meant to be.
programmatic advertising will be visible in 2023
like never before. While the foundation was laid I would also like to extend my earnest gratitude to
long ago, the adoption of various touch points of Dr. Annurag Batra, Noor Fathima Warsia, Soumya
consumers that generated unadulterated data Sehgal and the entire team at BW Businessworld
was critical for markets like India to adopt and for giving this property the shape it deserves.
that wait is finally over.
Last but not the least, Skandaram Vasudevan, Sr.
Metaverse, while still nascent, will add to the Partner – Digital Strategy and Nupur Sharma, Sr.
kitty with the kind of engagement it allows with Partner – Digital Strategy for working diligently
the audience, something that Lucknow Super to bring this to life, along with our team members
Giants showcased during the IPL. This is only the whose contribution to the Almanac is invaluable,
beginning and we are going to see a lot more of to say the least. I hope this serves us all as a great
Metaverse in advertising as we move into 2023. reference point as we march into 2023.

Finally, in tier 2 & 3 markets where the audiences Happy 75th Independence Day!
are processing information & participating in Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav!

9
 Section
1

THE BIG
GUNS
12 SOCIAL MEDIA
20 SEARCH
30 ORM
36 MESSAGING
PLATFORMS
 SOCIAL MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA
THE BOSS
What arrived as the virtual face of our personal diaries, social media over the
years has witnessed newer forms & fields that rule the digital roost today

SKANDARAM VASUDEVAN,
Sr. Partner – Digital Strategy, DDB Mudra

For most of us, social media has won a special campaign. Additionally, it has become a crucial
place in our head and heart. It has not only cog in the overall readership patterns of people,
increased connectivity among people but also with most publications shifting to an online
changed how we communicate and share details medium, it has become a common practice to
with our social circle. drive awareness of content through social media
pages.
Social Media has basically become a lens to
observe the happenings of the world that are It is interesting to observe that social media has
used for trend-spotting, identifying the general taken over the same activities that used to exist in
thought or sentiment for any action, brand or non-digital forms throughout all these years. The

12
fundamental actions remain the same, however, by the launch of MySpace, which took off in
social media has just changed the medium of popularity to reach a majority of audiences, who
consumption and the reach of the audience that could create and share their own pages.
is involved in the same.
In India, the main medium that first captured
Evolution of social media people’s attention (even more than MySpace)
The evolution of social media can take on was Orkut. Orkut effectively kickstarted the era
interesting angles, depending on how one of social media in India. The main audience was
defines this complex medium. If we are talking the youth of the country, and they embraced
about connectivity and information exploration, the platform and the unique features that it
then it can trace its roots all the way to the 1970s offered. It again functioned on the basis of pure
(CompuServe and the Bulletin Board System). connectivity, allowing people to connect with
This was among the initial means provided to their friends, old and new.
access social media, where people were able
to instantaneously reach their friends and Orkut ruled the Indian market till the advent of
connections. However, this did not reach India, as Facebook, which had all of the features of Orkut
the digital age had not yet taken its roots in the but expanded on it to make it even more attractive
country back then. to people. New features like the personal wall,
status updates, pages and personal memorabilia
If we take the modern digital age globally, the meant that basically, it started dwarfing Orkut’s
era of social media started with Friendster in popularity and soon, caused it to fade into
2002, which behaved more like a connection obscurity. Facebook harnessed the concept of
platform, having social circles that people with Network Effects, and increased audience reaches
common interests could join and multi-fold, something that Orkut was unable to
converse about. Eventually, this led combat. Facebook also didn’t rest on its laurels
to the launch of LinkedIn globally – it continued developments with communities,
as a place where career-minded games, and new features among other things on
individuals could gather and the platform, ensuring there was something for
discuss various topics, everyone, which caused them to frequently visit
although it would make the platform.
its presence in India felt
slightly later. This was Following the heels of Facebook was the
followed presence of Twitter in India. It jumped away
from the whole connections bit to become an
opinion-sharing platform. Twitter appealed to
the digital generation with low attention
spans by ensuring that tweets on the
platform were short and succinct. It
made it a lot easier for people to
reach out to their idols as followers
became the name of the game on
the platform. Twitter, while still
operating in the same space as
Facebook, offered something

13
 SOCIAL MEDIA

entirely different and thus, was able to co-exist New forms of social media
and grow in the country. While we have seen how the traditional social
media platforms are still present and running
Following this gave advent to newer platforms, strong, this doesn’t mean that we have not seen
some of which stuck on in the Indian mindset. newer developments in the space. Even the
We had the advent of image sharing through traditional platforms are constantly trying to
Instagram and LinkedIn launched in India as bring in newer concepts to try to capture their
a career-oriented social media platform. They audience – the biggest example was the adoption
offered something different and were able to of reels by Meta across all of their platforms – to
make it work to build on network effects to try to capture the imagination of the audience
expand and become viable in the country. This which was initially harnessed by other platforms.
was the crucial difference that enabled them to
survive. Outside of this, if we expand the definition of
social media to any platforms that help build
Largely, the Indian social media landscape is still connections and have the potential to reach a
ruled by these giants to the day. While there are significant audience base, then we see various
other platforms that still have a significant share new shifts happening in the social space, which
of the market (Snapchat, which has captured gives rise to newer social media formats.
the attention of the younger audiences and is
slowly expanding to the larger market), these Short video
are the platforms that most brands largely have The short video market exploded when TikTok
a presence in to try to reach out to their potential arrived in the country. Suddenly, everyone was
consumer base. on the platform, constantly consuming content
and connecting with various creators through
the same. This was a massive platform as it
basically took on the low attention span of the
digital audience through extremely engaging
short-form video content, which captured the
imagination of the country. Even post its ban,
this trend never saw a dull day. Today, we see
multiple short video platforms trying to build
network effects which have sprung up as TikTok
alternatives, and they are succeeding – capturing
nearly the same audience as TikTok in its heyday.
They have managed to get audiences in Tier 2,
3 and 4 cities as well on the platforms and are
getting them to build on it through the form of
content creation. This is definitely a new form of
social media and it is growing from strength to
strength.

Forums
Forums today are helping social media get into
a firmer shape. They first started in the social

14
space globally through blogs (LiveJournal and
then Blogger), followed by niche platforms
making their presence felt, serving as a handy
fallback for like-minded people. These are
forums about various topics (parenting,
styling – among the plethora of interests
that can exist) and they basically serve as
a common fall-back for people who know
they can connect with other people who will
have reliable responses for the same issues.
It is social media in the form of relatability
and personalisation, where people can feel
connected and related instead of distanced or
overawed, as is common when encountering
people among larger social networks.

Additionally, it is impossible to not discuss

Quora while talking about forums in India.
Quora serves as an informal social network, could be Clubhouse, which facilitates discussions
which operates on the knowledge-seeking and through the audio medium. It is a voice-based
sharing principle. People connect with each other network in real-time. It has the potential
and look to certain reliable profiles for accurate to dominate the market (as it serves as an
answers. There is a fundamental effort put to alternative to the overwhelming visual medium
build on network effects – all the hallmarks of of social) and is definitely a space where we will
a social network. It has opened itself up and see high traction in the near future.
brands have started realising the unique space
it occupies in the Indian mind space and have Social commerce
started creating their own presence on the While social commerce is not a new platform
platforms – akin to what they would be doing like the others on this list, it is a medium that is
on other social networks. Discussion forums are gaining fast traction in the social space.
already existing in the social space and it is ripe
for further growth in this segment. Traditionally, it involved awareness and
consideration set, with the purchase happening
Audio elsewhere. Through social commerce (and as an
Audio is another space which has the potential to extension, live commerce), social platforms are
become a massive social media presence in the closing the loop through purchase, leading to
near future. The first obvious route is podcasts, end-to-end marketing and consumer influence.
which are picking up massively in India. Podcasts
serve as an informational/follow medium This is definitely a trend that is attractive to
currently, but the concept is ripe to expand into a brands as it provides another channel for sales to
social media network in the near future. a consumer – and one with sharper targeting than
most other platforms. This means that this trend
Additionally, there have been forays into making will be fuelled by brands and is set to be present
audio a social space – the most obvious example across most social platforms in the coming days.

15
 SOCIAL MEDIA

What’s up with social media? multiple documentaries around how companies

Social media platforms have been dominating handle data. Social Platforms tend to make the
the news recently – and not always for positive entire process of opting out of data collection
reasons. There has been a recent overlook into how cumbersome to get drop-offs during the process
social platforms handle content – where they just – something which users have called upon to
post the content but avoid any legal ramifications change.
for the same. Countries across the globe are now
placing more responsibilities on social platforms Advertising in social media
as a means to regulate them, which could have far- Advertising has always been the core of social
reaching ramifications for how content is handled media. The fact that it is free to use and enables
and shared on these platforms. connection across people of all demographics
means it will always have a high audience base.
Advertising revenue is another additional factor And that enables people to effectively maintain
to consider. Recent changes mean that influencers a virtual presence of their lives on social media,
and celebrities have to clearly showcase when they using it as a journal and segway into their lives.
are doing paid promotions and when they are not.
This enables their audience to accurately gauge This enables social platforms to collect a
their responses to any particular piece of content. massive amount of data about their audience’s
behaviour – their interests, their life stages, their
Additionally, social platforms are being called relationship status – practically nothing is out
up by authorities regarding user anonymity. This of bounds for updates on social media (and by
was especially evident during the recent racial extension, mapping of data for social platforms).
attacks on footballers by audiences – where This, in turn, enables these platforms to offer
measures are being put in place for the user data a wide range of audience behaviour targeting
to come out to ensure real-life ramifications. which can be tapped into by brands – from
general interests to current job titles to people’s
Data privacy is another field where there is a preference for a particular level of luxury – social
lot of conversation in recent times – along with media platforms have it all to be harnessed by
BREAKING NEWS

HEADLINES

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16
brands. The whole concept of detailed targeting the right audiences as these are the important
on digital originated from social platforms due to basics one needs to get right to enable successful
the in-depth behavioural understanding present. advertising in the social sphere.

Revenue for social platforms usually comes from Making the most of social media
advertisements – the user’s entry is free, so there advertising
is the scope for building complex and massive Uniformity helps- We know brands are present
user networks. This, in turn, means that there across multiple social platforms (and a lot of
is a huge potential consumer base for brands to times, across multiple touchpoints on the same
target – which they do through paid advertising. platform). Therefore, it becomes important that
The higher the network effects and users on the they approach consumers with an omnichannel
platform, the higher the ability to monetise it for uniform presence – they maintain consistency
increased revenue. in how they treat their availability across social
platforms. This enables their consumers to get an
These platforms have been used by brands as understanding of what to expect from the brand,
a separate channel to communicate with the and they will behave accordingly.
consumer (a lot of times, the same consumer
across different channels). The challenge remains Regular posting is vital- ‘Out of sight, out of
around how to engage the consumer through mind’ is a term that could have been cherry-
different social platforms, create value across picked for social media. Posting regularly helps
each platform and make them follow the brand, brands stay in touch with consumers and it gives
as it increases the touchpoints for the consumer. consumers something new to expect from the
brand with reasonable regularity. Lack of this
Advertising on social can be of various means – aspect means that the consumer will often mean
pure play content marketing where certain brands that brands start to slip from the consideration
create engaging content that their consumers set due to the plethora of choices available.
make a point to follow their pages, thus increasing
advertising through organic content measures. Engaging content- This is something that is non-
There are also various post promotions – where negotiable in today’s day and age. The attention
the brand pushes their content onto new and span of the digital consumer is small and as
existing users through paid marketing – which such, brands need to have engaging content
opens up access to new consumers. These can be to stand out in the consumer’s mind. Keeping
posts, images and videos, which are all promotable posts interesting becomes paramount and as
through a media push. Additionally, there is such, overall engagement across organic content
also social influencer marketing, where brands becomes the name of the game.
reach out to consumers through influencers who
promote the brand to their following on social Value is important- It’s never just about selling.
platforms, increasing the overall reach available. Just like marketing, social media advertising
works when brands provide value for consumers
Social platforms generally give pre-defined rather than focus on pure selling. Just plain
objectives that can be decided ahead of creating product posts will only go so far.
a campaign (from awareness objectives to result-
oriented objectives like store visits). Choosing A unique strategy for each platform- Each
the right objective is as important as selecting social platform has its own selling point and is

17
 SOCIAL MEDIA

used by consumers for different purposes (the the platform, and to manage expectations
same consumer would behave very differently accordingly. (For example, the definition of a
on Instagram and Twitter, for example). By completed view-through is different for different
extension, it would be a very risky strategy for platforms). Additionally, it is equally important
brands to treat each platform the same. While it to gauge the different targeting parameters and
becomes important to maintain the same tone what each of them means (for example, interest
of voice across platforms, the content that needs expressed means something very different in
to go on each platform has to be dramatically real life compared to how it becomes classified
different to start adding value for the consumer on social media).
across multiple platforms.
What next?
Promotions become necessary- Social Media Social Media, ultimately, is a digital behemoth
platforms have their own internal algorithms that has made its presence felt in almost every
which means that brands might not reach their aspect of our online communication. Social
entire audience base through organic content Media started off as the virtual aspect of our
posting (in fact, in most cases, it is barely a tenth personal diaries that we used to maintain – it was
of the same). In this scenario, media promotions a record and repository of our life. From there, it
on social platforms become absolutely vital in has evolved into a field that sets trends, shapes
enabling brands to reach the right audiences – opinions enable agenda setting and has its roots
this allows them to expand their consumer base in almost every action on the internet.
by making their brand more discoverable to
newer audiences. The power of social media is so massive that
every industry is getting disrupted through social
Metrics and targeting are important- Each – recently, a real estate social media platform
social platform has its own way to define each launched, which brings together buys, sellers,
metric. It becomes vitally important to identify reviewers and discussions across the same
and understand what each metric means on platform, to make the aspect of buying a house
seamless. It is prevalent as brands and
audiences are realising the power it
enables them to have – thus ensuring
quick adoption in every aspect.

As new changes in technology

continue to happen, social media
will find newer ways and means to
grow. The current landscape will be
transformed – it is just a matter of
who adapts best to the ever-
fluctuating changes. But
even transformed, the core
aspect of social connections in
social media will continue to prevail.

Like it or hate, we can’t live without it.

18
 SEARCH

DECODING THE CONUNDRUM OF

SEARCH
ADVERTISING
A look into how ‘search’ plays a crucial role in guiding marketers to
understand the overall consumer behaviour and their journey on digital

SKANDARAM VASUDEVAN
Sr. Partner – Digital Strategy, DDB Mudra Group

Search is one of the important tools utilised by looking for and how we can understand digital
marketers to reach out to consumers. It is one of user behaviour. As per Google’s study in Search
the fundamental beginnings of the marketing for 2021, there was a significant rise in online
process as it is how we start finding other things shopping searches that increased by almost 32
on the internet. As such, search also acts as a per cent in India. Additionally, sale days on online
behavioural trend into what consumers are platforms show a very significant increase with

20
almost 100 per cent in related search terms. This of the internet. It classifies the various steps
is validated by the increase in online shopping available and helps consumers connect to other
during the pandemic. aspects of the internet for further information
hunting, enabling the modern, chaotic consumer
According to Google, 15 per cent are brand new journey possible. It is estimated that 3 out of 4
searches that are from new user segments, people access different online portals or touch
across categories and for all kinds of queries. points by using search.
With these multiple billions of searches that
happen every day, certain behaviour can be This is validated through search behaviour. If we
observed in searches, which is reflected by the consider Google’s results through their research
current situation in the country. for the year 2021, some interesting results crop
up which validate the above point.
And with more people relying on digital, they
are faced with an abundance of choice and There was a 41 per cent increase in interest in
information, which they distil further through identifying the best brands as people went from
the means of this medium. The advent of the awareness to active consideration. There was
pandemic meant that this behaviour was further also a significant increase in searches around
augmented and at the core of most of these QR code payment (about 38 per cent), as people
journeys, search plays a vital role. started adopting digital payments. Again, a
behavioural trend that was accelerated by the
Useful across consumer journey pandemic.
Search is vital throughout the consumer journey,
from the first research into a brand to final The above just goes to further prove that search
conversion, acquisition and even post-purchase has a significant presence across multiple touch
in the form of reviews and testimonials. Search points of the consumer journey. It also highlights
and search keywords play a role across and are the need for brands to have an omnipresent
one of the major touch points for consumers approach husing search as a strategy, while they
across their purchase journey. It serves as a vital focus on keyword and ad strategy. This will help
intermediary – helping consumers make sense brands effectively impact consumer journeys.

Emotional Journey
Trigger
Evaluate
Explore
Empowered Joy
Conviction

Passion Clarity

Source: Google
Purchase
Fuzzy/Unclear

21
 SEARCH

The two pillars - SEO vs SEM This revolves around identifying what people
There are generally two major aspects to search – are looking for online and bridging that connect
SEO and SEM. Both are completely different, and to people and the solutions they are looking for
yet, both are often confused with each other. At from the brand through content that they wish
their core, these are tools and means in search to to consume. All of these are vital in crafting an
reach the required target audiences. effective strategy for SEO.

