Adgully Exclusive | All media will become interactive and measurable: Indigo Consulting's Vikas Tandon

Being an entrepreneur in such a competitive scenario like today is not an easy task. Entrepreneurs are not just business men but creators of new thought processes and innovative ways. They are individuals who have wanted to break away from the system and establish something of their own. One such first generation entrepreneur is Vikas Tandon, who founded Indigo Consulting, leading web development and interactive marketing agencies.

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Tandon speaks about his entrepreneurial venture and discusses the domain.

"The biggest highlight has been to see the creation and evolution of an industry from scratch, and in fact being part of the creation. Being in an industry which combines two things I enjoy most - technology and marketing - has made my work much easier. The other highlight has been the wonderful experience of creating an organisation and brand from scratch that now has an identity and value of its own," he said. Having done various stints in the music space with Sony Music and Magnasound India, Tandon also has experience as the head of Mudra Interactive.

Commenting on the challenges in this space, he said, "The ever-changing landscape of the internet and internet usage, and the low entry barriers have been some of the challenges we have faced. Anyone who surfs the net and uses Facebook for a bit can claim to be a digital media expert and offer services. Unfortunately clients' slow development of conviction in the medium have also meant that they would rather experiment at a lower cost and hence the efforts of marketing agencies have not always been fully valued."

"Agencies that are constantly able to evolve and stay ahead of change have been able to establish themselves over the long run, like Indigo Consulting has. Our investment in new practice areas like Usability and Mobile Marketing have ensured that we stay relevant and differentiate ourselves from commoditised offerings that proliferate," he further added.

Tandon aspires to be the most respected and admired digital agency in the domain. "We can try and earn that respect by delivering results and with a work ethic that makes it a pleasure for clients to work with us. So we make sure that we back our ideas and solutions with solid execution and delivery, and delivered by a team of professionals that are a pleasure to work with," he added on.

Some of Indigo's prominent clientele would include Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, HSBC, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Bharti AXA Life Insurance. Indigo also has clients across the globe like Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (UAE), Rentfusion (USA), IGDS (Europe) and HSBC (UAE).

According to Tandon, sectors like Banking and Financial Services, Travel & Hospitality, Telecom and Internet/Dotcom businesses have been early embracers of this medium. "Lately it has been heartening to see sectors like FMCG, Automotive, Education and Real Estate take a very serious interest in the medium," he further said.

Talking about some of his favourite campaigns, he said, "I love the Old Spice campaigns, they really reinvented the brand and used the medium nicely to make it more relevant to today's generation. Jaago Re's voter awareness campaign was also memorable. Among our work, Asian Paints' Social Media Campaign for Holi on Facebook stands out in recent times."

Over his years of experience, Tandon has seen a distinct evolution over the years in this space. "On the consumer side, not only are we seeing increased usage, but comfort with the medium is increasing dramatically. People are now far more comfortable going beyond email and browsing - watching videos, downloading media, e-commerce, uploading photos and videos, this has opened up options as a marketer," he said

"The older forms of marketing like display ads, email marketing and SEM, though still effective, have found their own niches, and are now being used more intelligently. Creatively also, it has been heartening to see the evolution," he further said.

Tandon then continues by stating that the two most important aspects of Digital Advertising are Relevance and Interactivity. "Relevance because the medium allows you to personalise to the unit of one, so the more customised your message can be to the profile and needs of the recipient, the more effective it is likely to be. And the communication must elicit a response/engagement from the recipient. Again, the medium allows you to have 2-way conversations with the consumer and any campaign must try and take advantage of that," he explained.

Media integration is a phenomenon that is already in full swing. Clients now know that their campaigns and marketing strategies will not have the desired impact with just the mainstream advertising. "In my view, there will be no such separate thing as "digital medium'. All media will be powered by technology that will make it interactive and measureable. The PC or mobile is just a device that got there first. Once you share in this vision, you immediately realise the importance of mastering it. The spends on digital advertising will definitely increase without doubt in the future," he said.

Social media is a much larger phenomenon and more to do with how user behaviour is shaping online. The advent of technologies that allow users to create content has given vent to behaviours and dispositions that were perhaps already present. "What it means for the advertiser that the consumer is now in control of the medium which requires a major shift in the way communication is crafted. The biggest opportunity it has afforded marketers is to be able to listen to the millions of voices which would have cost a lot more in traditional ways. If marketers can even listen effectively they would have gained a lot from social media," he explained.

Digital marketing is the key to reach out to the audience that is present on these platforms. More and more brands are embracing this medium and increasing their budget for it. | By Janees Antoo [janees(at)adgully.com]

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