BW Events Marketing Whitebook: Decoding The Next Generation
BW Businessworld launched its 11th edition of the BW Books Marketing Whitebook (MWB) in New Delhi on 1 July 2015. The event was witnessed by the who's who of marketing industry and their gracious presence made the launch a grand success. The magazine's editor-in-chief and chairman Annurag Batra and executive editor Gurbir Singh, along with Nielsen India president Piyush Mathur, Reckitt Benckiser south Asia regional director Nitish Kapoor, and other distinguished guests shared the gospels of marketing. The event was marked by erudite discussions that gripped the packed audience. The eminent panellists brainstormed on different topics; from brand Bharat Shining to e-wallet reaching deeper in smaller cities to the youth of India becoming the primary target for marketers. Talking about the future and power of marketing, Batra said: “We own an economy where we don't know who owns the future."
The event began with a keynote address by Batra, who announced that the MWB will get updated four times annually due to its popularity among India’s marketing gurus. This was followed by a presentation by Nielsen India’s Piyush Mathur, who narrated interesting anecdotes from the authors of MWB. "The computing power of a mobile phone is more powerful than a NASA scientist on the moon and the computing power of a microchip is more powerful than the power of the entire armed forces of 1945.” He said that technology has only empowered the consumers in this digital age and marketers are catching up with them.
This was followed by a series of vibrant panel discussions. It began with a discussion on the paradigm shift in changing trends of retail. DineOut co-founder Sahil Jain said convenience is the key for consumers, both in the urban and semi-urban areas, and this drives demand for startups to build mobile apps to reach the consumers’ comfort level. He informed that a mobile app of e-wallet is gaining traction in smaller cities. MobiKwik founder & CEO Bipin Preet Singh said, "SMEs and consumers that operate through e-wallet are gaining traction at a rapid pace in smaller cities and almost 10 per cent of the users are above the age of 50."
In the next session, panelists discussed how companies are marketing their products to the present tech-savvy India. "Digital adoption is breaking down barriers," said RenewBuy co- founder Balchander Sekhar. There was consensus that young consumers are dictating how marketers should market to them. Mahesh Kanchan, director, Marketing, Carlsberg, said: "The youth is forever experimenting with media to access products and are an extremely profitable segment for us."
India Inc and Brand Bharat was the next theme of the session that struck a patriotic chord with everyone in the audience. They were amused at the tales of Volvo India MD Kamal Bali, who talked about Brand India's equity touching a new zenith among its foreign counterparts. Gurbir Singh, who moderated the session, asked the speakers how Brand Bharat was gaining momentum outside the country. The panel also agreed that Narendra Modi’s brand equity had gone up; slogans like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ exude optimism and are symbolic of a positive change that India is projecting. But despite all being ra-ra about India, the panellists sounded a word of caution that India had to go a long way to become the next superpower. The other speaker on the panel, Rajesh Sud, MD & CEO, Max Life Insurance, said: “India needs to grow at 9 per cent, otherwise the demographic dividend will become a demographic nightmare."
The last session was a fireside chat with Nitish Kapoor, who talked about trends that are changing the consumer outlook in India and their effect on the FMCG businesses. "India has a long way to go to make digital advertising the main component of its marketing spends," said Kapoor. When asked by Batra about what makes Indian CEOs popular globally, Kapoor said: "Indians have a lot of mental and cultural agility to deal with chaos; that is why they are hired globally."
The mega show ended with a laughter riot by comedian Papa CJ.
(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 27-07-2015)
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