Paul Writer launches Innovative Marketer Dialogue, 
Video interview series with CMOs highlights marketing best practices
Sanjay Tripathy
Senior Executive Vice President – Head Marketing, Products & Direct Channels
HDFC Life
On Challenges that Marketers face today …
I think marketing leaders face multiple challenges. The first one is definitely about driving brand engagement across mediums. Because today customers are no longer fixed to one particular medium. We actually did a study a couple of months back, some customer might be consuming media in three different ways simultaneously. For instance, he might be watching TV at the same time he might be engaged on the i-pad or the tablet or engaged in a conversation on his mobile. Most people today consume multiple forms of media simultaneously.
When you talk about brand engagement today, it is no longer about one particular medium. You cannot create campaigns for one medium, you have to create an integrated medium campaign. It cannot be like the 360 degree campaign used in the earlier days, previously we spoke about 360 degree campaign and what it meant was; there was one primary or the main medium like television and all other mediums were support mediums. It cannot be approached in that manner.
“When you talk about brand engagement today, it is no longer about one particular medium. You cannot create campaigns for one medium, you have to create an integrated medium campaign. ”
When consumers want to consume media content, it should be available on all mediums for instance when consumers want to associate with cricket, it should not only be available on TV but when they are trying to search for cricket scores online or even when trying to stream live content. Basically, wherever the customers are present, the media should find a way to be present there.
The second challenge is; how to get comfortable with user technology in the best possible manner both from the customer and the organization perspective. Customers have started and have become comfortable using technology, be it mobile or on broadband network. Let me give you an example; the business on e – commerce sites have increased because people have become more comfortable with buying things online which was not always the case. Therefore, consumers are adapting to technology and digital space in a big way.
How will brands understand consumers and be there when customers are trying to get information, be it research online and buy online or maybe research online and opt for service offline. Whatever be the customer’s choice of modality, the brand should be ready for that.
The third challenge is an internal challenge. How to have the right marketing team? How to have the right team structure in customer’s perspective and according to the skill set required so technology can be used effectively and content curated can be relevant to consumers.
