Rewind 2022: Advertising has taken the form of AR & VR as well - Mukesh Vij

It’s time to review the most significant industry developments as the year 2022 draws to a close. Adgully is reviewing the year 2022 for M&E, Advertising, Digital, Marketing, PR & Communications, along with leading names in the industry as part of its annual Rewind series.

Recapping the year 2022 for the media, marketing and advertising ecosystem, Mukesh Vij, Founder, Hashtag Orange, speaks about how digital advertising made up for the decreased print advertising during and after the pandemic period. He also highlights the growing trend of advertising on metaverse, how wearable tech will play a key part in search engine optimisation in the near future, and much more.

Media, Marketing and Advertising ecosystem in 2022

The media, marketing and advertising ecosystem has definitely seen a boost post the pandemic, with digital advertising filling in for the lagging print advertising. The momentum has been consistent in 2022, with brands coming up with innovative campaigns.

The PUMA advertising campaign and the controversy around ambassador Anushka Sharma seems like a promotional gimmick from the brand to enhance its publicity. It turns out that it was nothing more than a planned marketing campaign, which ultimately led to an announcement of her new brand collaboration. This has made consumers question the nature of various marketing and advertising campaigns used by commercial brands to gain publicity in the contemporary times, particularly when it is more and more difficult to tell real from fake. Although the campaign had a stellar star cast from the perspective of an ad campaign, it lacked delivery. The traditional style of creating virality and deceptive marketing did not fit the current digital trend as people have begun to rely on social media platforms for authentic information.

Key trends and developments

One important trend has been the growth of advertising on the metaverse. Video Ads are going strong on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Advertising has taken the form of AR & VR as well, because they are stimulating and impactful.
Marketers are realising that it pays to be authentic, rather than sensational. Like the Dove Self-Esteem Campaign that features real consumers instead of actors. Such campaigns build an emotional connection with the viewers.

These trends will lead to more recall of the brands than their products. Companies are focused on building their names, more than marketing the end-product. Also, metaverse will be the key driver of shopping online. Brands will get most of their sales conversions through advertisements on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, because of its targeted personalised ads.

Hashtag Orange’s performance in 2022

With much accomplished and much more in the works, we anticipate 5x growth in the current fiscal year. We commit to assisting organisations in achieving their objectives through effective digital marketing strategies. With this growth trajectory, we are optimistic and confident that Hashtag Orange will be one of the Top 3 digital agencies in India with a global footprint in the next 3 years.

Some of the steps taken to boost growth are:

Expansion drive within the organisation across divisions. We are looking at growing our team to a size of 400+ employees by FY2024.
Hiring of skilled experts in advertising and digital marketing fields
Adopting tech-driven digital marketing solutions to enhance user experience. We do all it takes to make any digital objective successful with a team of digital media experts. Our team works with a consultative and solution-driven approach toward the brands’ business objectives. We work on mobile apps, up-to-date data and analytic tools, DevOps tools, and UI/UX technologies to keep up with the evolving technology.
We have also developed a dedicated in-house SaaS tool for campaign analysis