Balancing The Physical & Digital

Influencer marketing has grown vigorously across industries. Do you expect this to continue?

Many people have switched from traditional marketing methods. The attempt to be in front of consumers, every minute, can be achieved only through influencers. This is why I think influencer marketing is here to stay. Communication is moving to digital platforms much more. As digital rises further, influencer marketing will also find newer ways and avenues to grow and show its effectiveness. 

What are your thoughts on meme marketing and whether large brands can take advantage of it?

I hope we become a meme someday! That is the fastest way to become popular. There are certain factors to be kept in mind. You need to do moment marketing through memes which engage the audience but at the same time are not very offensive. The important thing here is to know where to draw the line as after a period, memes can become offensive. One has to be mindful while deploying this.

There is much conversation around phygital marketing. Do you see the digital part overtaking the physical part at some point?

Right now, we must be clear that traditional or physical marketing is also doing very well. The current need is to balance both physical and digital. Many brands either depend wholly on digital or spend disproportionately on physical. This is because lead generation still happens through hoardings, billboards, radio advertisements and other traditional ways. This may change in the next few years but not right now.

What are some of the challenges that marketers are facing today?

The first is to be able to market to your clientele the technology that has come into the world. Many brands are still not comfortable with the disruption we are seeing. They still tend to sway away from it not only because of the resistance to change but they are content with the current outcome. More efforts will have to be made to get more brands to be comfortable with what digital has to offer.