AIMA World Marketing Congress puts spotlight on marketing myopia in the digital age

All India Management Association (AIMA) two-day 3rdWorld Marketing Congress concluded today. It highlighted the need for a fundamental change in marketing in the age of digital media and empowerment of the consumer.

The theme of the congress was “Marketing Myopia 2.0”.
On the second and the final day of the event, the eminent speakers shared their insights on many urgent marketing issues, including big data and analytics, future relevance of the traditional media, the role of NGOs in marketing social causes and the relevance of advertising agencies in the new era.

Talking on the relevance of traditional media in the current scenario, Ms. Shefalika Saxena, CMO, Microsoft India said,” Traditional media is not at all losing relevance. Media is only media and not new or old, which is constantly changing and evolving. It’s not about newspapers or television or any other media but it’s how one uses that media to engage with the customers to sell or to market a product.”

“As world of marketing is changing rapidly every day, traditional media has to change ways of communicating with people and have to go where the audience is going rather than where media wants to take them,”  Ashok Venkatramani, CEO, ABP News, said while commenting on role and relevance of traditional media in current scenario.

Talking about the importance of analytics in marketing, Mr. Clifford Patrao, Director and Leader, Strategy & Transformation-Global Business Services, India/South Asia, IBM India Pvt. Ltd, said, “Analytics are for enriching customers experience and to make product branding more user friendly. We are seeing an era where data is empowering marketing and marketers.”

During the two-day event the participants also discussed the new age consumers, extending product lifecycles, defining business based on customers and not products, using Internet to gain competitive advantage and the rising importance of earned media.

On the first day of the congress, the Congress Chairman & Chairman & Managing Director, R K SWAMY BBDO Pvt. Ltd, Srinivasan K Swamy had emphasized the challenges faced by the marketers in this age of digital media and consumers changing behavior.
Making a presentation on the occasion, D Shivakumar, President, AIMA and Senior Vice President, IMEA, Nokia Ltd, had highlighted the fundamental change in marketing, denoting the era to brand experience rather than of product branding.  He also stressed that marketers could no longer treat the digital media as a niche.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of the AIMA’s R K Swamy High Performance Brand of the year Award, which was bagged by Apollo Tyres this year. Rajesh Dahiya, National Head, Sales & Marketing, Apollo Tyres received the award.
The Congress was conducted in an experience-sharing, interactive mode, encouraging high level of participation by the delegates. The event format included presentations and experiences by some of the most renowned names of the marketing world.

The Congress attracted more than 350 participants. The Congress afforded the delegates an opportunity to learn from the experts and share branding experience and insights with their peers.

The key speakers at the Congress included Srinivasan K Swamy, Conference Chairman & Chairman & Managing Director, R K SWAMY BBDO Pvt Ltd; D Shivakumar, President, AIMA and Senior Vice President, IMEA, Nokia Ltd; Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder and Vice Chairman - Naukri.com; Neeraj Gupta, Director Sales & Operations - Google India; Bhaskar Sharma, GM – Red Bull India; Suhel Seth, Managing Partner, Counselage India; M V Natarajan, Managing Director – Mars India Chocolate, Mars India Private Limited; Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, exchage4media group; R Mukundan, Managing Director, Tata Chemicals Ltd; Clifford Patrao, Strategy & Transformation-Global Business Services, India/South Asia, IBM India; Ashok Venkatramani, CEO, ABP News; Shefalika Saxena, CMO, Microsoft India; Kiran Bedi, Indian Social Activist; Yasuharu Sasaki, Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Network, New York and Roland Landers, Head-Corporate Brand, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.