In a nutshell, it can be defined as SEM

• SEO - A completely organic method to be SEM (known as Search Engine Marketing)
present across search results. revolves around showcasing the brand and
gaining traction through paid means. A
• SEM - A paid method to be present across commonly used term to indicate SEM is also PPC
search results. (Pay per click) – depending on the bid type, you
pay for each type of interaction rather than just
SEO showcasing the brand.
SEO stands for ‘search engine optimisation.’The
whole process of SEO revolves around optimising It involves identifying the most searched
the quality and ability of the brand website to be keywords - the backbone of every and any search
present across search results, thereby positively strategy, checking on how much competition
impacting traffic organically. bidding is present for each of those keywords and

22
further increasing efficiency and optimisation have engaged with the brand and visited the
to ensure the best possible results, basis the site, to showcase the ads again across the Google
campaign objectives that include conversions, ecosystem and ensure they are finally able to
clicks and more. convert for the brand.

Various campaigns can be run for an overall Evolving criteria in search

search campaign, which involves For everyone across the globe, search has become
• Search Ads (text ads) synonymous with Google. Both terms are often
• Shopping Ads used interchangeably, and it is easy to see why,
• Display Ads with Google dominating the charts for search
• Gmail Ads usage. It has become one of those rarefied brands
• YouTube Ads where the brand and the category/action are used
These are all different types of ads and ad formats synonymously with each other (Xerox, anyone?).
present within the Google Ads ecosystem, which
help in reaching the target audience through A look at the top search engines usage across
various engaging and interactive formats. the country shows Google to have a dominating
market share compared to its closest competitors
If we focus on search ads, the objective generally of Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo, in
is to be present at the top of search results. As particular, is a search engine which promises itself
a result of accurate bidding and an exception to be anonymous and not track users, rendering
quality score. this method is used to rank the it a popular choice among people having privacy
efficiency of the ad, website and click-through. concerns.
The goal is to get the consumer to engage with
the brand. It is known that brands only pay for But even as Google dominates overall search,
engagement – clicks, views etc., rather than there is an interesting phenomenon being
visibility(impressions). observed about the basic behaviour across
search.
Combining SEO & SEM
Search is at its most effective when a business There is a departure noted in the shift of brand
focuses on both SEO and SEM. And not just focus keyword searches from Google to marketplaces
but also integrate both approaches and use its like Amazon. This is a phenomenon that is
learnings to create a holistic search strategy. happening worldwide and is observed even in
India. Consumer research worldwide on ‘where
Upon integrating both, we can show a holistic they search for products’ indicated that 38 per
picture of the brand. In-depth keyword research cent of consumers search directly on Amazon (as
that goes into an overall strategy around SEM a first choice) while about 40 per cent do it via
can often be used as a base to identify and place search engines. Consumers are using Amazon
keywords for SEO, which helps in further visibility. as their first landing platform as there is a belief
Additionally, an integrated approach means that that Amazon knows what the consumer wants.
the brand has a presence across both organic and
paid listings, thereby ensuring an almost 100 per Certain reasons why consumers prefer searching
cent presence. Through website visitors, whether on Amazon directly:
organic or paid, we can create remarketing
campaigns which enable us to target people who • It is easier to search on Amazon as it throws up

23
 SEARCH

Google Bing Yahoo DuckDuckGo Ecosia.Org Others

97.93% 1.02% 0.10% 0.05% 0.01% 0.88%
Source: SimilarWeb

the most relevant brand results. marketing has seen a dramatic spike in overall
• It traces the user’s search history on the adoption in the country.
platform to further refine product results.
• It has extensive customer reviews, which give According to industry reports, it is estimated
a perspective on the product that is being that voice searches are growing at almost 270
purchased. per cent, year-on-year. And close to 80 per cent
• It also showcases multiple sellers, allowing of smart phone users are using voice technology,
consumers to opt for one of their choices. through various means.

In an era of convenience, Amazon is simplifying Voice technology has had a long format of
the whole process of shopping, thus enabling growth in the country. Since the introduction
more people to opt for it. While Google tends to of Siri in 2011 (Siri was the first-time voice
show a barrage of information including articles, technology was taken seriously), there was a
blog content etc. – Amazon simplifies the whole steady growth in technology majors introducing
process and directly shows the products (and their voice assistants. Google Assistant, Cortona
reviews) in a simplified and easy manner, thus by Microsoft and Alexa by Amazon all followed
getting more people to opt for it. suit. This also led to specific devices outside of the
smart phone ecosystem, catering specifically to
This is a worrying trend, even for Google as voice-activated searches like Google Home and
this has implications from a manufacturer’s Amazon Echo, among others – which combine
perspective. This consumer shift means that
Amazon becomes a better/preferred choice for
most sellers and manufacturers, in terms of
presence. Extending it further is ad revenues. The
more that manufacturers and companies spend
on Amazon search to showcase their product,
the lesser the overall pie becomes for Google to
capitalise on (although, let’s make no mistake, an
overwhelming majority of spends on Search still
happens on Google, despite the above).

Voice Marketing Searches

Voice marketing is a medium that has seen
dramatic growth in the country. Due to steady
and cheaper access to the internet and large scale
smart phone availability at cheap prices, voice

24
voice searches with other utilities like speakers During our regular course of work, when we
and smart-home enablers. were checking into different categories, we came
across a brief for a specific brand in the gold loan
This has also led to the application of voice category (a type of loan obtained against gold
activation in other areas of life. These days car and gold valuables). Naturally, we looked into the
manufacturers have their voice assistants to help search behaviour of audiences for the category,
navigate various activities while driving. It has and we found that there was a de-growth in the
become so convenient that you can dictate to the quantum of searches from the previous year to
VA to change music, read aloud a message and the current year. Naturally, we assumed that the
respond to it and navigate to a different location same was true of the actual behaviour of the
– among other activities. category itself.

This also has major implications in the space of However, when we verified with the brand,
ecommerce, where voice-based assistants are we found out that the brand (and basis of
rising. Businesses are capitalising on the power of other reports) the overall category too, had
voice to enable customers to place orders, just by experienced a very positive outlook. The previous
talking to the voice assistants. This has essentially year’s performance was the best reported by the
enabled various ecommerce platforms to grow category in recent times and it was predicted that
even further, as listings are now accessible even it would become even better in the current year.
in various under-developed parts of the country.
In light of this contrast between search quantum
Voice advertising leads to a lot of opportunities. and category performance, we looked to evaluate
Advertisers, in a similar fashion, can choose to target how the difference could be explained. We came
certain keywords, thereby engaging customers in up with a few reasonable conclusions as to how
dialogues when they speak those specific words. this could have panned out
They can also use the ability to customise responses
basis consumer replies, thereby providing a higher • Category is well established
rate of engagement. This also increases accuracy in It is a very well-established category, especially
reaching the consumer, as invalid in the key markets of the South that we were
clicks and other issues become looking at. These brands spend aggressively
non-existent. on mass media (high reach mediums) to
ensure brand retention. Thus, high awareness
Search Mirrors User meant that there could be fewer people
Demographic Of The searching for various options. Instead, they
Country could probably be going out and purchasing
While we have seen how the the specific products in question.
pandemic caused a rapid increase
in searches across categories • Solid brand preference
(a trend which has continued There are a few key players in the market.
post lifting of the lockdown and And people already have their preferences
relaxation of norms too), there for the brands in question established. So, the
are certain categories where the overall search activity could be lesser as the
inverse is the case. decision has already been reached. This brand
preference would again be helped by the

25
 SEARCH

multitude of famous personalities endorsing More the information presented about the target
a particular brand. audience, the market and how the product can
solve a problem, the better the search ad can be
• Word of mouth works better crafted to suit audience needs. Proper knowledge
For this category, personal experiences of the audience (including their behaviour, traits,
and word of mouth work far better than an concerns) will help craft effective communication
objective evaluation of criteria. Gold is a very that will appeal to the audience.
personal and intimate item for Indians and as
such, any decisions involving gold also become 2. Ads have to be more persuasive
the same. Hence, personal recommendations Even with just plain search advertising,
matter more. copywriting plays a crucial role in how successfully
the ad can perform. The whole aspect of making
While all of the above could be true, we also came an ad appeal to the consumer applies here (along
to another, very interesting conclusion. We do with highlighting the different features of the
know that India is getting younger and a large products). Being particular about what we want
majority of our population is below the age of 45. to advertise helps avoid confusion when the
This forms the core of our working audience and consumer actually views our search ad.
it is only growing younger as the days go by.
Identifying what features are looked for by
In contrast to this, the general age demographic consumers and incorporating the same in
for this type of loan would be an older audience. the search copy helps in making the ad more
The younger millennial and Gen-Z audience persuasive and getting consumers to actually
(who would favour search) has never been click on the ad, because it is more relevant.
inclined towards gold (or don’t have the resources
to purchase enough gold to then apply for a gold
loan). And for the older audience, search might
not be the first resort they look for evaluating the
best option among gold loans.

In light of this, we were able to draw our

conclusions that while the category was
experiencing a sharp upturn in overall revenue
and sales, the search experienced a de-growth
because the demographic who would apply for
a gold loan was not the audience who typically
uses search for their decisions.

Tips & Tricks Around Search Marketing

1. Awareness of audience is still important
Although it is mostly the intent audience who access
search (which, in turn, increases effectiveness),
proper knowledge of the audience becomes vital. It
is important to be aware of the issues faced by the
audience to properly create effective ads.

26
3. Keyword research becomes crucial 4. Bid amount and quality score are important
The most important part of viewing how a search to determine view ability
ad is seen is keywords. Keyword research is critical The bid amount (for example, on CPC (Cost
for ad view ability. Search engines map audience per Click)) becomes crucial in determining the
intent by using keywords to ad copy and then visibility of an ad. As covered earlier, the more
show relevant ads to the consumer. the competition, the higher the bid can go. The
bid amount considered is also incremental (if you
Google Keyword Planner is an important tool in have a higher bid than the competition, only an
gauging how the audience searches for various incremental higher amount is considered as the
topics. It also highlights the overall monthly bid and not the complete amount – which could
search volumes for each of those keywords, be tens of rupees higher).
allowing people to identify and plan which
keywords can get higher results. It allows for Quality score is also crucial to determine the ad
greater exploration of ideas as the Keyword visibility. It is the overall experience of the user
Planner shows related results along with the once they click on the ad and land on the website.
searched keywords, allowing the user to expand It is generally scored from 1 to 10, with 10 being
the campaign by including other relevant the highest. It is a function of multiple things
keywords.
• Overall CTR (Click Through Rate) – the
Competitiveness on keywords is another likelihood of someone clicking on the ad and
important aspect to consider. The more the going through it.
competition presence on a certain keyword,
• Ad Relevance – how relevant is the ad to the
product being advertised and the keywords
being bid upon?

• Landing Page – the user experience on the

landing page and how useful it is to the user
landing on the page also have an impact

Both the bid amount and quality score become

crucial cogs in ad view ability for search.

5. The right tools are vital

The right tools form a part of accurate marketing
on search. As covered earlier, a keyword planner
is a vital tool to plan for what keywords should
be part of a brand’s search strategy, which have
adequate people searching for it. Google Trends
is also a useful tool to identify what keywords
are more popular over a while, across different
the higher the bid amount that needs to be parts of the country. There are other multiple
considered to showcase ads for the specific optimisation tools available which focus on
keyword. getting the best results out of search marketing

27
 SEARCH

to reach business objectives. The right tools can 8. Quality content is still key
be a huge boost to any search campaign. On digital, there is no escaping the creation of
quality content. On search, outside of search ads,
6. Harness ad extensions for better results part of quality content involves the information
An important arsenal in the marketer’s play and quality of the website (and more specifically,
book are ad extensions. Ad extensions are the landing page).
varied and range from location extensions,
callout extensions, site links, structured This generally means that the website has all of
snippets and price extensions, among others. the information that the audience is hoping to
Adding extensions enables the brand to give glean from visiting it. The site should also have
more information to a consumer than what is information that is relevant to the ad that is
possible from a regular search ad. Additionally, directing users to the landing page.
it also improves overall ad performance, so it is
generally valuable to have multiple ad extensions Having insightful information on the site rather
to showcase detail. than just click-baits will help cement a positive
relationship with consumers and enable better
7. Competition analysis becomes very performance of search ads.
important
How the competition is faring in terms of search As we have seen, Search is one of the most
becomes very important. It is also necessary to fundamental tools used by the consumers in their
see what sort of overall marketing activities the journey today and is practically irreplaceable. It is
competition is involved in, and by extension, also a crucial medium for brands to get right as
how that plays out on search. Some tools it is one of first things checked for and viewed
showcase examples of advertisements that the by the consumer. A fundamental part of every
competition is running, which become useful as marketer’s playbook, Search only continues to go
a benchmark to check existing campaigns. This from strength to strength. There are useful tools
helps to outperform the competition on searches. one can make use of to properly decipher and
formulate a search strategy and it is important
that brands use all of the resources at their
disposal to get things right.

28
 ORM

ORM:
THE INDISPENSABLE
EXERCISE
A deep dive into
ORM as a concept,
its growth, tips
that brands need REVIEW
to consider and the
ways with which
it can bear the
sweetest fruits

SAMEER NARKAR, Founder and Chief Product Architect, Konnect Insights

CHIRAG BHATIA, Sr. Vice President, Account Management, DDB Mudra Group

Online Reputation Management (ORM) today Experts do not see ORM as a one-time activity
sits at the front seat when it comes to the digital but a constant effort where the brand custodians
marketing space. For the unversed, ORM is have to regularly indulge in sustained efforts
essentially about ensuring that a brand’s positive to monitor, assess, and actively put efforts into
image is upheld and sustained in the online ensuring the brand’s true image and position are
world. It is a set of activities that need to be maintained in a positive light on online channels.
done cohesively to ensure that a brand’s values, The channels could comprise owned (websites,
perception, and position are reflected in the apps, social media channels), earned (news
right manner. If there is any negativity around sites, forums, review sites, etc.), and paid media
the brand, it needs to be countered to restore the (online ads).
positive repute of the brand.

30
The major activities that encompass the ORM multiple other customers as well as prospective
process are: customers. It assists brands in instilling a “feel
SEO – This aims to improve the SERPs of the good factor” in the customers’ minds. These
brand by using techniques to boost the brand’s customers are those who the brands help become
website or app search results spokespeople for the brand. They talk among
other prospective customers, spreading the word
Social Media - It is about creating and posting about the brand in a positive way
content on social media that builds engagement
between the brand and its target audience Helps improve and maintain brand image
When brands engage with their customers and
Digital PR - This is about getting online prospects on online platforms, it demonstrates
publications to cover the brand in a positive light that they not only care about selling their
products and services but are also ready to help
Paid Ads - Though not primarily ORM-focused, the customer post the purchase. It also helps
this activity helps drive more traffic to the brand’s in ensuring that brands effectively utilise the
assets online with certain CTAs like boosting products/ services, which in turn aids in overall
engagement or followers, or even getting customer satisfaction
downloads and leads
Boosts sales
And other efforts like soliciting content from 90 per cent of consumers make the effort to
influencers or their sites/social media channels, thoroughly scrutinise online reviews before
managing reviews, and discussion forums. going ahead with purchases. Ensuring that all
existing clients are satisfied and happy with the
Crisis management is also an important aspect product, reflects the brand in a manner that aids
of ORM as, during a crisis, the probability of the in enforcing these products in the prospect’s
brand’s positive image taking a hit is higher, minds. This, in turn, helps improve sales
especially if the crisis is relevant to the brand or
its industry. While the aforementioned activities Makes brands more relevant
will still be used in a crisis management scenario, Having an online presence is all about the
the focus on certain activities like digital PR or amount of traction a brand gets. When a brand is
managing reviews may increase depending
upon the intensity of the crisis.

Gauging its importance

When most of the transactions are carried out
online, it is very important to ensure that the
brand is presentable. Maintaining a reputation
is equally important while starting a new
business. Here is why you must include ORM in
your marketing plans:

Helps increase brand awareness

When brands respond to customer queries or are
involved in online conversations, it is visible to

31
 ORM

platforms helps in improving the traction the

brand receives. These conversations, being public,
are noticed by everyone. Besides just prospects, it
also helps in portraying a positive image to other
prospective employees. Seeing how the brand
responds to its customers in a positive manner
speaks volumes about the company and its work
ethics. This can help attract fresh talent to be a
part of the company.

Differentiate from the competition

With markets across all sectors becoming
saturated with competitors, it is important for
brands to differentiate themselves in the market.
Responding or communicating with customers
aids in differentiating the brand as one that cares
for its customers.
involved in a conversation with its customers and
prospects, it just increases the number of online Mapping ORM’s evolution
conversations regarding the brand. The higher Initially, the process of reputation management’
the number of conversations they have, the better involved making the brand as visible as possible
the chances are that their social efforts will be that involved engaging in PR activities. With
reflected on people’s social feeds. This portrays the the emergence of the internet, it has become
brand as more “trendy” and relevant. necessary to make the brand as visible as possible
on online channels, and that too in a positive light.
Having positive interactions with customers This was the natal stage of ORM and involved
increases the number of conversations pertaining activities ranging from page optimisation to
to the brand on online platforms. This increase in backtracking. At this stage, brands were only
the number of positive conversations makes the involved in improving brand image through
brand more visible on feeds, portraying the brand visibility without attaching much importance to
as active and “trendy.” customer satisfaction.

