Digital Marketing Trends 2013

Digital Marketing Trends 2013Know what 40 experts predict about Digital Marketing in India

More money will get routed to online video content

More money will get routed to online video content in 2013

TUSHAR VYAS - Managing Partner South Asia, GroupM

DigitalTrends2013.afaqs.com

The emergence of pervasive computing and growth in mobility has taken video out of the big screen and there are strong signs of high growth of out of home video consumption. The change that video brings in behavior is more intense and complex, a new distribution system which is detached from publishing schedule, duration of content - short format v/s long formats; a new breed of producers - professionals, consumers or crowd sources; times-shifted television content consumption; different screen size; not only watched but interacted and shared; and interesting video content beyond language barrier (read Kolaveri/Gangnam). Internet video will help attract more advertising monies on the digital medium in the short run and also be the starting point for long term disruption.

One-to-one marketing and location-based services will emerge stronger

SANJAY TREHANHeadMSN India


2013 is going to be an exciting year for digital marketers. The converged digital media is coming into its own and will throw up many new possibilities. While SoLoMo will be the buzzword, one-to-one marketing and location-based services will take root. Database marketing will make advertisers reach Markets of One. In a device and platform-agnostic world, marketers will have to narrowcast their communication and reach out to an individual with a customised message. Location-based services or communication will also gain ground. As smartphone penetration increases, the handset will become a great new way to reach the consumer on the go, with a time and location-specific offer. Context will be the key driver here. Hurrah for the new world!

NITIN MATHURSenior Director and Head, Marketing Yahoo! India and Southeast Asia

Confidence of Digital platform sellers will grow

Organic advertising will emerge stronger


I believe custom branded content on the internet is emerging as a powerful way for brands to build long-term relationships with customers. The subtle placement of brand around subjects that matter to customers is the new way to create brand connect. We are already seeing the start of this trend, with brand messages becoming an integral part of the consumption experience. Take for example what Coke does with Coke Studio, building its brand through a community of music lovers, or what P&G is doing with Style Factor, a custom-branded site for women on Yahoo!. Today’s highly connected consumers are in the driver’s seat. Disruptive messaging is not as effective – or tolerated – as it once was. Going forward, brands need to make advertising almost ‘organic’ to the content the connected user demands. So, for instance, if a teenager is reading about a game console, a game publisher or console maker would like to inform them about a hot new release or version “then and there”.

BG MAHESHFounder & Managing Director Oneindia.in


The penetration of mobile devices is on the rise. In the next two years, a majority will access the internet from a mobile device. Language content will become more important as mobile internet penetration will be seen in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. Advertisers and brands have to recognise the exploding user base of mobile internet users. They need to have very good mobile sites before advertising on mobile properties. I have seen brands spending on mobile advertising, but when you click on the banner, it goes to their desktop site. Their advertising spend is not getting them any returns, for no fault of the publisher. The monetisation from mobile devices has improved but it is still way too early days in India. Unless we see better advertising revenues from mobile sites and apps, it will become difficult for entrepreneurs to sustain. Burning VC money is not the answer.

Brands will create mobile sites and mobile content

Internet will finally become a mass media in 2013

GUNEET SINGHHead, Consumer Marketing Google India


2013 will be the year when more than 200 million Indians will be online, and internet will emerge from being an urban elitist media to a mass media in its own right. It will be the year when marketers, entrepreneurs and carriers, all wake up to a new online Indian - one who doesn't speak English and accesses the internet primarily from his (and her!) mobile. Being relevant to this user and holding a meaningful conversation with her within the constraints of poor network bandwidth, unsmart devices and non-standardized Indic fonts/keyboards will challenge us to think of a more visual and acoustic web, which will also need to be delivered in a light way. Real India will be ready for the internet in 2013. It will be fun to see who all in the current internet space are ready for it.

RAJAN SRINIVASANSr. VP, Marketing Web18

Brands will focus more on owned content


If the immediate past has seen a focus on distribution/discovery (search and social) and access (mobile), the immediate future will see a heightened focus on content: both user-generated and professionally created. Brands have begun to realise this need to create quality ‘owned content’ in order to generate ‘earned media’ and this is across content formats. 2013 will be the year in which content conversations are ignited to truly leverage the distribution and discovery of the digital landscape.

SHAILENDRA KATYALDirector,Marketing Lenovo India


Digital platform sellers will grow in confidence and will stop trying to justify their existence versus other media. They will start focusing more on helping brands achieve market impact rather than focusing on cheaper costs. Apart from that I wish that creative guys will stop being scared of coming to digital medium and embrace it wholeheartedly.

