Monday, December 20, 2010

To Hell With The Hygiene

Some months ago I had written a rather impassioned piece on why Digital Advertising in India was in a rather sorry state. It was as much an observation as it was start of a philosophy for me. Don't accuse me of 'intellectualizing' as yet, you'll have your chance to do that later.

The notion that digital/online/internet advertising can be considered an adjunct, or even a parallel to traditional forms of advertising has been dealt with, and put to rest, quite effectively by a host of far more qualified and informed professionals than me, so, I shall steer clear of that. What I have here is a simple suggestion. Digital advertising allows brands and people to communicate with each other, in three out of the four possible permutations, unless you call the Mac vs PC ads a from of brand-to-brand communication, but it doesn't stop there. This medium also allows you to track and analyse this chatter. So, here's my question. Shouldn't communication agencies create more interesting ways to facilitate, grow and listen to this conversation for the brands they represent, this rather than hopping on to Facebook and Twitter as a quick fix every single time?

Maybe they could do that by creating new platforms or by undertaking activities that will make sure that the consumer/audience/user talks. This maybe the time, in the Indian context, more so, to embrace the complexities that come with creating new platforms or communication models. Maybe they ought to think like a startup garage where small micro-apps, that allow for the talk to go on, are created. As I had said earlier, brands, in India, have a sandbox of less than a 100 million users to engage as of now, now is the time to experiment with ideas rather than follow a set standard.  

Posted via email from Are You Off Guard?

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