Builds trust in customers With changing trends, it has become important

When customers and prospects see the brand for brands to not just promote themselves
responding to each and every query possible but listen to their customers’ voices. With the
and resolving consumer issues, it forms a sense internet becoming more accessible than ever
of belonging in their minds. It conveys a sense before, the number of online conversations has
of care to them, instilling confidence in the skyrocketed. With the brand receiving so many
products/ services. It makes them feel that if they conversations, it has become crucial for them to
were ever to face an issue regarding the brand, listen to, interact with, and engage with these
the brand would be ready to resolve the issue conversations to manage their reputation from
the customers’ point of view.
Attract fresh talent
Having multiple conversations on social Recent ORM practices don’t only involve having

32
a framework to respond to online queries but your online reputation only if they are kept up to
also having a framework to make changes to date on a regular basis in order to gain an organic
completely eradicate customer pain points. following
It involves listening to the brand’s customers’
voices and understanding their preferences 3. Respond to online reviews
and needs to better develop and improve the According to the 2022 Local Consumer Review
brand’s products/ services that align with their Survey, 67 per cent of consumers will consider
consumers’ pain points. posting a review if they have a good experience,
while 40 per cent will consider leaving a review
It is critical to place the customer at the centre of if they have a poor one. This demonstrates the
the business. In terms of brand differentiation, significance of reviews in sustaining an online
customer experience is more essential in today’s reputation. Encourage your satisfied consumers
world and sometimes even outscores product cost. to talk about your company and provide reviews
on various social media channels
Customer experiences are closely related to
online reputation management (ORM) for the 4. Avoid online arguments
brand. Online reputation management is a great No matter who is correct or who began the fight,
solution for organisations of all sizes to learn and it is critical to recognise that engaging in an
affect customer experiences by aligning their online debate harms your brand’s image and is
business with the demands of customers. perceived as unprofessional

Carving an impactful ORM 5. Make meaningful changes

strategy Sometimes, errors can be unavoidable. As a
The easiest method to manage and mitigate the result, they cannot be avoided but may be
effects of unfavourable and negative reviews is to dealt with effectively. So, if your brand makes a
set in place an online reputation management
plan before it’s too late. Remember that if brands
can’t maintain their online presence positively,
they become their own worst enemies.

The following are six strategies to assist you with

improving your online reputation management:

1️. Increase the product’s digital visibility

If you want to develop a powerful online presence
for your company, forget about the brand and
concentrate on the product. Yes, it is your product
that buyers desire; thus, sell your product and
your brand will develop on its own

2. Keep an eye on your social media

accounts
Having several social media profiles for your
business and products will enable you to manage

33
 ORM

mistake, it is critical to recognise it and

sincerely apologise to individuals who
have been harmed

6. Incorporate technology
Using tools that aid in improving
your ORM efforts by fetching
data from multiple channels
allows you to take action
against this data in an effective
and timely manner. This will help
you better allocate your time and resources,
increasing productivity

Using tools that aid in improving your ORM the fact that the ‘Customer is the king’.
efforts by fetching data from multiple channels
allows you to take action against this data in We are in the era of customer experience where
an effective and timely manner. This will help consumers increasingly demand comfort in
you better allocate your time and resources, ways to interact with companies and are vocal
increasing productivity more than ever. Just that the way they speak
has changed to online mediums i.e. nowadays
Catalysing ORM’s growth word of mouth is different “it’s moved online”.
The Jio Revolution along with smartphones On the other hand, if you don’t comfort them
becoming so affordable has resulted in over or don’t listen to them they are very quick on
800Mn Indians being online today with over 550 feeling ignored and they leave because there is
Mn Indians on social media. This has led to people competition welcoming them with open arms.
turning to digital for the easiest tasks and social
has become the simplest conversation media for The online rendezvous with brands which was
everyone. It just takes a blink of an eye to type a a reality earlier only in the tier 1 cities is now
few words on that ‘Write something here’ box on prevalent in 2 & 3 tier cities and also.
Facebook, tag companies and one can create a
sensation of a magnitude that one desires. Today, a 140-character post by a common man
has the power to wipe out market caps. Literally,
Customers believe that if they speak on social just one tweet at the right time and place, by
media, their voice is heard faster on issues which anyone with very few followers, can create its
were not otherwise attended proactively. They own momentum and bring a brand to its knees
have tasted success via this route in the past overnight. All the dollars spent on marketing will
and are cognizant of the fact that the brand is go down the drain.
as strong as the customers believe it to be. They
are split by choice and they understand that in It is not an unknown fact that Identifying,
today’s age when they speak not only the brand understanding, and resolving customer issues
listens, but their voice is also heard by millions of fast go a long way. So, when conversations have
others thereby building love, affinity and hate for moved online then ideally ORM should not take
the brand. In today’s age are truly cognizant of a back seat on the marketing table. We must

34
remember the fact that more often people when Making the best use
they are happy tell you and when unhappy tell Online reputation management is a blessing
others, which in today’s time and age is not only for brands which realise its importance. Else, in
word of mouth but social. In fact, social is the the past, brands could never speak and influence
new word of mouth. Hence, having a great ORM customers so easily nor could get consumer insights
practice is extremely important and has direct so easily without doing tedious surveys etc.
implications on your brand equity
A brand which recognises the opportunity
Enabling the consideration set will not only use it for solving customer issues
for ORM but also for product/brand communication
One of the earlier surveys done by BW-DDB on development. Product managers across the
ORM found that 71 per cent of marketers believe world have always struggled to know what the
that ORM is still in nascent stages in India and & market wants but now customers’ voices can be
74 per cent of SMEs and MSMEs believe ORM to served on a platter with the analysis that listening
be ‘non-indispensable’ & yet to become a priority. and social analytics tools offer which can be
This is evident in our client interactions where used as strategies to strengthen the market
most understand the importance of the same receptiveness about your product and can be one
by the inertia and intent to implement is clearly of the inputs in carving a clear path towards what
lacking. Also, ORM adoption isn’t about the size of market wants to be included in your product road
the company but is about realising its importance map. Today, social analytics equals the voice
of it. Even the very small local businesses do of customers. This holds good not
it very effectively and some of the largest only for your own product but
conglomerates with multimillion-dollar also to do a dipstick and
turnovers have not even embarked on market sentiment
the journey. analysis about not
only individual
Our earlier survey also found competitors but
out that: also the whole
• 86 per cent of marketers industry.
believe ORM to be part of a
larger brand experience journey As important as
social media is,
• 83 per cent of large spenders equally important is
believe ORM connects to identifying how to harness and
marketing but “stands in its own decipher it. ORM is the tool that enables
right” as well marketers to make sense of the wild jungle of
social media, allowing for better engagement
Marketers are unaware or do not understand with consumers. ORM is definitely a consumer-
ORM, but a decent percentage of brands lack centric activity and is one of the important things
initiative till the time they are hit by a crisis. No that a brand can embark on, as it provides a direct
qualified numbers are available for this domain viewpoint into what consumers are perceiving
but ORM is growing rapidly and it is just a matter about brands. It is for this reason that it has
of 2-3 years before most organisations will have become a staple in the marketers’ playbook.
an ORM practice.

35
 MESSAGING PLATFORMS

WHAT’S UP WITH
MESSAGING
PLATFORMS
An observation into messaging platforms and what makes them
tick, especially with the younger generations. It also looks into
chatbots and how they are evolving into newer spheres, while also
discussing how brands can make use of them accordingly

NUPUR SHARMA
Sr. Partner – Digital Strategy, DDB Mudra Group

36
Long long ago, when streets still had pay
phones, and we all had landlines, it was
software programmer Neil Papworth
who sent the first text message in 1992.
And the rest is history!

It’s two decades to it and the way

consumers connect, talk and build
relationships has seen a drastic shift
in the past few years. Gone are the
days when the validity of a human
connection was based on proximity. In
the past 20 years, texting has replaced
other forms of communication as our
main tool.
Why Does Instant Messaging Work?
Texting has facilitated communication in a Millennials and Gen Z have been born into
variety of ways, including enabling individuals to a digital world and lived the digital life
skip lengthy phone conversations and making a since childhood and the pandemic has only
harmless ‘Hello’ much quicker. accelerated this process. Instant messaging plays
a central role as a means of communication and
The Pew Research Center says that 72per cent of is changing faster than we might think. Whether
teenagers routinely text and 1 in 3 sends more we use social media platforms, dating apps, or
than 100 texts every day. Young people prefer text office communication platforms, it’s messaging
messaging over other forms of communication, that keeps us hooked. The many reasons why
and adults are not far behind, following this people are so driven toward using messaging
trend by texting far more frequently than they apps include:
did only a few years ago.
1. No wait time: If we know anything about
The way we communicate and consume today’s consumers, it’s that they are really
information is constantly evolving. We are impatient and demanding. This means that the
today, more visually oriented than ever and have consumer wants, what he/she wants and when
shorter attention spans. A simple ‘like’ now serves she wants. So naturally, the very famous quote
as a sufficient answer in many situations, and “good things comes to those who wait” does not
the word ‘emoji’ even made it onto the Scrabble hold true in today’s world. This means that the
authorised list. consumer today does not even want to wait when
it comes to communication. Instant messaging
As the needs and expectations of the consumer allows you to communicate with others in real-
are evolving, the messaging apps are quick to time, with no delays as those associated with
respond to the change. Messaging apps today other forms of communication like email. As
aren’t just the plain boring text messaging long as the other person is available, you can hold
platforms, but you can share videos, audio, voice a conversation instantly, meaning quicker and
messages, stickers, GIFs, documents, and photos, more efficient communication. This is reason one,
with your contacts. for the appeal that messaging apps have today

37
 MESSAGING PLATFORMS

2. Personal: While people love using other social Smartphone Penetration in India
media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram,
there is something that these instant messaging 96%
platforms provide that social media platforms
don’t i.e a personal touch. While the world goes
more and more social, the importance of personal 54%
touch becomes more important. The ability to

2040
chat one of one with people and share personal

2022
details is unique to messaging apps

3. Non-Intrusive: People lead busy lives

today and calling often seems like an intrusive
Source: Industries source
option. A quick message is often the best way to
communicate your message without disrupting communication. This, coupled with the mobile-
the receiver of the message first behaviour in India has led many global
messaging apps to open shop in our country. In
4. Experience: Today’s messaging apps are not 2022, most Indians are accessing the internet
just texts- they are multimedia. Instead of writing using their smartphones. If the recent numbers
a boring text, you can simply send a fun emoji, a are to be believed then India currently has a
GIF, a photo, a video or an audio note smartphone penetration of 54 per cent, and it’s
expected to reach 96 per cent by 2040.
India gets chatty
With Jio penetrating all parts of the country Today, there are 467 million active social media
and the lowering of smartphone rates, we are users in India, whereas when we compare it to
experiencing a mobile revolution in the country. the most used messaging platform, we have
India has leapt on to adopt newer ways of 487.5 million WhatsApp users, more than the

38
social media users in the country and that is the anymore. Today, while the purchase touchpoint
power of instant messaging apps in India. To may be a brand website or app, the helpful store
make things even more interesting, today India employee is now a bot, just as friendly but much
has the most WhatsApp users in the world. The more efficient. According to HBR, Today 6 out of
use of instant messaging apps in India is not to the top 10 apps globally use messaging apps and
just talk to friends and family but also to interact these are used by over 1.4 billion people across the
with businesses. globe and this increasing by 12 per cent annually.

For sure, Indian users do not only use WhatsApp. Unlike the fragmented experience of email,
They are present on other messaging apps as messaging offers a continuous thread between
well. In fact, the second most popular messaging the customer and the brand. A sale confirmation
app in India right now is Telegram. email, even one that encourages additional
action, frequently expires in the inbox, while
Telegram’s rise in India is particularly striking, messaging app conversations are more like
as it wasn’t even on the map of social media a continuous discussion. This distinction
platforms till about a few years ago. makes follow-up conversations simpler and
more natural, boosting the chances for cross-
Messaging app brands are making every effort to selling, promoting sharing, seeking feedback,
attract users in India. The proliferation of these and ensuring a smooth transition between
apps has sparked a battle for market share. Many support and commerce. The ability for the
of them actively promote on television and hire brand to quickly focus on what customers need
celebrities for their campaigns. The messaging (independent of how they express it) is perhaps
market is already getting crowded, and every the biggest benefit of these app-based, AI-driven
player is trying to differentiate themselves. dialogues. This is because the brand has a solid
awareness of context. The brand can provide the
Messaging apps are changing how customer with a limited number of pertinent
businesses talk to consumers options that meet the need but still give room for
A casual one-on-one conversation with a helpful other choices. On Messenger, the user’s position
employee at a store. That’s how brands connected as an authenticated user is constantly present,
at a purchase point with the consumers. Not which makes it easier for a company to distribute

39
 MESSAGING PLATFORMS

pertinent information. As is the case when 1. Chatbots work 24/7: The first advantage of
businesses interact with customers on Facebook chatbots is that they can work 24 hours a day, 7
or Twitter, the trade-off for brands is that they days a week. If a Chabot struggles to understand
give up some control over the applications. some users’ inputs and gets stuck trying to
answer a question or solve a problem, it can
How brands can leverage these escalate requests to the human support team
messaging apps
Online marketers now have more reasons than 2. Make shopping easy: Facebook Messenger
ever to use messaging technology to engage their enables businesses to reach their customers
clients. For people who work in ecommerce and through, chatbots. Consumers can choose to
online retail sales, this is particularly true. receive information about their orders via
messenger, use the app to contact online retailers
Businesses should take advantage of the chance directly, get product information and prompt
to generate leads, connect with clients, and responses. Everlane and Zulily are one of the first
build long-lasting connections as messaging brands to use Facebook Messenger
applications become more popular than social
media platforms themselves. 3. Chatbots enable more conversation: A
survey conducted by Mobile Marketer found
Users and brands see messaging apps as a that millennials prefer talking to a chatbot
method to engage in conversations and create a rather than a person, such as when checking
direct line of communication with one another the status of their order or searching for product
in a more personal and quick way. This type of information. This is mainly because they want
conversational marketing entails removing quick and accurate answers. Plus, they feel
barriers and embracing dialogue-based more comfortable asking the chatbot questions
interactions through commonly used channels. because they know they won’t be judged if they
think their question might be a bit naive
Connecting through chatbots
Chatbots tend to be very useful in a world where 4. Interact with multiple customers at the
customers expect instant replies from companies. same time: Typically, an employee can handle 3
There are many reasons why brands choose to to 4 simple customer queries at the same time.
connect through chatbots, some of which are: Chatbots can, however, handle as many requests

40
as you want at once. By automating
responses to most queries, chatbots
significantly free up employees’ time,
allowing them to focus on higher-value
tasks

5. Easy collection & analysis of data:

Once you’ve implemented a chatbot
in your business, you can generate a
consolidated report that shows you
how your chatbot is being used by your
customers, what requests are most
common, and more. You can then analyse this Brands upping their game
data, modify your chatbot accordingly and thus Beauty & chatbots: The beauty industry has been
improve your chatbot even once it is deployed quick to adapt chatbots. As one of the first in the
retail industry to use chatbots, Sephora wanted
6. Personalisation possible: As explained in the to use technology to improve customer service
previous section, chatbots can collect data by and experience. After the success of a basic app -
analysing customer input. Thanks to this data, through Kik, the messaging app - they introduced
they can tailor chats to the users, according additional features that made it easier to interact
to many factors like their requests, their way with their brand at home and in-store.
of speaking, etc. For example, chatbots can
use the customer’s name in the conversation. The two services - Sephora Reservation
More sophisticated chatbots can significantly Assistance and Sephora Color Matching - focus
personalise the conversation, making the on key areas of the customer experience. The first
conversation more natural and engaging for the allows customers to easily book appointments
customer with beauticians by sending messages to the
chatbot. Thanks to their intelligent learning
Using ads within messaging apps ability, chatbots can understand the language
In today’s fragmented landscape, where that customers use to interact more easily.
competing for audience attention is tough, Second, Color Match uses augmented reality to
advertising on messaging apps is a compelling help consumers choose colours. The user simply
opportunity to promote a brand. As users leave holds the camera in front of an image or face and
their overloaded feeds, brands can dynamically the shade is determined by an algorithm from
engage with consumers, helping businesses stand the Sephora product line. It can also be used to
out. It makes it easy to bypass the crowds and combine cosmetics with costumes.
interact directly with prospects and customers Coffee with Alexa: Another brand using
through a promotional message, displayed on Chatbots well is Starbucks. In a market as
the home page of the user’s messaging app. competitive as coffee, new ways to make the
ordering process easier are key to standing out
These messages can direct users to the landing from the crowd, even for a well-known brand like
page, where they can learn more about a business Starbucks. With the desire to make ordering as
and come back later and talk to them on the easy as possible, Starbucks introduced a chatbot
messaging app. that works through the MyBarista app, where you

41
 MESSAGING PLATFORMS

to make the experience enjoyable as well. The

bot’s voice is like that of a bartender- relaxed and
easy to talk to. If you are a customer and not just a
learner, you can even place an order.

Brands just need to make sure the bots work

properly with no issues. If it can conquer that, it is
a good application for its target market.