Confidence of Digital platform sellers will grow

Time to bridge the gap between offline marketing and online behavior

MUKUL BAFANACo-founderJabong.com


One trend that we should observe is the use of digital tools to bridge the gap between offline marketing and online behavior. Given large offline marketing spends, it is important to reduce the time and recall gap between customers seeing something offline and acting on it online. The emphasis will be on incorporating digital calls to action into typical offline media as well as better utilization of passive offline media through digital tools/platforms. Good examples are Woolworths (Australia) & Tesco (South Korea) using QR codes on offline advertising space such as subway stations and wall panels. Customers are able to scan the codes and purchase on the go thereby increasing quick conversions while reducing drop off rates, time, and cost between awareness and purchase.

SRIDHAR BHead, Digital Marketing UB Group

CMO will be the new CTO

2013 will see the birth of a new marketing cadre -- the marketing techie -- who will hug technology rather than bovine digital campaigns. The marketing techie will collaborate with the technology department and will take active part in decisions which involves using technology to drive the sales and marketing processes. He will focus on leveraging technology to create suites (solutions) that will result in profitable business growth, as opposed to simply focusing on plain vanilla digital marketing efforts. By next winter, he will stake claims over the company's technology budget and will be granted effortlessly. Because the CMO will be the new CTO!.


SUMEET SINGHVP- Marketing, Strategic Alliances & Corp Comm.Naukri.com

Local will become bigDigitalTrends2013.afaqs.com

Apart from more brands moving to include digital media in their overall media mix, local will become big. More apps will come around local, both social and mobile apps, and these will also gain usage from a consumer’s point of view. The future is for niche rather than broad networks.

Marketing will be powered by UGC

PAURUSH SONKARDeputy Chief ManagerL&T General Insurance


Marketing will be powered by UGC

2011-12 was about user generated content (UGC) but 2013 will be about companies officially seeking UGC. Companies will want users to write their experiences with the brand, make and upload videos of user experience, and write product reviews. They will begin selling to customers based on what others have said and not what they want to say.

Brands will realise that people believe and relate to what other users have to say. This, however, will not follow a pure testimonial route, but have a broader angle such as a customer spending a day in their office, customer visits to the factory/workshop, and showcasing a TVC made by a customer.

App-vertising will explode

SANDEEP SINGHCo-Founder and COO Freecultr.com


2013 will see an explosion of app-vertising in its true sense – integrating platform-agnostic apps as core to the brand experience. It will not be just about advertising within apps, it will be about building apps which will get advertised to connect, engage and build loyalty amongst consumers. With 2012 being the year of bringing the app marketplaces to masses across mobile OS platforms, 2013 should see more brand marketers trying to capitalise on this mass reach and ‘on the go’ platform by providing utility-based or experiential apps. We have already seen in 2012 that the landscape of the app world is not restricted to mobile alone, it’s getting well-integrated to TV as well – so you can imagine the potential!

Content format will dictate media plans in 2013

BEERAJAAH SSWAINVP OMD Digital


One big trend in 2013 will be ‘Unified Theory of Content’. Content will be seen in three simplistic blocks of video, text and audio, which will be the backbone of digital marketing, or any form of marketing. The explosion of devices and platforms that is happening around us will make us more focused on what is delivered to the end use, that is, content.Marketers will use this theory for a more clarified view of the media landscape, which is increasingly getting augmented through technology. A SEC A consumer will be reached by the same video content, planned through a tablet, as a lower SEC consumer, who gets the content through a feature phone. As technology helps us get the targeting and device/platform choices right, as we move along, the key will be the content - unified into three simplistic blocks of video, audio and text.

More brands will explore online and real world integration

UNNY RADHAKRISHNANHead of Digital – South Asia Maxus (GroupM)


One possible thing that will get traction in 2013 is the connection between the real world and the digital world. The ‘Internet of Things’ is a term coined in the late ‘90s, but it is in the last couple of years that it started featuring in consumer engagement/experiences. Technologies like sensors that can detect body movements, capture data and map gestures are now helping multiple devices to interact with consumers and create engaging experiences. The most quoted example in this field is the work done by Nike. More brands will experiment in these areas. At least some of us are investing significantly in these areas.

ANURAG GUPTAFounder & MD DGM India

Post Click parameters will get more acceptance


I see continued growth of Performance Advertising. I estimate that almost 70 per cent of all online spends in 2013 will be benchmarked on post-click performance parameters. Leading spenders will be online travel and e-commerce, followed by internet businesses like online listing and classifieds. There will be an interest from the traditional advertisers to explore online media for driving brand activation and contests, for which they will want to work on performance pricing metrics.I also envisage that brand advertising will be increasingly measured on post-click parameters like user engagement and bounce rates.

