ad:tech 2015 | Changing consumption pattern of consumers stalwarts debate

After a super exciting first day, ad:tech 2015  concluded on Friday, March 20 2015 . The day opened with full packed house on the keynote sessions on How can Data, Creative and Technology drive consumer value and How will Digital impact Entertainment, Music & News in next five years.

The keynote speakers included Vikram Chandra, Executive Director and CEO, NDTV Group, Mr. Uday Sodhi, Executive Vice President and Head – Digital Business at Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd, Sony Entertainment, Shireesh Joshi, COO, Strategic Marketing, Godrej Group, K V Sridhar, Chief Creative officer, SapientNitro India, Ashok Lalla, Global Head Digital Marketing, Infosys, Anil S Nair, CEO & Managing Partner, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, Jyotsna Makkar CMO, Microsoft India and James Montgomery, Director of digital development, BBC News and Current Affairs.

The day opened with the first keynote session on how will Digital impact the Entertainment, Music & News industry in next five years? The panelist included Vikram Chandra Executive Director and CEO, NDTV Group, Uday Sodhi Executive Vice President and Head – Digital Business at Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd., Sony Entertainment, Mahesh Narayanan Global Chief Operating Officer, Saavn and the session was moderated by Nikhil Pahwa Founder, Editor & Publisher, MediaNama.

The session highlighted the fact that digital technology and social media are playing an increasingly important role in news, entertainment and music. The panelists shared their rich experience to facilitate and moderate engagement from various audiences and shared issues around data visualization.

Nikhil Pahwa started the conversation with the fact that Content has been and will be leading the conversations for every brand and every sector in the coming future. Taking forward his thought, Vikram Chandra said, “Today the consumption pattern has changed completely hence it important for content creators to evolve. Hence way back we at NDTV realized this fact and started exploring avenues in the mobile medium. Content creators today need to disseminate news through different ways.”

Chandra strongly stated, “Today NDTV has better reach on app than on TV. Being the news and content industry, we have been creating content on all possible mediums and interestingly we are more monetized on our app and online.”

Mahesh Narayanan who heads  Saavn, said, “Mobile and Digital today drive the entire music downloading and streaming industry. More than digital it is mobile that is creating a buzz in the industry. The matrices of ad-sales   are very simple and we have been receiving great response from both advertisers and the users.”

Uday Sodhi said, “We at Sony Liv have been receiving great response which clearly proves the fact that platforms like us have been able to create and  deliver to the evolving need and demand of the new users. All we need to focus today is that where and how the content is being created.”

Posing a question to the panelists, Pahwa said, “Today every brand or content creator is focusing towards targeting digital in the best possible way but are brands actually realizing the power of available digital platforms.”

Answering to that Chandra said, “Brands today need to understand that there are consumers beyond just Youtube and brands need to utilize different mediums and forms of reaching out to their consumers.”

Sodhi said, “We at Sony Liv  not only strengthen our mobile presence but also keep strengthening our digital content.” Agreeing to this point, Naryanan said, “Yes at Saavn too though we receive high response on mobile but we keep on strengthening and innovating our digital presence too.”

The next keynote Debate was conducted on how can Data, Creative and Technology drive consumer value? The panelist included Shireesh Joshi COO, Strategic Marketing, Godrej Group; K V Sridhar(Pops) Chief Creative Officer, SapientNitro, India; Ashok Lalla Global Head Digital Marketing, Infosys; Anil S Nair CEO & Managing Partner, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi. The session was moderated by Jyotsna Makkar CMO, Microsoft India.

Jyotsna Makkar opened the discussion with a point that brands are looking to participate in a dialogue as opposed to one-dimensional marketing of past.

Shireesh Joshi said, “Data is the starting point for this engagement to happen and technology is both the enabler and differentiator while stories that spread will create value. It is important to use or rather utilize the data in a proper and sincere way. Brands today can make meaningful connections by using all Data, Creative and Technology thus enhancing the consumer experience.”

Pops said, “Data is really important for every industry but only if it is used keeping in mind the relevancy and impact. We all spend huge amount of money in collecting the data but if that data is not used correctly then it will not be able to deliver to the brands in the desired way.”

Jyotsna Makkar said, “Data is delivered well if the technology is used correctly. Technology too plays a vital role in making the brands reach out to its target audiences.”

Pops said, “For it is about mixing technology and content in the best possible way. Technology is evolving and establishing day by day hence if delivered content creatively, the brand scan surely tap their consumer’s needs and demands.” Shireesh Joshi, “For us at Godrej we believe in using this data to create and strengthen our campaign stories and we believe that storytelling is the best way to optimize the data that we collect.”

Ashok Lalla said, “The data is helping the brands to understand their consumer behavior and thus enabling brand engagement opportunities. It helps the players understand the growth of the category. The Data points not only help the brands enable conversations but also enable the businesses grow customer base, customer value and customer return percentage.”

Anil S Nair said, “Creativity is the key of every conversation. The brands need to understand the ways that can help the brands use technology in an influential way thus creating opportunities to add value for the brands.”

Though this was the final day of the most awaited media and advertising conference but its managed to create high expectation for the next year. Industry experts seem quite bullish that ad;tech is expected to touch newer heights.