Bot journalism: Part of being in this digital

world is being aware. Today, newspapers are an
old scene, so social media marketing platforms
are primarily used for this purpose. Quartz has
observed the changing habits of consumers on
online news platforms and launched a chatbot
on a popular social networking application.

People love to talk about political, social, and

economic issues, which is exactly what the
can order by voice via Amazon Alexa or by text
company wanted to use. According to Quartz’s
message.
report, bots are designed to collect data about
In addition to allowing customers to stay in the user preferences over time and form a message
comfort of their own homes until their drinks are stream accordingly. The experience includes a
ready (the robot sends you a message when the variety of message beats and fun challenges.
order is ready to be picked up), the barista robot Obviously, chatbot journalism isn’t completely
also allows payment. and charge a tip, which correct yet. After all, it’s a machine and needs to
means all a customer has to do is show up. In be upgraded.
addition, the chatbot will allow loyal customers
Business chatbots will continue to improve over
to place a variety of specific orders and, thanks to
the next few years. New tools and technologies
its learning ability, will be able to assess customer
such as machine learning and natural language
preferences and habits based on previous orders.
processing give you greater control in the
Chatbot as the bartender: Drinking alcohol is workplace. Also, as chatbot architectures evolve,
different from other drinks because it involves interactive AI is becoming the industry-wide
many taste tests, and each person has their own standard for customer service.
color palette. Thus, wine brand Johnnie Walker
Marketers are constantly trying to identify newer
developed bots for Amazon Echo and Facebook
avenues by which they can meaningfully reach
Messenger.
the consumer and messaging apps happen to be
After age confirmation, the bot helps users by a prime part of that conversation. Conversation
providing alcohol knowledge, choosing the best marketing is changing the game in showcasing
whiskey for them based on a series of questions, how brands can advertise and reach the
or offering ideas and recipes to create a mocktail. consumer, while managing to stay meaningful
and relevant. It is an existing new avenue for
What’s unique about this bot is that it shares brands to explore and build connections with
interactive and educational videos and images their consumers.

42
 Section
2

THE GAME
CHANGER
46 ECOMMERCE
ECOMMERCE

GLANCING AT INDIA’S
ECOMMERCE
INDUSTRY

The Indian ecommerce sector is predicted to reach $400 Bn by

2030, propelled by government efforts, an increase in internet and
smartphone penetration, an unprecedented surge in the number of
online buyers, and the rising popularity of the D2C model

NUPUR SHARMA
Sr. Partner – Digital Strategy, DDB Mudra Group

With the advent of new business models Indian consumers are increasingly embracing 5G
including direct-to-consumer (D2C) and the smartphones. In 2020, high consumer demand
quick ascent of social commerce, the ecommerce following the lockdown helped smartphone
sector in India is currently in a late growth stage. shipments reach 150 million units and 5G
Additionally, the nation is home to more than smartphone shipments surpass 4 million. IAMAI
5K active ecommerce startups that are driving and Kantar’s report also projects that the number
growth by promoting the benefits of digital of internet users in India will rise from 622 million
commerce throughout the consumer retail sector. in 2020 to 900 million by 2025, with a CAGR of
45% during that time.
Even before the country begins to roll out the
most recent mobile broadband technology, As incomes, internet usage and penetration

46
grow in India, there is a visible change in the devices, and the ability to share experiences
way people are shopping. With the Big Three with others. This has completely changed
- Amazon, Walmart and Alibaba entering the consumer expectations and the way they shop.
ecommerce sector in India, the market is further As their shopping habits continue to evolve with
maturing and expanding its footprint to the technology., businesses are only left to adapt to
farthest locations across the country. the times to stay relevant.

The pandemic’s play The growth story

The Indian e-commerce market has been one Out of the many reasons, here are some of the
of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic as offerings that have helped the Indian ecommerce
containment measures brought the convenience march towards a profitable road:
of online shopping to millions, prompting savvy
online shoppers to buy more. Social distancing Improved user experience: Today, the consumer
constraints throughout the year, a massive wants what he wants when he wants. The main
smartphone base, and reliable broadband drivers of the explosive expansion of online
boosted ecommerce uptake beyond the metros, commerce are the quick uptake of smartphones,
deep into smaller cities and communities, easy and affordable access to technology, and the
bringing an element of confidence in online convenience of shopping from anywhere, at any
commerce. With the pandemic’s push, Tier 2 and time.
Tier 3 cities are witnessing a 77 per cent increase
in ecommerce activity in 2021 compared to the
previous year, as per a recent report.

Last year, we also witnessed a series of unique

consumer trends, from changing category
preferences to the emergence of ‘new necessities’,
from the adoption of native languages to the
proliferation of payment methods in a new
era. Same with Amazon- it saw the trend of
neighbourhood Kirana stores and offline retailers
joining in to leverage digital technology to reach
their customer’s doorsteps.

Changing the shopping experience

With everything possible at our fingertips, we
sometimes forget how easy it has become to Personalisation: When we go to an offline store,
buy products and services as and when we want. the store is the same for everyone but when it
Online shopping has left an indelible mark on comes to ecommerce, we can tailor experiences
society, far beyond the ability to buy items. based on consumers’ tastes and preferences

Online buying & selling has enabled multiple We are all mobile: With a mobile device in
interactions at the same time, unlike a single in- everybody’s hand today, the ability to scout just
store conversation. It also gives consumers access anything online has become easy. This drives
to information, the ability to shop between further ecommerce industry’s growth

47
ECOMMERCE

Extremely convenient: Online stores make appreciated that consumers no longer have to
it easy for shoppers to find the right size and search for the mall
colour for their clothing without having to search
through a bunch of different items. It can be It’s Social: With the proliferation of channels
shipped directly to their doorstep, without them like Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Shop, and
ever having to go to a physical store. This type TikTok, social media is now an essential part of
of shopping can be done on your break from ecommerce. Since social media is so popular and
your desk, or anywhere else. And, as people people spend a lot of time using these channels,
increasingly value time and convenience, it is it’s important to have an online store that
includes these platforms.

Top trends
Some of the trends that made a difference to the overall consumer experience and purchase journey are below:

1. Augmented reality: This technology helps 5. Chatbots enhance shopping experiences:

shoppers make purchase decisions because Chatbots interact with online shoppers just as
they can actually see what they are buying. AR salespeople do in-store. Today’s shoppers want
is revolutionising the shopping experience in to find and buy products in clicks, but that may be
industries such as fashion and upholstery. This tiresome. This is where chatbots can intervene and
is because it allows the customer to feel the item drive sales
without actually physically having it around
6. Video: Video has been proven to be an excellent
2. Voice search: More and more people not mode to interact with clients. Creating films on your
only own smart speakers but also rely on voice internet site is an excellent manner to immediately
assistants to complete their daily tasks. As more clutch and interact with consumers and tell them
homes adopt smart speakers, more consumers will about your product or service extensively
use voice search to shop online, order groceries, and
organise their lives. The rise of voice search creates 7. Omni-channel: Over the last two years, declining
opportunities for ecommerce businesses in terms shop traffic and rising ecommerce usage have given
of keywords and content Omnichannel a tremendous boost, and it will continue
to grow in 2022. As D2C brands become more aware of
3. AI helps shops learn about shoppers: how limiting it is to only sell through one channel, they
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are also embracing omnichannel strategies alongside.
give customers an automated and personalised Discount-driven trade is giving way to value- and
shopping experience. AI continually collects data convenience-driven commerce. Customers receive a
about how customers shop, when they buy, and smooth experience from an omnichannel strategy
what they want from their products and services. regardless of the shopping platform
This is a technology that businesses wouldn’t want
to ignore 8. Two-tier cities continue to drive growth:
The expansion of India’s ecommerce sector is
4. Big data to play a role in creating being driven by the growing number of aspirant
personalised experiences: Today, many consumers from Tier II+ cities. In order to provide
consumers are more aware that ecommerce sites consumers in “Bharat” with a seamless shopping
collect personally identifiable information, which experience, companies have recognised the
is at risk. For this reason, experts vouch for the enormous development potential of ecommerce in
benefits of big data and how it affects the overall Tier-II+ cities in India. As a result, they are spending
personalised shopping experience in a positive way significantly on infrastructure

48
How brands are responding
Consumer brands are seeking to determine
direct relations with end customers for a spread
of reasons- to come up with deeper insights
about consumer needs, to keep control over
their brand experience, and to differentiate
their proposition to consumers.

For any brand that has considered establishing

a D2C channel in the past and decided against
it, now could be the time to reconsider.
COVID-19 has accelerated profound business
trends, including the large consumer shift to
digital channels. Many companies are active
in launching new DTC programs during the commerce opportunities frequently, according
pandemic. Recent examples are PepsiCo and to business observers. The evolving consumer
Kraft Heinz. behaviour has also had an impact on Indian
sophisticated marketing.
The overwhelming majority of consumer brands
are accustomed to selling through intermediaries, It is anticipated that the user base for product
including retailers, online marketplaces, and ecommerce would expand more quickly than
specialised distributors. Their experience with those for social media and search engines.
direct consumer relationships and ecommerce According to RedSeer, an extra 300 to 350 million
is restricted. As a result, they often hesitate to people will purchase online, 90% of whom would
launch an ecommerce channel despite the plain reside in Tier 2 and above cities. This will not only
opportunity it offers. change the method in which customers buy and
sell, but it will also give brands new chances to
Ecommerce advertising in India connect with their target audiences through
Today, ecommerce advertising is deemed to be ecommerce platforms.
a significant contributor to India’s advertising
expenditure. The AdEx of the online retail sector Ecommerce has seen a significant growth in
has grown by 156% between 2019 to 2021, owing recent times and has overall acceptance from
to the pandemic. While the crisis accelerated the all tiers of society. As such, having a prominent
ecommerce adoption in India by consumers, it presence on ecommerce becomes as vital as
also forced brands to tweak their retail strategy showcasing brands prominently in physical
to finally get their end consumers on board. stores – for all intents and purposes, the function
in a similar manner for the consumer. And with
Over the past five years, wealthier urban residents much improved options to reach consumers on
and urban-dwelling cohorts have spurred more the platform, it becomes even more important
investment and advancement in this space. to have a strong presence, especially at the point
With the use of local dialects and the inclusion of sale. And with increased internet accessibility
of hyperlocal companies, the share of spending in the country, ecommerce is set to continue to
in tier-II cities and beyond is currently growing dominate, making it one of the most important
substantially and opening contemporary mediums to be present on.

49
 Section
3

THE
FUTURE
ORIENTED

50
52 DISPLAY AND VIDEO
62 PROGRAMMATIC
 VIDEO & DISPLAY

VIDEO &
DISPLAY
ON A ROLL

Understanding the video and display ecosystem and how

marketers use it to run successful campaigns

SKANDARAM VASUDEVAN
Sr. Partner – Digital Strategy, DDB Mudra Group

Video has existed as a popular medium since the inflated massively in terms of consumption, with
dawn of television. It naturally extended through both traditional TV and digital video enjoying a
to digital via various platforms like YouTube and massive rise.
Facebook. And then, the advent of Jio meant
that more people had easier access to it than Metering the current trends,India’s video market
ever before. The pandemic meant that video is set to grow massively in the upcoming years.

52
The total video market in the country is set to Video consumption on OTT platforms also had a
grow massively – at almost 10 per cent CAGR massive rise with the advent of two main things –
to about $18 billion (covers both traditional TV vernacular content and sports viewership.
and digital video) - as perindependent research
and consulting firm, Media Partners Asia (MPA). Vernacular content’s rise meant that OTT
There is likely to be an increase in the overall platforms could bridge the gap with TV to build
advertising revenue for the mediums, as more a better regional connection. Platforms started
people will start and continue watching content investing in original content – both in vernacular
online. as well as English, trying to hook people to their
platforms to build an audience base.
Origin of digital video in India
Digital video first became popular with the Sports content on these platforms boosted
advent of YouTube. People accessed YouTube as a OTT platforms massively. IPL was a massive
form of entertainment, watching various creators contributor in the country, building a large
showcase their content. Then, the video spread audience base on OTT, as platforms also offered
its wings and pervaded social media platforms, plenty of engaging, surrounding content through
where it quickly became one of the quickest forms a match to keep audiences hooked long after the
of content consumption. After some time, people completion ofthe match.
reported using social media platforms as a means
of content curation and consumption rather than Newer forms of video
using it for actual social media presence, as social There have been interesting new developments
platforms were able to better predict behaviour in the overall video landscape. The advent of
and showcase content accordingly. It replaced both short video platforms and the new trend
feeds as a concept. The marriage of social media of streaming has just changed the overall
and video served to boost video consumption consumption of video, bringing on newer
and presence in India. audiences to digital video. Digital video is just set
to grow massively – now and in the future.

OTT
YOUTUBE PLATFORMS STREAMING
SOCIAL SHORT
MEDIA VIDEO
VIDEO PLATFORMS

Rise of OTT Short video advertising

Then came the advent of OTT platforms in the Short video advertising is gaining leaps and
country. Initially serving as a TV catch-up medium bounds in India. Originally present via Vine
on digital, it quickly took off with original content (owned by TikTok, it was a platform that proved
and various new shows, marking a dramatic to be ahead of its time), it did not gain a lot of
influx of audience consumption on the platform. traction. Vine allowed its users to create looped

53
 VIDEO & DISPLAY

that the time spent on these

platforms per user has more
than doubled over the past
five years – which indicates
that these platforms have a
high acquisition aspect to get
new consumers on board and
extremely engaging content
to keep current users hooked
and increase their time spent
on the platform.

An interesting aspect of this is

that a lot of growth for these
platforms is now coming from
generally explored markets of
Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Most
6-second videos. However, Vine was launched in brands realise that the subsequent stage for their
2013 and became popular about 2 years later – a growth has to come from these markets as they
time when it couldn’t make use of the advantages generally are targeted and tapped less by them.
existing today with faster internet speeds and The issue generally remains the reachability
better connectivity. of the right audience in these markets and the
ability to reach them reliably outside of a few
However, it was with the advent of TikTok platforms.
(formerly Muiscal.ly) that short videos exploded
in the country in terms of viewership. TikTok was The audiences in Tier 2 and 3 cities are not just
the rage and suddenly it spread across the board consuming content on short video platforms (and
– people were clamouring to use it and other these are new age platforms like Josh, ShareChat
platforms were aspiring to become it. Even after and MX Takatak, among others). They are actively
the ban of TikTok in the country, lots of TikTok creating content on these platforms – enabling
alternatives have sprung up and are currently them to become digital content creators. This is
ruling the short video market. This trend has due to the vernacular positioning of a lot of these
been adopted across platforms, leading to platforms. This is another aspect of the whole
several short video formats across social media – conversation to get influencers involved in brand
the likes of Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts conversations to reach people in these markets.
falling in this category.
Streaming
As per industry experts, India will be home OTT platforms enabled the growth of streaming
to more than 600 million short video format services in the country. It has taken off like the
consumers in less than 3 years. Additionally, the proverbial rabbit at the start of the race and
interesting aspect of the whole conversation is is showing no signs of slowing down. This, of
that it is not just the addition of new users but course, was helped by the pandemic, which
also the time spent by them on the platform caused more users to migrate to these platforms
which has dramatically grown. It is reported to get away from the fatigue of repeat programs

54
on other mediums, leading to a sharp increase in Advertising models
the subscriber base. Until recently, the two principal models
that existed in terms of advertising for OTT
While the pandemic proved to be a shot in the platforms were AVOD (Advertising Video on
arm for these streaming platforms, there was Demand) and SVOD (Subscription Video on
groundwork already present to support the same. Demand). However, of late there has been a new
With improved internet connectivity, increasing model that has made its presence felt – TVOD
consumption of vernacular content and the new (Transactional Video on Demand). And with the
factors of live streaming, it was primed for a increase in customer bases and reducing loyalty
dramatic increase in consumption. to specific platforms (as consumers focus more
on content that they want to consume), we see a
Regional content has been the way to increase combination of different advertising models on
consumption among audiences for almost all the same platform.
streaming platforms in the country. Every single
platform (premium or otherwise) has a very AVOD mainly refers to platforms which use
strong regional connect, spreading across several advertisements as a form of revenue generation.
languages (the likes of Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, The best example of this would be platforms
Malayalam, Bengali, Kannada, Gujarati and like MX Player, Disney+ Hotstar, among others
Bhojpuri) making its presence felt across the top (where the content is available for free).
OTT platforms in the country.
SVOD mainly refers to platforms which revolve
Each platform has its own USPs and hooks to around getting users to subscribe to the platform
get consumers on board. For example, until for a flat fee, enabling them to access content on
2022, Disney+ Hotstar had streaming content the specific platforms. Examples of this would be
from Star networks, licensed shows from places Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+Hotstar
like HBO and live sports. However, with the Premium, among others.
latest edition of IPL shifting platforms, it will
be interesting to spot how the change happens TVOD refers to certain content which can be
in terms of positioning of different platforms, consumed transactionally on OTT platforms, the
as OTT platforms are increasingly getting into basis of either purchase of the content or a fee to
different spaces to try to increase market share. rent the content for a specific duration. Examples
of this would be the movie content on YouTube
which can be bought or rented separately,
and the partner content and newest movies
on Amazon Prime Video which can
be rented or bought outside of
existing subscriptions.