Webisodes will be a reality in 2013

RATISH NAIRCo-FounderAd Magnet


The year 2013 will see a much greater adoption of video as a medium of communication on the internet. Going beyond the pre-roll or the video banners, content is going to play a much larger role in video advertising. We will surely see content tailor-made to brands.We should see an increase in content on the lines of serials, with webisodes coming in as content like episodes on TV.Another important trend we see taking off next year and the coming years is a massive increase in the use of data for communication purposes, whether it is to target users or to use the data to create relevant, intelligent and much more engaging brand communication.

Automated Digital Media buying process will gain higher acceptance

SIDDHARTH PURIBusiness HeadTyroo Direct


With the increase in India’s internet population and average time spent online, we will see 30-35 per cent jump in page views. This will lead to a greater need of finding relevant audience via technology tools rather than manual placement hunt. It implies that the extent of automation in the digital media buying process will increase significantly. Data driven programmatic buying will lead to effective targeting and help advertisers save significant money (30-40%).

REEM SAIEDHead - Digital Strategy & AlliancesAd Magnet

Sponsored video channels are coming soon The year 2013 will mark the first time a

brand goes on to sponsor the launch of an exclusive online video channel on YouTube, partnering a major media content partner (with significant TV and internet content). While it’s common on TV for brands to sponsor the launch of a programme, like for example Amul Masterchef, online will see the launch of a branded channel itself (for example, an online video travel channel with content produced by Rajshri/Balaji/Viacom sponsored by Jet Airways or Makemytrip). The antecedents for this are already in place: massive online/mobile video consumption (both users and time spent), especially on YouTube, facilitated by better, cheaper broadband connectivity.

KIRAN GOPINATHFounderOzone Media

Digital marketing will become very scientific


One big prediction for 2013 is that digital marketing will get very scientific through the use of audience information. Display advertising technology has developed to the point where a viewer’s digital behaviour can be anonymously identified and categorised into buckets. This will help advertisers confidently adopt digital media as a new way of reaching their TG. In addition to targeting people through TV, radio and print, advertisers will be able to show ads to specific audience clusters online by leveraging tools such as Data Management Platforms and Retargeting.

AMIT BHARTIYAGM & VP, Mobile &ViziSenseKomli Media

The buzz word will be SoLoMo


Next year, digital advertising will be all about SoLoMo – social, location and mobile. Mobile video will see a huge surge in demand and all brands will start thinking mobile applications vs. FB applications, which was the trend in 2012.

ALOK KEJRIWALFounderGames2Win


Facebook advertising will really begin to make its impact felt and create a strong and very effective alternative to Google. Via Facebook, you will be able to buy who you want, in the right frame of mind, for the right context and served the targeted purpose. Facebook will make Google feel giddy.

Facebook will make Google feel giddy

Brands will dare to spend 100 per cent budget on digital marketing

Where we have seen digital getting 8-9 per cent of the marketing budgets, I predict that one of the major brands will shift their entire product launch budget to digital. Yes, 100 per cent of the budget! Either the category will be suitable to digital, or continuing economic stress may forbid the use of mainline media. Whatever be the reasons or the compulsions, we will see a major brand do a 100 per cent digital launch, at a fraction of the cost it would have taken to do anything in mainline! But, the successful launch will prove to be an inflexion point, and will inspire others to make significant shifts to digital from their marketing budgets!

SANJAY MEHTA Co-founder and Joint CEOSocial Wavelength


Dual screen phenomenon will emerge stronger

NIMESH SHAHCo-FounderWindchimes Communications


Recently, one of the user behavior that I have noticed is of people using their smartphones and tablets while watching television. It is not uncommon to notice most TV channels flashing their Facebook and Twitter signs whereby they are encouraging their viewers to remain connected with them in the online world as well. They are seeking feedback; they are building a conversation. Televison show --Satyameva Jayate-- really saw a huge trend of viewers reacting, commenting, sharing their feedback as each episode was unfolding.This presents an amazing opportunity for marketers. Brands can leverage this behavior by encouraging users to share their stories, take feedback on their ad or simply entertain them from offline to online world.I see this dual screen phenomenon increasing rapidly in 2013.

Dual screen phenomenon will emerge stronger

PREETHAM VENKKYBusiness HeadKRDS Asia


Currently, digital strategies on social, mobile, offsite and onsite are working in silos. Insights from all these initiatives are being looked at independently. But, the customer remains the same - he's just interacting with you at different touch points. 'Big Data' analysis will be used to integrate insights and will help find answers to the right questions. Which are the other pages my fan likes? What kind of content are a section of our followers excited about? What are my brand advocates passionate about? Such questions will help brands steer a more real-time strategy, as opposed to their reliance on the 'posting calendar'.

