Exclusive | Disruption in competition is great: Mindshare's Johnston

The recently concluded Goafest 2014 witnessed an illustrious list of speakers from around the world who spoke across various topics revolving the business. While the awards occupied the attention of most present, what caught our interest were some interesting knowledge seminars conducted by top-notch professionals from the industry. One name being that of Norm Johnston.  The audience was captivated by his graphical illustrations on the power of digital. Norm Johnston spoke about the industry, where it is heading and to prove his point made a short but powerful presentation which received much appreciation from the audience.

In conversation with Adgully, Norm Johnston, Chief Digital Officer, Mindshare –gave an overview about the digital world, his expectations from India and more.

Norm Johnston (NJ): I think it is highly relevant. Even with minimum data in the room, the point is that media and creative agencies, people working online and offline and clients can gather, have a debate and discuss on what can be done better. So it is much about gathering people in a room as it is about having data.

AG: How do you think can an Indian client use paid, earned and owned media in the most effective way?

NJ: In my opinion, the principles are the same regardless of the country; the execution is what differs because of factors such as internet penetration or types of mobile phones that are available etc. It is about how we make sure we leveraged owned assets, which could be everything from websites to an outdoor ad, to paid media which can be both online and offline. So for us it is the principle of getting these three things together, it is just the execution of it depending on your location in a particular country because what you do in urban environment is different from what you do in rural environment.

AG: How do you think we can optimize paid, earned and owned media so that we can achieve and justify the client’s brief?

NJ: We are in the business of getting the right message to the customer and the right number of them. I think clients increasingly realise that this can happen through more than just paid media; it can happen through earned media and their own assets as well. For them it is re-thinking media and the way they approach that and their expectations. But that is quite disruptive though because ‘change’ is the business model we have; while in many cases our business model is based on traditional business model of ‘commission’. With this new building of paid, earned and owned, we may decide to spend less but do it in a way that generates much more earned media. So therefore the way we get compensated has to also change with the shift in the way that we are looking at media. I think what is interesting with this area, is that it’s not a theoretic discussion, it is much more pragmatic and based on facts and data and around it.

AG: In your session you also mentioned that 20% of the total responses to a TV campaign happens on the social media space. So do you think the demise of television is in the process?

NR: I think it will eventually happen! History suggests that a lot of these trends that we see in one market, as the infrastructure matures ends up being same human behaviour for all. Also, as the smart phones users number go up in India, yes we will see the same sort of dynamic happening between TV and phones / mobile, Radio and phone, outdoor and phones!

AG: You also talked about blurring of lines between media and creative, so as a media agency would you not consider it a threat for the media business?

NJ: Well I think disruption in competition is great! I think it benefits everybody and for us it makes us do our job harder and in different ways. So when we talk about adaptive marketing, the same principle applies for our own business, where we need to be faster and agile than our competition. And if we are not than other companies will take our business away. So yes, its and opportunity as well as a threat for us; but I think what has evolved is the fact that within marketing we now have much more data and information than we ever had before, So it does put media agencies in a slightly different position because some / most of the creative agencies haven’t had that same level of data. So we have got strength going in that sense, but if we don’t make good use of that, then that calls for trouble!

AG: What are you expectations from the Indian market?        

NJ: What attracts every time I come to India, is the pure energy! It is such a dynamic country with so much energy. The only aspect that perhaps holds you back is the infrastructure and internet penetration; but at the same time, statistics suggest that the country is growing high on this too slowly along with the smart-phone usage boom. Thus, I think it is a real opportunity for India to be a beacon for innovation in our industry and you guys have done that in many ways already. It is just now with the infrastructure being more mature, you will have even more opportunity to do that. So my message to India is keep innovating and keep leading!

Norm Johnston has been involved in interactive marketing since graduating from Chicago’s North-western University in 1988. While at Accenture, Norm led a team that developed one of the earliest interactive shopping destinations for a large U.S. retail client. Norm is a long-time vocal evangelist of the digital industry and is a frequent speaker at interactive conferences, including various IAB events, the Cannes Advertising Festival, the Festival of Media, and Internet World.