Amazon Prime Video and

Hotstar are again important
examples of a combination of
different advertising models.
Prime Video has both SVOD and
AVOD, depending on the kind of

55
 VIDEO & DISPLAY

stories) will cause the video completion rates

to fall dramatically.

Engaging content
• There is no substitute for good content and
filmography and this is especially true when
we talk about videos. Because that a lot of
people watch videos on social media without
the audio switched on, marketers need to
ensure that their video is engaging visually
to capture their attention and get them to
continue watching the video to completion

content that one desires to consume. Hotstar, with Entry into the market
its VIP subscription, has both AVOD and SVOD • The author found that when a brand makes a
– where some premium content is available (for new entry into the market, long format videos
example IPL or live sports) at the cost of having tend to work well as consumers are discovering a
advertisements playing alongside it. brand and learning more about it. This, of course,
doesn’t work in isolation but as a combination
Long-form vs short-form content with the earlier mentioned factors
With the massive surge in short-form video, it is
evident that it is the future. However, this doesn’t Types of video ads
mean that long-form video has the death knell In-stream Ads
rung for it. There are instances where long format These are the most common types of ads that are
video works well too, but it is becoming rarer, due generally seen during advertising. They can be
to the ever-declining attention span of online either skippable ads (allowing the user to finish
audiences. the ad after a certain duration) or non-skippable
(making the user watch the entire video). These
In advertising scenarios, there are some instances are of multiple types:
where it can potentially work
Exceptional storytelling • Pre-roll ads – These are ads that play before
• A really good story enables better view- the piece of content plays. The benefit is that
through and completion rates for long-format generally, people are more inclined to watch
videos. This is especially true for aspirational it as it is the first piece of communication that
brands and those which have a devoted gets played out (even ahead of the video)
follower base, as there is a greater inclination
to finish watching longer videos • Mid-roll ads – These function similar to regular
commercials that happen on television. These
Relevant information ads play in-between content and depending on
• Long format videos work if there is relevant the platforms, two or more can happen during
and necessary information available a single ‘break’. This ad is beneficial because
throughout the video. Just extending the the user is already committed to watching the
video length through unnecessary means content, so they are more likely to finish the
(lengthy introduction, unnecessary bits in mid-roll video ad to get back to the content

56
• Post-roll ads –These are rarer in today’s day Interstitial ads
and age. These are ads that turn up post the These ads are generally seen a lot more on mobile.
playing of the video It covers the entirety of the screen, using the full
length of the screen to showcase the brand. This
• Overlay ads – These are ads that run on top of ad can generally only be closed and cannot be
video content, generally only covering a small scrolled through.
section of the screen to avoid covering up
the video. These are generally used as brand Tips and tricks for video advertising
reminders during the playing of the video 1. Size Matters!
The attention span of consumers on digital has
• Non-overlay ads – These run along with the been steadily declining. The advent of short
video content and don’t obstruct the video video formats means that it has dropped even
being played further. Hence, the traditional way of having a
long video to promote the brand on digital does
Out-stream ads not always work. Shorter video formats are more
These are ads that are not directly related to frequently consumed by today’s audience, and as
any content. The advantage of this is that it is such, are preferred more by brands to reach out
played as a separate piece (generally seen on to consumers
social channels). If a user is not interested, they
generally tend to scroll out from the video. 2. Customise videos basis platforms
One size fits all doesn’t work for digital video.
• In-article ads – These are ads that are present There are certain platforms which require
within the article as it is scrolled through. It is a different kind of video, which needs to be
also called in-text ads implemented right from the time of shooting
(vertical videos on short video platforms, for
• In-banner ads – These take over a part of the example). So, from the outset of planning the
banner. Some of the banners can be static campaign, it becomes important to consider
content while the video is a part of the ad,
showcasing the promotion

Interactive ads
These are ads which enable you to interact with
them in real-time, allowing you to engage further
with the ads. A lot of game publishers use ads like
these to give consumers the feeling of using the
app.

Reward ads
These are generally in-game video ads, which
give the consumer an incentive in-game if they
complete watching the ad.Thus, enabling greater
completion rates due to a benefit being offered
to the consumer.

57
 VIDEO & DISPLAY

what kind of platforms we want to promote the Display ads

video and create it accordingly Display Ads are among the more commonly
used advertising mediums in digital marketing.
3. Total views can be misleading Display ads are image-heavy ads that are seen
Often, brands consider the total views observed across various websites where people consume
on a promoted video as a metric of success. But content. These are ads that are image-heavy
this is not the be-all and end-all of video metrics. (static or dynamic) and generally increase
A more important factor to consider would be awareness of a brand for the audience and
the view-through rate of the video. It becomes encourage them to take the action required.
more important how much of the video has been
consumed by the audience, which presents a A lot of display ads are executed basis pre-
more holistic view of the success of the campaign. defined metrics, whether that is CPM or CPC,
depending on pre-defined objectives. Through
4. Mobile is important targeting and pre-defined audience segments,
A majority of India is consuming content on we can reach newer and relevant audiences.
mobile. Due to the high smartphone penetration,
videos must be made considering this factor in Display ecosystem in India
mind. Videos optimised for viewing on mobile (in The display ecosystem is divided into various
terms of output, storytelling and length) have a display networks through which one can
much higher chance of success get access to a variety of sites present within
the network. Additionally, it is possible to be
5. Focus on the end objective present outside of the networks through direct
A clear objective from the start to the end of a campaigns with certain platforms.
video is vital, as it gives the consumer a clear view
regarding the action expected through the video. In display networks, generally a principle happens
A call to action also becomes crucial, customised where we bid on ads (through relevant targeting).
to the action the consumer is expected to take This means that presence is ephemeral and that
it can refresh at a high rate. How many times
6. Regional connect works like a charm a user sees the ad depends on the frequency
Vernacular content is riding on a massive wave at which it is shown (wherever it is possible to
and the same trend is reflected across videos. It control it). Outside of the
is no longer sufficient to have a single language biddable ecosystem, through
ad across regions and customising an ad to be direct deals with publishers,
more local works like a charm (as per customs, brands can have a fixed
language – among others). It helps build a better presence on a particular page/
connection with the brand and avoid any cultural platform or impact presence
issues, which can be lost in translation during this on sites (which is generally not
exercise available through biddable
means).
7. A/Btesting helps
It always helps to gauge the reaction of the • Google display network
audience to any brand video. Therefore, AB – GDN, as it is popularly
testing of videos is vital to ensure better known, is one of the biggest
efficiency when promoting videos online display networks in the

58
 world. It reaches most of the internet users in one over the other. It is completely situational
the world and also tends to be more affordable and there is easy precedence for both mediums
and accessible. to have a secured place in the overall marketing
approach.
• Meta Audience network –This involves the
large ecosystem that is present within Meta Search generally does get better click-throughs
(Facebook, Instagram and other related as compared to display campaigns overall. But
platforms). Through this, it becomes possible even with that, the objectives that each fulfils
to reach audiences through detailed targeting. are dramatically different. Display is often used
to drive awareness and recall among audiences.
• Other display networks – These are other So, it becomes easier to reach people who have
largedisplay networks through which it expressed no prior intent to be present on the
is possible to reach audiences on various brand. There are also better targeting options
affiliated sites. They function in a similar way present on display as compared to search.
to GDN, but serve as its potential competition.
Networks like Taboola, Verizon, among others An additional benefit is the increased presence.
make their presence here. Compared to search, which generally turns up in
one space, display ads are present across the web
• Direct publisher deals – Outside of accessing through various websites where people consume
display ads through a network, it is possible to content and spend time. It also acts as a visual aid
be present across display advertising through to tell people more about the brand, which also
direct contact and deals with publishers. This helps in overall brand awareness.
happens when a brand needs to have a fixed
presence on a particular site or wants to have Ultimately, display ads are the best used when
a dominating presence for website visitors we need to create brand awareness as compared
through impact properties. to reaching a higher level of intent audience of
search – and as such, both find relevant space in
Display vs search the same marketing strategy.
Display vs search has been a long-standing
question and there is no easy stance of preferring Types of display advertising
There are several types of ad formats that
one can consider while opting for display
advertisements. Depending on the situation and
the requirements, different formats can have a
better impact for the same brand.

• Banner ads – These are the regular ads that

appear on most websites on desktops and
mobiles. They can be of different sizes, ranging
from small postcard sizes to masthead
banners.

• Interstitials – These are ads that take over the

entire screen. They are generally purchased on

59
 VIDEO & DISPLAY

a single, unique property and are used when efficiencies and delivering better results for
an impact presence for a campaign is needed. the display campaign.

• Lighthouse ads – These are seen on several 3. Accurate targeting is key

websites. They are present initially as smaller a. There is no substitute for correct targeting.
display creatives which expand in size when One can use a combination of keywords (ads
the user interacts with them. This means that which show up basis content on websites which
the ad is not intrusive and relevant audiences match the selected keywords), placement
click through to engage and learn about the (which helps to showcase ads on a specific
brand. website) or demographics (which helps to
reach out to certain audiences).
• Responsive ads – For these ads, Google
automatically adjusts the size to ensure the 4. Good creatives
right fit across systems, formats and sizes to a. There is no substitute for good creatives
ensure optimal viewing of the ad. on display ads. Good content and design
helpattract the right audiences and has a better
• Retargeting ads – These are display ads that chance of getting them to click on the ad.
are shown, and customised to each consumer
basis their action and journey on the brand 5. Rich Media Ads should be considered
website. It encourages them to complete the a. These ads involve an element of interaction,
desired action. which helps in higher engagement with
audiences. This helps keep audiences hooked
• Native ads – These are ads that are designed and getting them to engage with the brand.
in the same way as the content of the website.
These are created to ensure a seamless flow 6. A/B testing helps, even on display
between the content consumed and the ad a. It is easier to implement A/B testing on
involved in the question. display ads compared to other mediums. Each
element of the display ad can be modified and
• Discovery ads – These ads use advanced tested to check (from visuals to message to call
learning techniques to ensure users are shown to action).
relevant image ads that they are likely to
engage with. They are present across YouTube Display and Video form an integral part of
search results, Gmail and Google Discovery. almost every marketer’s playbook and is crucial
in enabling overall brand awareness and recall.
Tips and tricks for display advertising A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video
1.Responsive ads are helpful is probably worth a thousand more. Getting the
a. These are ads that automatically resize the technicalities right for both display and video goes
ad to fit the ad space and the device (mobile, a long way towards fulfillment of the marketing
laptop etc). This saves time and ensures the ad of brands. With the ever-shortening attention
is not ugly looking due to being auto-resized. spans of consumers on digital, capturing them
through shorter formats or engaging content will
2. Relevant landing page is never off-key become the key play and the one to best harness
a.Having a relevant landing page for users who the same will reap the benefits.
click on the display ad always helps in helping

60
 PROGRAMMATIC

UNLEASHING
PROGRAMMATIC
ADVERTISING’S
POTENTIAL
A look at the programmatic advertising landscape in India
through the lens of demand and supply side platforms

ABHISHEK SHARMA
Sr. Partner , Digital and Lead – Programmatic, DDB Mudra Group

62
All automated buying of media is referred to • Retargeting capabilities- By bucketing users
as programmatic buying in digital advertising. of different kinds into different profiles
By that definition, even search and social through audience collection, based on the
which are biddable mediums come under its different levels of interaction they have had.
ambit. However, here we are referring to media For example, exposed to an ad impression,
buying through demand-side platforms, which clicked on an ad, landed on the advertiser
are connected to ad exchanges which in turn landing page, viewed a certain portion of the
are connected to all supply sources across video ad
the internet excluding search and social. The • Real return on investment (ROI)
buying and selling of ad slots (or impressions) measurement is possible- Measuring ROI
are carried out through an auction mechanism, cross channel helps understand channel levels
where several DSPs (Demand Side Platforms) contribution and helps allocate ad budgets in
bid for what they consider a valuable audience the most optimised manner
or impression through a first-price auction. The • It is expected that programmatic buying of
highest bidder gets the chance to serve an Ad to digital media will reach a share of 42 per cent (Rs
a particular audience on a particular page at a 11,659 crore) by 2022. We expect it to grow with
point in time. a CAGR of 37.35 per cent to reach a spend share
of 45 per cent (Rs 16,114 crore) by the end of 2023.
There have been multiple advancements in this Digital by itself is expected to show a projected
data-led programmatic approach where clients, growth of 27,759 crores by end of 2022 and 35,809
marketers and media buyers can either utilise crores by end of 2023 based on which the share of
their own collected data (first party) or second- programmatic is calculated to be 42 per cent and
party or third-party data along with existing 45 per cent in 2022 and 2023 respectively, says a
targeting parameters implicit to the DSPs to buy dentsu report.
either media or audience most efficiently. The
core principles of such a method of media buying Luma Landscape – Highlighting various entities
wrest on the below factors: involved in end-to-end programmatic advertising
Supply Side Platforms or SSPs
• Ease of use- Automated buying and selling
of inventory, less human intervention, less This is an ad-tech entity which is aligned
chance of mistakes completely with the publisher or supply side
• Audience segmentation- Laser sharp niche of the business enabling publishers to drive
targeting and retargeting are possible maximum revenue from ads served on their
through programmatic channels site. With programmatic advertising attaining
• Optimisations of media spends- Avoiding scale, a whole lot of advertisers started buying ad
spillage & frequency suppression. This helps inventory at a cheap rate hence there was a need
marketers extract the maximum value of their for a platform which can help publishers improve
ad dollars by controlling exposure to ads a day, their yield and ensure better fill rates.
week, month and yearly campaign duration
level
• Transparency- The ability to tap into high- How do SSPs help publishers increase
quality supply and audience at the top priority yield?
levels of an ad server (publisher or supply side) The primary function of SSPs is to help publishers
facilitates this (websites) connect to ad exchanges by initiating

63
 PROGRAMMATIC

Display Advertising Technology Landsape

Source: LUMA Partners

bid requests which is nothing but a call to fill an publishers to implement blocklists at their
ad request for an ad slot on a particular page of the end to ensure only quality ads run on them
website. Ad exchange in turn sends that request to thereby ensuring brand safety and not
DSPs which then match it with the requirements running questionable or unsafe ads
of the campaigns, audience matching through
cookies, the worthiness of that ad slot and respond • Consolidate platform for management and
with a bid amount if deemed feasible. reporting- Publishers can work with a single
SSP and ensure they know exactly which way
Main features of an SSP in the buying each of the DSPs is performing on them and
process control over which DSP will be able to bid
and which won’t. It helps them get a single
• Real time bidding- On publisher’s inventory or user interface to track different inventory
ad slots in an automated manner sources, impression volumes, fill rates and
performance
• Yield optimisation- Ability to set price floors
on the supply-side to ensure yield optimisation Some popular SSPs in the market are Magnite,
and also ensure publisher inventory is sold Pubmatic, Sovrn, Sobi etc.
only above the price floor. They also allow
help in managing bidding logic and thereby Ad exchanges- While the term SSPs and ad
improving fill rates exchanges are used interchangeably, they are
not the same. Ad exchanges is an ad-tech entity
• Brand safety and relevancy- SSPs allow which is an aggregator of several SSPs, whereas

64
SSP is an aggregator of a number of sellers or above a certain floor price
publisher websites.
• Preferred deals: These types of deals are
Ad exchanges stand in the middle of the supply chain similar to a private marketplace deal wherein
of ad tech and are more of a marketplace which only selected buyers can participate. The
connects to DSPs on one side and SSPs on the other. fundamental difference is that there is no
auction or bid here. All ad buying happens on
How do ad exchanges act as a virtual marketplace pre-negotiated rates
and what are the advantages of both the buy side
and sell side connecting to them? Some of the popular ad exchanges in the market
are Google Adx, Magnite, Rhythm One, Open
• Open exchange: Open exchanges are used exchange
wherever scale is required to be achieved for
a particular campaign and has less amount The popular initiative undertaken on the supply
of visibility in terms of where exactly are ads side- Header Bidding(Pre-Bid) versus Waterfall:
being served
• Header bidding: It is a way in which
• Private market place: Allow for a more closed the publisher initiates an ad request
group arrangement between bidders and simultaneously to multiple demand sources
publishers who exert greater control as to who or exchanges at the same time. Since the tag
exactly can participate in the bidding process is placed on the header of the page, hence the
thereby ensuring that not only the concerns name.
about digital fraud are removed but also the
quality of inventory is very high compared to When the publisher’s page loads in the user’s
open exchange. There still exists an auction browser, the bidding code in the header initiates
in this case where the buyer is expected to bid simultaneous calls to exchanges like Rubicon,

WATERFALL AUCTION VS HEADER AUCTION

$2.00 FLOOR $2.00 FLOOR

BID REQUEST BID

PARTNER #1 $1.50 PARTNER #1 $1.50
BELOW FLOOR REQUEST BELOW FLOOR

BID BID
PARTNER #2 $2.30 PARTNER #2 $2.30
WINNING BID WINNING BID
REQUEST
BID BID
PARTNER #3 $3.00 PARTNER #3 $3.00
NOT CALLEDID NOT CALLEDID