Brands willfocus on integrated digital marketing strategy

KARTHIK NAGARAJANHead, Social MediaGroupM

Brands will invest in content creation


Marketers will invest in creating content that is exclusively tailored for digital media. So far, their focus has been on creating a 'critical mass' of audience on social platforms. Large investments were made on this pursuit and many even took it to a 'million or nothing' level. Now that they seem to be more or less there, the question being asked is: "if Facebook and Twitter are our solutions, what is the problem?". The answer invariably includes 'telling the brand story' and it is this deliberation that is driving content creation. Now that one of the "bullish" brands has taken the jump from 'stratos'sphere, others cant be far away!

DAKSH SHARMACo-founder, Iffort

Brands will optimize their campaigns for mobile platforms 2013 would mark a paradigm shift in

the mindset of brands as they will move beyond Facebook likes and twitter hashtags. 2013 would be the year of mobile, with an increasing number of Indian brands optimising their campaigns for the mobile platform. In the last couple of years, we've already witnessed a growth in brands looking to go mobile. In 2013, we would witness content and applications specifically tailored for the mobile ecosystem.


HAREESH TIBREWALACo-Founder and Joint CEOSocial Wavelength

Brands will opt for multi-screen strategies


Digital will no longer mean one screen. It will mean multiple screens - desktop, laptop, tablet and cell phone. So far, brands thought of digital as ‘one big universe’. Now, brands will need to learn how to use this multiple-screen world, both as a tool for customer segmentation (isn't an iPad user by itself a very well segmented consumer!) as well as in terms of creating different content that enables an optimum consumer experience, depending on the type of screen the consumer is using. For the last so many years, I keep hearing the word ‘convergence’ but actually, what seems to be happening is more and more of ‘divergence’. One-size-fits-all never worked. And, it never will!

NAMRATA BALWANICOO Media2Win

Integrated digital marketing data will be in demand


While the digital media is the most measurable, what it lacks is an integrated data source that helps marketers understand the overall impact of their efforts in the digital domain. Analytics for websites, digital campaigns, social media properties and mobile properties are all different pieces of the data puzzle that need to come together for better insights into the consumer’s behaviour and its impact on the brand. With the advancement of cookie-based tracking, this is one area that will come to the fore in 2013.

Brands will go beyond Facebook Likes

SHUBHO SENGUPTADigital Marketing Consultant

2013 will be the year Indian brands start taking Twitter seriously. Brands will go beyond Facebook Likes (they cost money and do not require creativity or sometimes even a strategy). Why Twitter? Because on Twitter, measureability is simpler, action is real time. Of course, you need to be highly creative and committed. I call it from Like to Live.

DigitalTrends2013.afaqs.comInstagram-driven engagements will come to the party in 2013

NAVIN KANSALGroup Creative Director Grey Digital

With Instagram now available on Android, thus lowering the barrier to entry, along with the meteoric rise of Pinterest, expect digital marketing to get a lot more visual in terms of generating and soliciting content from the crowd. The ecosystem is becoming even more conducive, with Facebook increasing the importance of visuals in the News Feed. The world did not end in 2012. So, will an Indian brand bring alive the next visual meme in 2013? Something certainly worth looking forward to!

RP SINGHHead – Digital, APAC & Middle East McCann Erickson – Commonwealth

DigitalTrends2013.afaqs.comMarketers will opt for defined digital marketing strategy

I think marketers will move from digital experimentation to defined digital marketing strategy. They will stop doing ‘pilot tests’ with digital media in 2013 and will have a defined digital marketing strategy next year. 2013 will see dedicated digital marketing budgets across a majority of sectors and categories. Marketers, according to me, have seen enough experimentation by their counterparts and now they have enough appetite to have a clearly defined digital marketing strategy for their brands. Agencies and media partners are also working towards the same by assisting brands to chalk out the role of digital media vehicles in their overall marketing efforts. I see that as a big trend emerging in 2013.

Web design will finally become device-agnostic

KAMAL KRISHNAManaging DirectorPOSSIBLE (WPP Digital)


While mobility and associated developments are sure to take centre-stage, I believe Responsive Design is set to permeate deeper into digital asset development initiatives. New scripts, clever CSS and of-course, the rising popularity of HTML5 means that web design will finally become device-agnostic. While that clearly spells doom for the now-unnecessary "WAP sites", I also foresee Location Based Services (LBS)-driven, purpose-led Apps becoming more mainstream.