BID BID
PARTNER #4 $2.40 PARTNER #4 $2.40
NOT CALLEDID NOT CALLEDID

Source: LUMA Partners

65
 PROGRAMMATIC

PubMatic, Index, Xander etc. These exchanges • Targeting: In addition to implicit in-market
then hold an auction within the short window & affinity segment targeting, geo-targeting,
that the site loads before sending a call to the income-based targeting, and channel/genre
publisher ad server and once the auction is level targeting, it also allows one to use first-
complete, then it sends the bid to the highest party, second-party and third-party segments
paying bidder. for targeting

The difference here lies in the fact that this is a • Retargeting capabilities: The ability to collect
clear deviation from the waterfall model wherein click data, landing page data and DSPs are the
firstly, the publisher ad server is called, which major players in implementing retargeting
then initiates an auction after its direct order capabilities
is exhausted. However, in the case of header
bidding publisher, the ad server is called and • High-quality inventory: DSPs are usually
after the call is made to exchanges first. Secondly, exposed to high-quality inventory
in the waterfall model, there is a demand bid
which can beat the direct order it still would • Viewability and brand safety: DSPs either have
come priority wise and many times money is left inbuilt trackers for the same or third-party
on the table. However, in header bidding, an open services like IAS and MOAT can be integrated
exchange bid can also compete with the direct to ensure quality delivery
and indirect orders because the highest bid is
already calculated before the ad server call. We will study some of the well-known DSPs and
try to understand how they differentiate from
Advantages of header bidding each other:
Demand Side Platforms- DSPs are an integral
part of the ad-tech supply chain and primarily • DV360 (Google DSP):DV360 has the
can be thought of as an automated media buying largest market share in the market as far
platform. They lie on the exact opposite side of as programmatic spending is concerned.
the SSPs in the supply chain ecosystem. Simply Primarily owing to the exclusive access to
put DSPs are connected to SSPs through an ad YouTube inventory and about 70 per cent
exchange and help marketers buy display, video market share of open exchange inventory in
and audio inventory through a single platform. India. Inventory access is the display, video
(YouTube and open exchange), programmatic
Generally, any buying platform like social and audio and CTV. However, this is a walled
search which helps a buyer access inventory garden DSP as it is difficult to move audience
would also be called a DSP. But here, we would data out of the ecosystem, hence no inter-
keep our ambit to open web inventory where operability of audience data is possible
impressions are bought through auctions.
• Yahoo DSP: Yahoo’s e-mail receipt and
Let us look at some of the advantages travel itinerary data is the primary signal
that DSPs offer to marketers: for targeting audiences in addition to
• Scale: DSPs provide significant scale and are demographic targeting. Inventory access is
a one-stop solution for all kinds of inventory display, open exchange video, programmatic
across exchanges audio, CTV and programmatic DOOH.
Omniscope is another omnichannel capability

66
 of Yahoo which uses machine learning to • Taboola & Outbrain (native): Native DSPs
attribute and measure all spends across Yahoo depend on contextual signals to serve ads
inventory which are very similar in experience to content
and hence appear as native content rather
• The Trade Desk (TTD): TTD was launched than intrusive paid media ads
in India in June 2021 and is one of the prime
proponents of the open internet. They are the Platforms in the programmatic
major force behind the development of the ecosystem
Unified 2.0 identity solution which will help Agency Trading Desks: Thisis the trading arm
marketers in operating in a third-party cookie- of a media agency which is used for planning,
less environment by allowing publishers, buying and centralised optimisation, reporting
SSPs and DSPs to operate on a consent-based and analytics of digital media campaigns under a
mechanism to establish identities single umbrella of the holding group.

• Amazon and Flipkart DSPs (ecommerce): Some of the popular ATDs in India are Xaxis
Owing to the huge amount of purchase data (GroupM), Cadreon (IPG), Vivaki (Publicis Media
that both these players have, it is only justified Group). DDB Mudra has also developed an ATD of
that they are also in both managed and self- our own called Bingo.
serve DSP offering. As far as display ads are
concerned, both these players currently offer Bingo is a single platform to not only analyse
on-deck inventory only in India but implement learnings and break the duopoly.
Agency Trading Desks are inherently deployed
• Criteo (remarketing): Criteo has again to consolidate digital media buys under a single
partnered with various retail partners to umbrella across open exchange, programmatic
develop best-in-class retargeting solutions guaranteed and non-guaranteed supply and
and is making inroads in India now biddable. In short, for all of your digital media

What is an SSP?

DSP SSP

targeting

ADVERTISER DEMAND SIDE AD EXCHANGE SUPPLY SIDE PUBLISHERS

PLATFORM PLATFORM

67
 PROGRAMMATIC

buys like standard banners, videos (any length), Data Management Platforms (DMPs): Data
page takeovers and roadblocks, we have you Management Platforms form an integral part
covered. of the programmatic ecosystem by acting as the
centralised repository of all kinds of data be that
With Bingo, we go a step further by putting a online, offline or interaction data and organise
technology layer above all downstream channels them into first-party, second-party and third-party
also called buying platforms like Facebook, data for segmentation, enrichment and activation.
Google, Dv360, Trade Desk, Media Math. This
is to enable cross-channel optimisation and Effective use cases of DMP:
platform agnostic buying. A simple layer which • Audience targeting: Specify audience buckets
facilitates objective buying with the option to set as per a pre-defined taxonomy, segment them
primary and secondary goals covering the entire and retarget via display and video
spectrum from top to bottom funnel in the most
transparent manner. • Personalisation: Deliver personalised
experiences not only from retargeting use cases
Benefits but also content recommendation use case
• Media buying efficiency with
automated optimisation • Audience data enrichment: Merge first-party
• Objective-based media buying data with second and third-party data for
• Value for money enrichment to understand their horizontal
• •Complete transparency behaviour across the internet
• Control overspends
• No native platform dependency • Cross channel activation of data: Breaking the
• State-of-the-art visualisation silos existing among channels, collect data
• End-to-endsupport from all channels and activate that in a cross-
• Read andwrite access channel manner
• Completely managed service

WE CAN USE EFFECTIVELY DMP - Data Management

UTILISE DATA VIA ADMP Platforms

• Data Aggregation from various

sources.
• Enhance and segment data, build
audience profit
• Push relevant segmented
data into campaign for better
effectiveness
• Effective personalisation for
greater efficiency

68
• Lead suppression across channels including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities to geo-fence
social and search: Exclude certain audience Point of Interaction. However, due to increased
based on interaction across channels to then costs and restrictions around beacon-based
reach out to newer consumers technology, they were done away with.

Open RTB – Latest 2.6 (Source IAB Techlab) What solutions are being used now for location-
Open RTB is a project of the IAB Tech lab defines based targeting or proximity targeting?
the communication protocol for the real-
time bidding environment. It was developed At this point, GPS-based geo-fencing is being
to provide an open industry standard for deployed to measure the point-of-sale football
communication and interoperability between and attribute the same. It is also being used
sellers and buyers in the ad tech supply chain. to record consumer device IDs of consumers
visiting a previously geo-fenced area and any ad
It was first launched as a pilot project in 2010 request initiated in that vicinity will lead to the
between MediaMath, Turn and Data Xu. It SDK-based tracking being done.
has come a long way since then and the latest
protocol was released in April’22. The user device ID visiting particular places like
quick service restaurants, malls and cafes will
Location-based advertising (Proximity then be used to make further lookalike audience
targeting) of that data and targeted across mobile app ads.
Location-based advertising has been one of
the recent trends in programmatic advertising Competitor targeting: One of the greatest uses
where the drive-to-store campaigns as well of location-based advertising could also be geo-
measurement of footfalls is implemented by fencing your competitor store/outlets and then
enhanced geo-fencing capabilities. creating a lookalike of that audience for both
retargeting and new consumer acquisition.
Up until 2021, beacon-based technology utilised

WHAT CAN WE DO WITH

DATA IN A DMP

Collect first Booster and Helps build Audience Optimizer,

Party data Enrich 2nd and consumer Lookalike Modeling
3rd party data segments, and Audience cross
cohorts channel

69
 PROGRAMMATIC

Mobile advertising: accelerated growth during the pandemic while

We are amidst an advertising anomaly where we life got locked in screens.
think every ad that we see is driving some or the
other results. However, looking at the importance Mobile marketing is an important part of today’s
of reaching the right audience, the attention marketer’s media mix. It can be easily customised
span of the audience and whether we are taking to reach out to different sets of audiences
the right efforts is the question each digital and communicate far more effectively than
marketer should ask themselves and if mobile traditional channels. Like hyper-personalised
advertisement ever help drive the desired result. content and real-time data, the possibilities
of reaching out beyond reach onlookers are
Let’s look at the mobile handset getting sold in huge. Mobile phones are today’s personality
India. Whopping 19,406 handsets are sold per extensions, quite literally.
hour. It is a shocker that in 2021, the volume of
smartphone shipments across India was around Spends on desktops stood at 25 per cent (Rs. 5,338
160.7 million. crore) out of a total of Rs. 21,353 crores at the end
of 2021. While the mobile advertising spends
The seed was sowed back in 2016 with Jio, post are 75:25 in the mix, it is expected to grow to 80
which we observed a tectonic shift across digital. per cent by 2025 because of the upcoming 5G
Digital transformation and mobile tech moved bandwidth. 5G can play a vital role with benefits
up a notch right before our own eyes and that of at least $455 billion in the next two decades.
helped mobile advertisement get a ride with
Mobile marketing
trends in India:

• A non-IDFA world
• Mobile video soaring
high
• Mobile-first consumer
intelligence
• Mobile payment apps,
merchants and audience
data
• Mobile commerce
• Rise of branded stickers
• Mobile streaming
• Precision marketing

70
 Section
4

NEW KID
ON THE
BLOCK

72
74 GAMING
GAMING

INDIA IS
ALL GAME
Quick glance at the gaming ecosystem in the country
and its different legs, while also tapping its potential
for modern brands to consider

SKANDARAM VASUDEVAN, Sr. Partner – Digital Strategy, DDB Mudra Group;

VANAJA PILLAI, Head – Diversity, Equity and Impact, DDB Mudra Group;
KETAN RAMBHIA, Strategy Director, 22Feet Tribal WW

Games and gaming have always proved to be an will have a look at the same through the course
escape into another universe for people. Gaming of this article.
and books function on a similar level where
they transport the users into another universe, Gaming Landscape in India
only with games being more visual, interactive Games and gaming have always been popular
and engaging. This space has never been more among certain audiences – primarily teens and
attractive to users – by extension, making it youth. It has always provided an escape medium
that much more valuable for brands to have a into an alternate universe where the user
presence and interact with users. There are new basically can be anything they fantasise about.
avenues in gaming which provide a plethora of As such, it has endured for a long time and will
opportunities in reaching the consumer and we continue to be popular throughout. Gaming has

74
a core audience across the globe that inspires New technology has always been a boon for
absolute fandom, with people gearing up to have gaming and technology here doesn’t just refer
their presence felt and showcasing expression to what goes into the game but the overall
through gaming. infrastructure within the country which helped
Productive time
(Employment and self-
consumption,
volunteer)

3.2
Unpaid household
services (home care,
2.6 caregiving)

Self-care and
An Average
maintenance 12.1 Indian’s Day
(including sleeping) (24 hours) Socializing,
2.2
community and
religion

3.9

Culture, learning, leisure,

Source: MOSPI (2020) mass-media and sports
practices

In India, the audience behaves slightly different. boost the availability and accessibility of games.
Outside of the core gamers, who are recently
getting the opportunity to monetise and amplify This is amplified by the fact that India is a
that ability, the main aspect is the leisure gamers mobile-heavy market. A majority of the traffic
– more commonly casual gamers. This aspect of online happens through mobile and this same
gaming during free time is very dominant in the medium is used by people across age groups. As
Indian ecosystem, as it serves as a distraction. The an extension to the same, mobile is a medium
aspect of leisure time looks very different for men through which a majority of the gaming
and women in the country – below is what leisure audience access games. It is the easiest means to
time looks like basis industry reports. receive access, circumventing the whole process
1,000

Key Drivers Mobile Internet

XX
of Adoption Users (Mn)
~900
800

India’s internet users grew ~15%

during the past one year; with a
strong growth from rural areas
~700-750

COVID Lockdown-led ~650-680

600

boost
560

India’s internet adoption reached 580 Mn at a Affordable 4G LTE

run rate of 73 Mn users per year in the last 3
400

years -~9x of 8 Mn users added per year from

2000 to 2009 368
Low cost 3G enabled
Smartphones

Internet enabled2G
200

phones
Desktop Internet
80

CY05 CY06 CY07 CY08 CY09 CY10 CY11 CY12 CY13 CY14 CY15 CY16 CY17 CY18 CY19 CY20 CY21 CY25
Mobile Internet Users (Mn) 159 303 442 430 515 629 720-740 820-850

Source: RedSeer IP

75
 GAMING

of having to purchase expensive consoles and PCs The advent of cheaper availability of internet
just to have access to games. in the past decade, combined with increased
smartphone usage in the country means that the
Growth in internet subscribers in India (in journey of gaming has only begun.
millions of users). There have been a number of
seminal events in the last decade that have led to Pandemic’s impact on gaming
spikes in digital access. While gaming was already on the rise, it got an
CAGR even higher uptick in downloads and usage after
35-40%
$ 6-7 Bn the global crisis. Reports suggest how the time
spent on playing games increased by 40% during
the lockdown.
Overall, game usage went up dramatically. There
was sharp increase in the download of mobile
CAGR
50% games, along with the engagement within games
$ 1.8 Bn
rising during the lockdown.
$ 0.8 Bn $ 1.0 Bn

The kind of games that people accessed also

2019 2020 2021 2025F
depended on the time when they were able to
Source: RedSeer analysis
access it. During the sports season (especially
during the IPL), there was a large increase in
India is among the fastest growing markets in fantasy gaming, as people got their stakes in
the world. Today, it is the largest mobile gaming creating teams and trying to win big. Outside
market by number of app downloads and this is of sporting events, the games that got a high
just set to grow further in the near future. India increase in usage (but not regularly) was casual
is hoped to be one of the most profitable markets games as people looked for games that could
in the world. provide them engagement overall.

Game classification in India

Media Consumption in Indi The majority of games are also split basis usage
a
CY 2020
Gaming Video streaming
type. The majority of games consumed are
% users/week Time spent by users/week Real money games – something which is not
+12% uncommon considering the content consumption
+40%
96% 97%
3.5 Hr
4 Hr
pattern of our country (majorly in sports). The
3.3 Hr
next biggest pie goes to the hardcore gamers,
67%
which also feature games that are present as part
60% 2 .5 Hr
of the whole esports segment. Then there are the
casual gamers and mid-core gamers. Often, there
are games which cater to multiple genres on the
same, which makes classification also pretty
fluid.

Pre-covid Covid Impact Pre-covid Covid Basis this, we can broadly classify the gaming
audience in the country.
(Pre-March (April-June disruption
2020) 2020)

Source Redseer analysis, desk research

76
 ~ 6-7 Bn
focus a lot on real money games (whether it be
basis a sport (Dream 11, among others) or whether
it is basis other activities (Rummy, Poker, among
40% others)). These gamers generally have their
monetary stake within the games and hence are
engaged and active gamers, also consuming the
30-35% sport with keen interest.

50-55%
30% Finally, there are the casual gamers, which makes
~ 1.8 Bn
up most of the gaming audience in the country.
These are leisure gamers who prefer to play a
12%
52% 45-50% game or two when they are in-between things.
21% 35-40% Arcade games are generally more popular with
18%
10%
17% this audience segment.
2021 2025F
Hypercasual/casual Midcore
A lot of audiences fall into multiple levels listed
Hardcore Real money Games above, depending on the time, availability and
Source: RedSeer Analysis the game in question.

We have the Core Gamers – these are gamers who Making gaming a level playing field
might or might not get into the competitive side The gaming industry has been the latest to come
of things, but have gaming as a passion. These are under the scanner for lack of adequate and
the people one would generally find playing the appropriate representation of women – let alone
latest AAA+ titles available (like Elden Ring) and the spectrum of genders. The conversation has
are very passionate and knowledgeable about heated up even more because of the incredible
the gaming ecosystem. growth the industry has seen with female gamers.
And no, this isn’t just a global phenomenon.
Following that are the Competitive Gamers,
who are mainly into the whole esports scenario India is already one of the leading consumers of
of gaming. A lot of this happens via mobile gaming, and estimated to become a top market
gaming (as reflected through the overall usage very soon. The numbers are staggering - the
of the country too). They focus on constantly Indian online gaming market is projected at $2
playing and replaying to improve their expertise billion by 2023, up from $1.02 billion in 2020, and
in the game. is expected to grow to $4.88 billion by 2026.

There are the niche gamers, who are gamers but The role of women gamers in this growth is
have their specific types that they prefer to be encouraging – not just in numbers, but in the
on. Whether it be people who prefer Nintendo quality of impact they are driving. Studies have
Games (Pokemon, Zelda) or the more Indie put the female smartphone gamers segment at
games, they form a smaller subsection of the 43 percent last year, with a sharp surge during
same market. the pandemic.

Then we have the stake gamers, which is fast If that’s not impressive enough, take on board
growing in size overall. These are gamers who the huge popularity and following some of the

77
GAMING

top women gamers have garnered - Monika are contradictions - an embodiment of strength
Sherlock Jeph, Shagufta Xyaa Iqbal, Pooja Khatri, on one hand, while being sex symbols catering
and Saloni Panwar are a few of the immensely to the male gaze, on the other hand (remember
popular gamers in India, and perhaps worldwide. Lara Croft).
Saloni was the first woman to represent India at
an international esports tournament in Thailand, The representation of women needs to improve,
a key milestone from the lens of Indian women qualitatively and quantitatively, and you
gamers being seen and recognised on the need women writing the stories, creating the
international stage. These front runners have characters and building the narratives for that to
also paved the way for gaming not to be seen as happen.
a niche activity for women, but as a promising
career option with substantial prospects, Environments for women to be
inspiring a generation of women aspirants. themselves
Abuse is targeted at both men and women in
Add to that the fact that women gamers in India the gaming world, but women are more likely
span age groups, marital status, life stages, and to experience harassment and exclusion. In
even gaming genres! So there is no typical (or fact, female gamers often resort to gender
stereotypical) Indian woman gamer. neutral identities to be treated without bias, or
to be taken seriously. Each one of the successful
So what does the gaming industry need to do women gamers named previously have spoken
to be able to cater to this growing consumer about experiencing heckling, bullying and sexist
segment, and truly leverage the power of this remarks.
opportunity?
A systemic evaluation of the rules of the game
Breakingthe gender stereotypes becomes even more important with the rising
Current estimates put female character number of women gamers. This has been a topic
representation at about 5%. The recent surge in of debate for a long time, but bringing in women
women gamers will probably impact this number into the conversation to regulate behaviour
significantly (18% of games launched in 2020 and weed out bullying and sexual harassment
featured female characters), but the base being Media Consumption in Indi
as small as it is, calls for deliberate effort. Within
a
Gaming Video streaming
CY 2020
that small representation there is heightened % users/week Time spent by users/week

gender stereotypes, objectification and hyper +12%

+40%
sexualisation, and unrealistic depiction of body 96% 97% 4 Hr
3.5 Hr
3.3 Hr
proportions. Beyond gaming, this depiction can
negatively impact women’s self-perception. 67%

These stereotypes can contribute to attitudes 60% 2 .5 Hr

that validate violent behaviour against women

in real life, by facilitating the acceptance of the
rape myth and shifting the blame for any sexual
assault from the offenders to the victims.

More importantly, narratives built around real

Pre-covid Covid Impact Pre-covidC ovid
(Pre-March (April-June disruption
2020) 2020)
women hardly exist. Popular female characters Source: RedSeer analysis, desk research

78
will encourage more women to join in. And the stakeholders are trying to create a more diverse
industry will be richer for it. and inclusive workspace. Senior appointments,
specifically in DEI, have been seen in recent
Money talks times to acknowledge this need, and start on the
The large and captive audience that women make journey.
up also creates tremendous opportunities for
brands and marketeers. A recent Inmobi report* Bringing women to the decision-making table –
says that 52% of the top ten apps downloaded as funders, founders, leaders, creators, gamers
by women are made in India, and more than and advocates – is the only and most sustainable
75% of the women are committed gamers. The way to a thriving gaming business of the future.
commercial value that women can generate will
be a strong incentive for the gaming industry When you talk to avid gamers you realise that
to change for the better, and make the right gaming is not just about mindless execution
kind of room for women. In the immersive and of people in an imaginary world, or even
large world that the gaming world offers, the developing certain kinds of skill. It offers the
challenge of creating relevant, contextual and opportunity to tell stories, explore new worlds
non-intrusive campaigns could be quite exciting. and influence thinking. With this power, picture
battling unconscious biases, educating people
True representation across board about underrepresented communities, and
As of 2020, 84% of leadership positions in the taking forward the narratives of diversity and
top fourteen global companies were held by inclusion through gaming! This is an incredible
men, and outside of the top positions there were opportunity for people in the business to expand
just 24% women. In India, of the top ten gaming their influence on culture, through an already
start-ups, just one has a female founder. integral component of popular culture, and it
would be criminal not to leverage it. Diversity,
This composition needs to change for the equity and inclusion can be not just a lens, but an
gaming industry to become a true home for inspiration to the gaming world.
the large women gaming community. Multiple
collectives across regions are working on
improving things – the ‘Women in
Games Ambassador Program’
and #RaisetheGame are
two such initiatives,
where an array of

79
GAMING

Esports gaming in India The most common genres of esports in India are
Esports (or electronic sports) refer to sporting MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), RTS
competition involving video games, which (Real Time Strategy), Sports and FPS (First Person
generally happens across the multiplayer setting. Shooters). Games like PUBG, Garena Free Fire,
It has slowly started taking over the Indian FIFA ajnd Fortnite are very popular. More people
market, being promoted massively and having are getting into the gaming aspect of s-Sports due
competitive matches streamed across platforms to the perks involved in terms of prize money. It is
like Youtube and various streaming platforms estimated according to industry reports that in
(mainstream and gaming platforms included). less than 5 years, the prize money in esports will
The esports industry has been around for a surpass IPL prize money. This makes it attractive
while, but it is recently getting more mainstream to gamers, and by extension, for brands to have
acceptance as more developers and investors their presence felt.
have started having their presence in the same
for the Indian market. An additional factor is that esports is practically
indistinguishable from traditional sports. Players
Additionally, with people now aggressively are monitored, there is rigorous training and
being present in esports, companies are luring teamwork involved, participants are actively
in brands, showcasing the ability to reach more using skills to circumvent opponents to get a
audiences, while offering better access and chance to win. There is a large element of skill
engagement. This is enabling better connections, involved. A culmination of this is the fact that
with the medium on its way to becoming a esports is an official category in the Asian Games,
favourite with brands. who treat it akin to a traditional sport.

Online Indian Real Money Gaming Market

In USD Mn. CY 19 - CY 21, % of overall market USD = 70 INR

Card Rummy
Non Card 1650 Fantasy Sports 1650
Poker 3%
Casual Games 6%

38%
1100 1100 35%
2%
8%
38% 700
700 36%
1%
10%
40% 62%
40% 57%
62% 54%
60% 50%

CY19 CY20 CY21 CY19 CY20 CY21

Note(s): Card games include game types like Rummy, Poker and Call Break while Non-Card games include Fantasy
sports and casual games Casual Games includes real money games such as Ludo, Pool, Archery, 8 ball games etc.

Source(s): Redseer Analysis

80
Advertising opportunities in esports for consumption across by the masses.
There are different ways for brands to have their
presence in esports The prominent categories having a presence
in esports are also indicative of the kind of
• As hosts/organisers of game events (like Jio, audiences that brands are hoping to target. We
for example), conducting events for games tend to observe a lot of technology brands having
like Garena. a presence in the category, along with platforms
• Harnessing sponsorships by partnering across that have their own gaming wing (PayTM, for
the ecosystem (teams, players or organisers) example). As the overall audience continues
to gain further visibility and traction – and this to increase, we will see greater presence from
include a lot of prominent brands like Airtel, different sectors, even in esports.
Flipkart, BookMyShow, Red Bull and Yes Bank,
among others. Real money and fantasy gaming in India
• Advertisement opportunities on hosting It’s evident looking at the data that there has
platforms like Facebook, Youtube, Twitch, for been a drastic rise in gaming in the recent times.
brands to take the first tentative steps into the One of the biggest contributors to this fact is real
ecosystem. money and fantasy gaming, which is going from
Being a rapidly developing niche slowly getting strength to strength in the country.
mainstream, it is natural for a lot of brands to try
to have a presence in this ecosystem. A primary We have seen a massive rise in the adoption of
target being considered are younger audiences these games in the country, as people start having
and tech-savvy people. This audience is only set a personal stake in the games involved, making
to grow further with the biggest OTT platforms them completely involved, both in the game and
in the country streaming some of the prominent the sport, cementing the symbiotic relationship
esports tournaments, lending itself seamlessly that exists between the two.

Multi Games Platforms Single Games platforms

$ 580 Mn $ 940 Mn $ 100 Mn $ 30 Mn
$ 1650 Mn

$ 1100 Mn 85%

98% 98%
$ 700 Mn 95% 100%
96%
98% 37%

2% 4% 5%

CY19 CY20 CY21 Fantasy Rummy Poker Casual

(35%) (57%) (57%) Games
(57%)
Note(s): Multi Games Platforms are platforms that offer more than one games type like MPL, Winzo, Rush etc.
Single Game Platforms are platforms that offer one game type like Dream11, RummyCulture, Adda52, etc

Source(s): Redseer Analysis

81
GAMING

Real MoneyGames basically refer to any games audiences hooked onto the platforms and as
where actual money is being bet on any particular a means of attracting newer audiences to the
activity. These are games where there is a certain platform.
element of personal skill involved in the whole
activity (these are games like Poker, Teen Patti, Perception
Rummy – among others). When brands first started entering the market, it
was more geared towards convincing consumers
From a pure culture viewpoint, RMG has always of the validity of the platform - the fact that they
been a part of the India culture, just not in the could win real money on the platform. From then
current digital format. It has always existed as till now, as the category has matured, it has ranged
games that would happen during social occasions from talking about the wide range of features
– where people got together to play and gamble available on the platform to talking about prize
with each other. The fact that this culture existed money. Consumers are now convinced about the
made the adoption of RMG easier, where the category; the game lies in getting more and more
medium shifted from physical to digital. users to try and be present on the platforms.

Interestingly, within the RMG market, casual card There are different tonalities and complexities
games are growing at the fastest pace, with age involved in positioning these brands, even
old favorites like rummy and poker being an all- depending on the purpose and who we are trying
time favorite. to communicate with. For example, recently,
with the government, there was a push made
Fantasy Gaming is basically the shift from to consider these as skill based, esports games
playing sports in the neighbouring gully to which was viewed with confusion from the
an online medium. Fantasy Gaming basically gaming audience. However, the communication
involves people selecting their virtual teams varies from skill, game reading ability to the prize
through selection of actual players. The outcome in question.
of Fantasy Gaming depends on the actual
performance of the players selected by the user Because of the transient nature of the medium,
in their virtual team. the concept of loyalty to one game doesn’t
particularly exist. Users tend to gravitate to
Fantasy Gaming has been around in various forms different apps to try out, especially if they are on
for a while, but the most popular one (before the a losing streak; or are present across platforms,
advent of cricket-based fantasy games) was the even if they are winning, in a bid to hedge
Fantasy Premier League – the official fantasy their bets and maximise their earnings. So, the
gaming wing of the English Premier League. It potential probability of winning makes them
did not have an entry fee to join (it still doesn’t) shift to different apps regularly. This makes it
but it was first time that fantasy gaming as a necessary for RMG and Fantasy games to be
concept was popularised in the country. extremely aggressive on advertising spends, as
they need to increase overall market share while
The increase in popularity means that people also constantly looking to get newer consumers
are shifting top layers are shifting to multi-game on the platform. This is also the reason for the
platforms to keep up! There are a lot of platforms increased usage of celebrities, wherever – to
now which offer a variety of games instead of try to increase preference and legitimacy of the
focussing on a single game – to keep existing brand to the consumer.

82
A point of view on fantasy gaming For example, think of a low scoring game of
Generally, fantasy gaming involves three main cricket. Say Mumbai Indians got Chennai Super
segments of audiences. Kings all out for 87 in the first innings, and in the
second innings, it’s already on 67/0 in 8 overs.
The Sports fanatics Typically, this is when non-fantasy gamers would
This is their way of expressing how they get the get distracted. They would stop paying attention
game best. They are mainly showcasing their or make other plans or switch to other content.
knowledge of the game here. But a fantasy player remains glued to the game
because it has an impact on his game - who scores
Casual fans the remaining 20 runs, what if there’s a wicket or
These players add an element of fun a maiden. Every action on the field has a direct
competitiveness among social circles and tend to connection to the action on your phone screens,
keep interest in the game going especially if players from your fantasy eleven are
in action. Thus, keeping the interest in the live
Money minters match alive till the last ball.
They are not particular about the game. For
them it’s about winning. These audiences tend Fantasy gaming is also successful in converting
to enter maximum number of teams in different traditional haters of the sport into taking interest
contests and try permutations and combinations in the sport. For example, the author recently
to maximise chances of winning. convinced someone who doesn’t like cricket at all
to make a team on Dream11. The pitch to them
Why has Fantasy Gaming was the big jackpot money they could win if their
captured the Indian combination were to play well on the day. It’s
Imagination? been 2 IPL seasons since then. The person hasn’t
It makes the most boring won the big jackpot amount, but continues to
game extremely interesting. play regularly now - takes interest in the sport,
will ask about others score, try to follow to see
who’s playing well and who isn’t and so on. One
of the biggest motivators for them to stay
was the taste of first win. The big jackpot
contests make winning possible for 60%
of the participants, which means 60% of
the people will win some money (or get
back the entry fee). This is a form of win
and when someone experiences that
first, it makes staying back and trying
again easy.

And if we come across anyone in

our known circles who wins a
disproportionately big amount,
that too gets a lot of naysayers
to try.

83
GAMING

Helps one forge new friendships & connections generations who’ve grown up on their cricket.
Most fantasy platforms allow for private contest However, a lot of people over a period of time
groups. This has led to formation of new social lose connection with the game. The reasons are
groups, new connections and in many cases plenty – life gets in the way, lose touch with the
reconnections. game and unaware of the new set of players
(feels different) etc. Fantasy games help people
People in professional set-ups form a WhatsApp find their way back into sport.
group where they circulate the contest code
before the match, which people can join. Conclusion
Similarly, groups on college campuses, cousins, There are quite a lot of opportunities present in
school friends etc. are formed too. gaming for brands. It’s just about getting creative
with it. Unlike most mediums, a simple presence
Many people also join groups as a +1. For example, (like how overall advertising happens) will not
if an acquaintance from school is as interested in work. There has to be a connection between
cricket & fantasy, he could be added to the college the activity, the brand and the narrative that it
fantasy group. One may ask how they can forge wants to showcase. It is only with this overall
connections simply by being a part of the group combination that brands can have an effective
and playing a fantasy game. The answer to that presence in Gaming.
is that forging happens when the live match is
on. People banter on the group. They appreciate From sponsoring entire esports teams to
those who’ve made a bold choice which is paying organising tournaments to gaming influencers
off, make fun of those who make an incorrect to video presence via streaming entities, there
choice; some blame those who’ve made the key is ample scope for brands to take over and have
player their captain (and if by chance they under- a strong presence across the ecosystem. It is
per form (panauti laga di)) and so on. As the game also a very interesting way for brands to reach
is coming to its climax, the banter increases, out to audiences, who are close to reaching
especially if different people from the group are viewer fatigue with the regular commercials and
in the running and their standing on the table advertisements. Gaming is the new frontier and
is changing after every ball. Strangely, after more and more brands are becoming more aware
the game is over, people also congratulate the of the massive opportunity involved in
winners saying, “well played”, “great thinking” etc. the same.

In an interesting case, fantasy games also help

dilute tensions between hostile or cold
relationships. Think a boss and junior or
a father and son, friend’s father and me,
awkward in-laws and person, who otherwise
don’t talk much, have a strange formal
relation. They too find a way to relax tension and
forge an informal connection. Fantasy gaming,
thus, has its own form of social capital.

Has rekindled interest in the sport

Indians love sports, especially cricket. There are

84
85
 Section
5

THE
BIG
PICTURE

86
88 ADVERTISING
ECOSYSTEM
90 EMERGING TRENDS
97 TELECOM

87
ADTECH

ANALYSING THE
ADVERTISING
ECOSYSTEM
A sneak peek into how adtech platforms are setting the
tone for digital media’s maturity in the Indian landscape

The dynamism of the advertising landscape only gets more complex

with ever-increasing platforms available for advertising combined
with upgraded technology that allows for the creation of newer
advertising mediums. The advertising ecosystem can be explained GULSHAN VERMA
with the following stakeholders and components: CEO, JioAds

ADVERTISERS
FMCG E-commerce Entertainment Financial
Automotive Healthcare Media Telecom Others

PUBLISHER TYPES
Video OTT Aggregators Traditional Websites
Telecom Blogs Apps Outdoor Others

DEVICES
Personal Digital
TV Mobile Tablets
Computers Hoardings etc.

DIGITAL AD FORMATS
Video Static Social Search E-com
SMS Native Email Marketing Others

At the center of all this are the AdTech platforms delivering and measuring digital advertising.
that play an important role in bringing together the AdTech consists of all technology including,
advertising ecosystem with a deep understanding but not limited to, software used to deliver to
of how and where to activate audiences, along with audiences, as well as the ability to measure the
creating an infrastructure to be able to deliver. performance of these campaigns.