Smartphone advertising will evolve to Smart advertising

DIPPAK KHURANACEO & Co-FounderVserv.mobi


Advertisers today are adapting their campaigns to the capabilities of smartphones, and leveraging only 1 or 2 smartphone platforms v/s the broader mobile ecosystem. As the medium continues to rapidly demonstrate its mass media potential, advertisers with a smartphone-only strategy will miss out on a large chunk of consumers. In 2013, there will be 200 million mobile internet users in India, with 80 per cent of them using mobile internet-enabled feature phones. Advertisers will have to invest time understanding the mobile usage patterns, to create smart campaigns that will connect with consumers, irrespective of which mobile platform they use.

AMIT LALLHead, Mobile MarketingMobile2Win

Enterprise solution on mobile will be big in 2013

Brands will create mobile sites and mobile content


As per my gumption, the coming year will put mobile right in the forefront of the digital marketing mix. Enterprise solution on mobile for clients will kick off in a big way, especially in the service and finance sectors. Smartphones will try to eat at least 50 per cent of market share of feature phones sold next year. Data browsing on mobile will continue to grow rapidly, especially on feature phones, which will gather close to 75 per cent of browsing share. Telcos will try again to cash in on the mobile marketing space and will scout for partners and opportunities to capitalise on this medium. App and voice market will continue to grow rapidly.

MADAN SANGLIKARCo-founder & CEOAD2C

Mobile advertising will start cannibalizing display advertising


2013 will carry the baton of being called the 'Year of Mobile' (yes, for the Nth time in a row). The mobile market will grow by about 75 per cent over 2012. Apart from network-based buys, the biggest growth will come in the categories of cloud-based entertainment, sports sponsorship and mobile video. This will largely grow at the cost of its oldest digital sibling, online display. So, while digital will grow as a category, mobile will be the fastest-growing sub-category, at the cost of online display, which will see its lowest growth since 2000. It's rather unfortunate, since one would not want the digital sub-categories to cannibalise each other.

SATWICK SAXENABusiness HeadThmbstrk (Indigo Consulting)

Contextual Marketing will become mainstream

DigitalTrends2013.afaqs.comContextual Marketing will become mainstream

2013 will see contextual marketing go from being just a buzz word to being an essential part of campaigns. The Holy Grail of being able to deliver the right message at the right place at the right time will finally become attainable, thanks to the rise of the mobile phone. With more generic ads bombarding consumers every day, and data such as a consumer’s location and preferences now easily available through the mobile phone, brands will increasingly turn to contextual marketing, leveraging technologies like geo-fencing and location-aware SMS to increase the effectiveness and engagement of their campaigns.

Social and mobile will be two big hits of 2013

SANDEEP AMARDigital Media Expert


Social media and mobile internet are going to be the two big hits in India in 2013. This will bring in unprecedented changes in the way users communicate with brands and online products (portals, online services and such). This will change marketing strategies in a big manner in 2013, and will pave the way for a new kind of marketing in 2014. Needless to add that mobile internet expansion will bring in the local ecosystem as well. But, it is not just the SoLoMo theory. For India, it will be different due to high population density and higher number of mobile phones. E-commerce and physical commerce, marketing campaigns and consumer interaction are going to be led by mobile (local, which can help purchase there and then) and social (participating with friends). It will be a bit like the social/mobile/commerce/marketing apps such as Fancy and Pose – which are for mobile, are great marketing tools (especially Pose), have commerce built in and the social element is phenomenal.

KUSHAL SANGHVIFounder and CEOSpan Digital

Social Media usage via Mobile will continue to soar The trends India will see in 2013 are

that social media usage via mobile will continue to soar, and platforms that are highly visual, intuitive, and made for on-the-go engagement will be a step ahead of the game. With so many people hooked on to social and general browsing on their phones, you can expect both social and mobile advertising to continue to rise in prevalence and new formats being created like pre-loads and pre-rolls mainly in the form of short video or animated content formats. Banners will continue to feel like interruption thus rich media with video will have to play a larger part and so the key to a successful digital advertising campaign will be putting marketing messages within popular social content, and optimizing specially and separately for mobile. Successful content will become the ad, and vice versa.

EKALAVYA BHATTACHARYAHead, DigitalMTV India

Web will be used heavily by political parties


The web will be used heavily for political campaigns. Especially since we'll lead up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Suddenly every politician will have a website, be on twitter, have his election manifesto up on Youtube etc. Nice time for an agency to specifically set up a wing to handle such pitches and campaigns.

Web will be used heavily by political parties

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