AdTech remains a critical part of the digital AdTech innovation and its current form continue
advertising ecosystem that facilitates buying, to simplify the complex web of buying and selling

88
 advertising. There are several ad-tech tools and 3. Ad-networks: Ad networks work as
platforms such as Demand-side platforms, ad intermediaries between publishers and
networks, publisher management platforms, advertisers. Ad networks typically aggregate all
etc., which facilitate buying inventory across inventory from all supply-side sources and then
publishers and effectively reach an advertiser’s match them to advertisers and agencies’ demand
targeted audiences. The platforms allow the
advertisers/agencies to plan effectively and 4. Agency trading desk: Agency trading desk
efficiently manage their campaign budgets to (ATD) tools are used for media planning and
maximise their Return-on-Investment (ROI). media buying and are run by media agencies.
Over the years, ATD tools have evolved to optimise
A few of the key components of the ad- for programmatic advertising campaigns
tech landscape:
1. Demand-side platforms: A demand-side What sets a superior AdTech platform
platform (DSP) is where advertisers can buy all apart from the rest?
forms of inventory from display to video ads. AdTech continues to simplify the sophisticated
DSPs connect all components of the advertising digital buying, managing and selling platforms. A
ecosystem by allowing advertisers to activate powerful ad-tech provider delivers ROI by ensuring
audiences through direct integration, supply-
side platforms and ad exchanges. There are 1. It has access to rich, deterministic first-party data
several benefits of working with DSPs because assets to build sophisticated targeting, relevant
of the flexibility and automation it provides. cohorts and meaningful insights. Thereby,
Advertisers can make changes to the campaign delivering real business to its advertiser ecosystem
in-flight, instead of waiting to measure
performance at the end of the campaign 2. Budgets are optimised in a way that advertisers
can reach their intended audiences with minimal
2. Supply-side platforms: A supply side-platform wastage and in a cost-effective way
(SSP) is where publishers host their available
inventory. SSPs let publishers maximise their 3. Campaigns are delivered more efficiently with
ad inventory slots. Interestingly, what initially transparency in where they are getting delivered
started as a platform to sell unsold inventory, has and how they are performing
now become a mechanism to programmatically
activate and optimise all inventory 4. By connecting to the wider ecosystem, a great
ad-tech platform can provide insights beyond
Birds-eye view of the AdTech Landscape just ad targeting, and brand/sales lift. It
allows advertisers to uniquely reach their
DMP audiences depending on their campaign
objectives

Ad
5. Across the consumer journey, it can
Advertisers

Publishers

Exchange
Ad effectively highlight the performance
Agency DSP SSP
of the campaign through scientific
analysis and help move the needle to the
Ad
Network advertiser’s end objective.
Buy Side Sell Side

89
 EMERGING TRENDS

TRACKING THE
TRENDS
An overview into the digital ecosystem and some of
the newer trends being harnessed by brands for their
marketing. From Metaverse to QR code advertising, it
covers a wide range of new movements to keep track of

NUPUR SHARMA
Sr. Partner – Digital Strategy, DDB Mudra Group

As we enter into a new world after two years of welcomed the digital, something we could never
the pandemic, everything around us does not imagine ten years back. In fact, the pandemic has
seem the same anymore. From the way we work, sped up the adoption of digital by several years.
socialise and shop, to the kind of content that Case in point, while it took Netflix 7 years to
we consume, there float plenty of newfangled achieve 50 million subscribers, it happened only
changes. While some of these were desperately in 5 months for Disney+ during the pandemic.
needed, they are only expected to stay for long.
And when we talk about digital, these changes As we step into this new world, there would be
come out more pronounced. some areas that we need to do away with, some
we need to do more of and some would require
This new world that we talk of now has seamlessly adoption. It is, therefore, important for digital

90
marketers to take a step back, reassess and in a science fiction novel called Snow Crash by
reanalyse what has worked and what trends will Neal Stephenson. In this novel, the Metaverse is a
shape the future.

There are many new and exciting developments

What does my brand
in the digital world that will have a significant
stand for?
impact on how we communicate with our
audience. Here are some of the key trends to Who are my
watch out for: customers?

Trend 1: What do they

Metaverse
value/want?
Chances are you would have heard the word
‘Metaverse’ more times the last year than your
own name. Today, you open Instagram and there computer-generated world that exists parallel to
is a flood of brands claiming to be the first at the current reality, portrayed as a perfectly round
doing something in the Metaverse. black sphere that would surpass the circumference
of the Earth if compared in size. But this was just
While some brands are using Metaverse to fiction and we have come a long way into a world
showcase their product usage, there are others where the metaverse actually exists.
who are using it as an opportunity to bring
consumers together in a virtual space where they To put it simply, the metaverse is a shared virtual
can share collective experiences. space that is immersive, interactive and hyper-
realistic.
Since the word is being used to denote various
kinds of experiences on the internet, it’s Although the metaverse seems full of potential,
important we understand where this word really before fully jumping into the metaverse, we
originated from. Let’s go back a few years, it was need to ask ourselves a few key questions-
1992 when the term made its first appearance

91
 EMERGING TRENDS

Trend 2: Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are now becoming

Omni-channel a favourite of the entertainment industry. From
Ever since the start of the pandemic, the retail the launch of the new season of Stranger Things
landscape has changed considerably and will to Coachella using NFTs as entry passes this year,
never be the same again. the entertainment world just cannot get enough
of NFTs.
Today’s consumers connect with multiple
touchpoints before they choose to buy a product NFTs are seen disrupting the marketing
or service. With the growth in adoption of digital landscape with brands trying to find new ways
platforms, consumers today take no time to to incentivise and engage with their audience
switch from a brand’s ecommerce platform to through exclusive content and shift focus to
their website, to their social handles and finally community building.
to aggregators and publishers to compare prices.
One industry that has deeply embraced NFTs is
The goal of an omnichannel approach is to provide gaming. One of the reasons for growth is the play-
the customer with a seamless experience across to-earn games. These are the games that allow
all touchpoints in their retail journey. A winning users to earn rewards while gaming. There are so
omnichannel strategy allows consumers to many recently launched games that combine the
choose their preferred transaction location while power of gaming and NFTs together.
also making cross-channel shifts convenient for
customers. Who did it well: In July 2021, for celebrating

Trend 3:
International Friendship Day, Coca-Cola
launched a sequence of four NFTs, which had
NFTs been animated, one-of-one virtual artistic works
Building on the foundation laid by blockchain of art turning in multi-sensory experiences, and
technology and using the power of pop culture, unlocked exciting experiences upon purchase.

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Trend 4: and more convenient from their homes at the
Augmented/Virtual Reality same time allowing them to save money, time
2022 has brought in many new trends, but it and effort. A similar shift was also observed in
goes without saying that augmented and virtual social commerce, of course, enhanced by the
reality remains one of the most powerful tools pandemic. Social commerce gave brands the
that brands can deploy to create immersive power to directly sell products through social
experiences for their consumers. More than ever, media while also empowering consumers to save
marketing today is being driven by the needs time while making a purchase. Naturally, social
of the consumer and today’s consumer wants media platforms have also realised the enormous
deeper and more real experiences with brands. potential of this trend and so are constantly
AR and VR, launching suitable features to provide seamless
using the power of digital, are able to give experiences to their consumers.
consumers the kind of experiences they expect.
While AR gives brands the opportunity to create Who did it well: YouTube recently announced its
extraordinary experiences within mobile devices, new partnership with Shopify that will enable
VR allows brands to create a bridge between the consumers to purchase products without leaving
real and digital world. its website.

Industries such as travel and

retail are using AR and VR
to showcase their products
to consumers in a more
engaging way. Furthermore,
the entertainment industry is
using virtual reality to extend
more immersive experiences to
its audiences.

Who did it well: Amazon –

Hair colouring at Amazon
Salon allows consumers to
experiment with different hair
shades using AR technology,

Trend 6:
before actually getting their
hair done.
Short form
Trend 5: While video content is the ‘now’, it’s the short-
Social commerce form video content is that is the future. In fact,
Post pandemic, the ecommerce industry has when it comes to your video marketing strategy,
seen a massive rise. While most industries were less is actually more. Given the shrinking
making a recovery from decline and trying to attention spans of the consumer, it is no
bounce back, there was a substantial rise in coincidence that social media platforms that are
ecommerce. It came about from the realisation investing in short-form content are becoming the
that the shopping experience was in fact, better real deal.

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 EMERGING TRENDS

While the charm of long-format films and stories crush has three billion downloads globally.
is still not gone, we live in an age where everything Bigger than anything. This is why we are seeing
is in a rush. Hence, those who are the quickest end so many bands hop into the gaming space and
up winning. While the frenzy started with TikTok, rightly so.
today we have so many more short-form video
platforms such as Instagram reels, and YouTube Gaming is no longer a niche area for a particular
shorts and some of the newer Indian ones such age group or customer segment. Games are
as Josh, Moj and Roposo have quickly become the becoming a viable form of entertainment
talk of the town. In fact, according to reports all for gamers of all ages and backgrounds. The
three combined have already brought back 97 per introduction of games on mobile phones and
cent of the TikTok user base in the country, mostly the improvement of game hardware are the
from the smaller cities and towns. reasons why they are becoming more and more
popular. This shift to the mainstream has created
Thanks to powerful network effects, the user base a huge gap in how the gaming industry makes
is growing quickly, promoting ecosystem growth money. Better graphics, faster processors, and
and leading to a huge monetisation potential for improved sound cards represent the growth and
influencers and the platforms. development of the industry.

Trend 7: One way that brands try to partner with games

Gaming is through sponsorship. Brands sponsor various
As the gaming world is forever changing and tournaments and championships to attract
evolving, it is welcoming millions of gamers young players. Red Bull is the largest example in
every day. Because of the collaborative nature of this category. It is the first brand to recognise the
gaming, some believe that gaming is even more potential of the gambling industry. The brand has
social than social media. No wonder Candy worked with the best game players and teams
to host many tournaments
and championships. In this
way, the brand can increase
sales, and many sponsorship
agreements have been
signed between the brand
and the game partner,
benefiting both. HTC, Audi
and Mercedes Benz are other
examples.

Who did it well: When

Fortnite launched a new
game mode called Food Fight,
pitting Team Burger against
Team Pizza, Wendy’s joined
Team Pizza, actually getting
into the game destroying
frozen burgers.

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 Consumers today are more inquisitive than
ever and expect brands to share all details of
their products and services with them. While
it may not be possible to share such details on
the packets themselves, QR codes provide an
interesting space for such product information.
Therefore, QR codes don’t just help in way of
providing convenience to the consumer but also
in a way, QR codes help build a sense of trust and
confidence among consumers.

Unified Payments Interface, a recent product

innovation, is prepared to support QR code
payments. Additionally, efforts are being
made to interoperate Bharat QR and UPI QR
so that customers can make payments at
their discretion regardless of the app they are
utilising. These technologies are expanding
the number of places where people may
make digital payments, reaching millions of
new customers. In some circumstances, the
payments ecosystem has advanced past the

Trend 8:
necessity for POS terminal deployment, moving
directly from using mobile-based payments to
QR Codes cash withdrawals via ATMs.
Gone are the days when you walked into your
favourite diner and had to wait for the waiter to Who did it well: Start-ups such as GoToChef are
come and take your order. Now we simply walk putting QR codes to good use. Its app scans QR
in, scan the QR codes in front of us, and place codes on packets and food products, which reveal
the order that alerts the chefs in the kitchen and information on the use of ingredients, recipes,
billers at the payment counter. and best price options.

QR codes (short for “quick response”) have been Trend 9:

there in use for many years and are often used as Connected TV
a payment method. But it took the pandemic for Traditional TVs are increasingly being replaced by
us to use QR codes to seep into other areas such as connected TVs, especially by Indian consumers.
restaurant menus. Today, almost every company The preference for OTT platforms, which is on
that makes products or offers services uses QR the rise due to India having one of the fastest-
codes to drive home a specific objective. With growing OTT markets internationally, is one of
varying degrees of success, the code is used by the main causes of this development.
players in the payments and financial industries,
FMCG, retailers, travel & hotel industry, food Another reason for the rising usage of CTV in
companies, healthcare providers, and even India is the availability of affordable, low-priced
donation platforms. smart TV brands. People in India can buy a smart

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 EMERGING TRENDS

TV from around 15,000 rupees onwards. With Association says. Voice search queries in India are
the increasing penetration of cable TV in Indian also growing at a striking 270per cent per year.
households, advertisers can reach a large pool In post-pandemic times, touchless experiences,
of active buyers and influential decision-makers increased voice search, use of local languages,
with high purchasing power. CTV is a relatively new and conversational commerce are gaining
advertising medium, and the ad spend has not yet momentum, making voice technology an integral
caught up to its full potential. The pricing of CTV part of the entire value chain.
is currently very competitive in India, compared
to other global markets. This is an ideal time for Companies are using voice marketing strategies
marketers to enter the space, as there is a growing at an accelerated pace to improve their business
awareness and adoption of the technology and growth and customer experience. The tool helps to
an increasing desire to engage with it. personalise the user engagement process and offers

Trend 10:
enhanced customer insights to the marketers.

Voice Brands across industries such as FMCG, beauty,

Today, voice assistants are more than just travel and BFSI are gradually adapting to this
convenient novelties. They’re essential tools that new trend and making sure they are where the
help us get things done. As voice technology consumer is, and in this case, voice.
gains in sophistication, it represents an exciting
opportunity to use voice as a marketing tool. Who did it well: Domino’s allows customers to
place orders through their voice app. The app also
India is a large video-first internet market and as allows customers to inquire about the status of
smartphone adoption grows, it will soon become their order every step of the way. You can request
the world’s first and largest voice-first internet that real-time updates be sent to your mobile
market as well, a report by Mobile Marketing phone.

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 TELECOM

THE
TELECOM
EDGE
IN DIGITAL ADVERTISING
It is evident how the strengths of telecom
companies are well-positioned to deliver enormous GULSHAN VERMA
business value to advertisers and publishers alike CEO, JioAds

The landscape of digital advertising is expanding solution incorporating online-to-offline

rapidly with a sharpening advertiser-led focus conversion and attribution. Telcos can also
on digital as a medium of choice, matched by an truly integrate the content and ad experience
increasing propensity to spend on the medium. for audiences by bringing together a multi-
While the digital advertising market has been media, multi-device, multi-publisher/
traditionally dominated by a few global giants, platform ecosystem
others too are now picking up steam. Parallelly, 5. Additionally, telcos can acquire or build
stringent new regulations and a shift to a cookie- premium content portfolios in genres such as
less future have made building bigger first-party entertainment and sports, to build their own
data assets a critical priority. captive and highly engaged media audiences.
The combination of rich deterministic insights
In this dynamic environment, telecom companies about these audiences, the accuracy of
(Telcos) can bring in a unique edge that no other targeting and their stickiness/engagement
player can fully replicate such as: levels with the content can uniquely uplift
1. Telecos have the scale. Jio for example, has the attractiveness of the Telcos advertising
more than ~450M customers that are verified technology and solutions
and have a billing relationship 6. In addition to technical expertise, telecom
2. Telcos have built up and can leverage in-house companies have for long held the trust
consumer insights, ad technology, content of consumers by ensuring sensitive and
portfolios and analysis tools to support the confidential data is always protected
business goals of advertisers and publishers To conclude, with the right combination of
3. Precise ad targeting is made possible with the rich deterministic data assets, trusted data
development of meaningful audience cohorts stewardship, precise targeting, content portfolio
at scale and backed by deterministic data to expansion and a cutting-edge AdTech platform
enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of supported by robust analytic tools, telecom
advertising companies are well-positioned to deliver
4. There is a massive potential to build a enormous business value to advertisers and
comprehensive omnichannel advertising publishers alike.

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 LAST WORD

PREETHAM
VENKKY
President,
22 Feet Tribal WW &
Chief Digital Officer,
DDB Mudra Group

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Digital: Driving India’s Growth
Ever since humans attained the ability Very rarely does an almanac cover this
to imagine and dream, they have always wide range of topics on something as
hoped to capture the entirety of their relevant as digital. What has always kept
imagination in the most simplified form. humans engaged is digital’s potential for
As humans, we started with cartography growth. At the same time, it looks like we
as early as 16.500 BC. In the beginning, the have just started.
intent was to map the moving sky.
Taking the case of QR codes, this open-
Much like how the universe changes sourced technology existed for decades.
every second- the lay of its land, digital However, it only took UPI to act as the
in India is also making great strides. As juggernaut in making its usage ubiquitous
with the imagination of early humans, in India. The same is with gaming. Giving
it’s of utmost importance to gauge where credence to the Metaverse, the gaming
digital in India is and where it is headed. ecosystem has grown exponentially in
I’m certain that the BW Marketing World India in the past few years. With more
& DDB Mudra Group’s ‘Digital Almanac’ than 500 million smartphones around
will be your go-to guide for re-imagining us, the Indian gaming community has
digital India. There may be times when the potential to be the world’s second-
the numbers, trends and graphs have largest. Much like social media in 2004,
depicted a substandard overview of the the powerful trajectory of gaming is only
state of digital in India. But what is really midway. Or let’s just say, it is on its way to
expected of the creators, entrepreneurs making history.
and leaders is to imagine and build the
story of the future of digital in a cohesive This almanac aims to meter this roaring
manner. potential of digital that lies ahead- like
the unknown sea before anchoring on a
Laying the foundation of digital in a newfound land. I am hopeful that this
democratic manner, it inspires us to not effort by BW Marketing World & DDB
just expand in our country but the world. Mudra Group was helpful in navigating the
Like they say, ‘If it’s built for India, it’s built next phase of digital for all stakeholders.
for the world’. Let us all create history together!

99
 The BW Marketing World-DDB Mudra Digital
Almanac is a comprehensive document on the
many facets of digital. It delves into and
unfolds digital's evolution, its trends, its impact
on the media and marketing fraternity, and the
ways to navigate it seamlessly

A Division of