Rajesh Bhatia is the President of Euro RSCG 4D India. A digital evangelist with over 16 years of work experience, Rajesh has been driving digital and integrated marketing strategies for some of the leading global brands including IBM, Max New York Life, Airtel, Reckitt Bencksier (Dettol, Harpic, Vanish, Veet, Mortein) and Unilever, among others.  EuroRSCG 4D has also recently won the digital mandate for Nokia in India. Prior to Euro RSCG 4D, Rajesh has held senior level positions with Solution Digitas, IDC and Onida across various digital and consumer marketing domains. In an exclusive interview with India Digital Review, Rajesh Bhatia shares his thoughts about digital media marketing in India.

How have you seen the growth in usage of digital media by brands?

There is no doubt that brands, big and small alike, are increasingly using digital media to accomplish various business and communication goals. The numbers confirm that too. But the fact remains that, the digital industry is still in its early years in India and traditional mediums such as TV still remain the preferred medium for reaching out to the masses.

Having said that, digital usage by brands has witnessed an encouraging growth over the past few years and brandsare now making digital media an integral part of their marketing mix; and a part of everything they are doing to promote their business. Digital opportunities are huge today and brands are leveraging everything from social media, to interacting on live TV, to mobile apps and other digital initiatives to woo their consumers. More and more brands today prefer taking their content online and kick start conversations with their consumers using one or more of these platforms. In addition, brands have also realised that digital is also a new revenue stream and that’s a great driver of digital usage too. 

What are your key priorities at Euro RSCG 4D now?

We at EuroRSCG 4D,believe we have done the hard work over the past 3-4 years of setting up the right kind of infrastructure and skills to deliver digital services. We have done some good work along the way too. But now is the time to shift gears and take it to the next level. Our focus would be to build scale in the digital services space and deliver great work consistently, now that we have the right talent as well as some very sophisticated brands to work on. As we work closely with the brand owners, one of the focus areas would remain – to evangelise the possibilities in the digital space. Hence building scale, increasing the number of great campaigns and evangelism are the immediate priorities for us.

Does branding work on internet? How do you see the core branding spend taking off on the internet in India lately?

Most importantly, one has to understand the very basics of what advantages does digital as a medium offer as compared to traditional media – the foremost and most significant among those is, interactivity, the opportunity to create conversations and enable two way interaction. Hence internet provides a much richer medium to build and sustain brands. The success mantra lies in knowing how to leverage the ‘interactive’ opportunity. So while some brands are already doing great work in this area, the graphis only going to go up as more and more brands get a hang of “how” and “what” in the digital world.

Brands that have truly understood the medium have done some stellar work in this space. They have not only used digital as a medium to build brands but also reinvent themselves successfully. One of the most effective piece of work - created and executed in digital space was by the legendary brand Old Spice, that used digital medium to reinvent itself and shed its long held old-world image (brand for Dads image),to emerge in a truly new avatar.Digital, hence, provides a far more effective medium for brands to communicate with its TG– the key still remains the power of the ideas that are used to excite and engage.

On the other hand, brands also need to realise that given its openness and interactivity, Digital as a medium can be equally ruthless in bringing down mediocre work since the power really lies with the consumers and the results are quick and out there for all to see.

How marketers' demands have changed from online as a medium in the recent years? 

Depending on whether they are starting out or are fairly sophisticated already, marketers are moving up the demand ladder step by step. At the very lower end, are the marketers who are moving from being zero digital to being happy with a social media presence (read as having a facebook page), to the next level, where a set of digital activities are a checkbox for them and they are content with having done something in some of the areas within the digital landscape. And then, there are marketers who are pushing to create global standard campaigns and evaluate each piece with the most sophisticated tools to create greater consumer relevance with each passing day. Today the fact that, marketers are launching products just in the digital space clearly shows the expectations they have from this new age phenomenon.

Is there a lack of creative talent in the digital advertising space in India?

Of course there is, and expectedly so. Digital as a profession is not very old in India and therefore it is not easy to find senior / experienced (digital)creative people around.The way agencies have been structured in the past hasn’t helped breed digital creative talent either– most agency networks have kept digital independent of the more glamorous mainline creativeand that has impacted the growth of digital talent adversely.Recognising this gap, we at EuroRSCG 4D hence, breed a culture of creative development in a media neutral space and don’t have a separate creative for digital and mainline. This truly helps integrate digital creative into the mainline offering and from the creative people perspective too, there is a lot more eagerness and willingness to work on digital creative.

Traditional media like TV, print and radio is never sold on impressions. Why do you think the same doesn't happen for online? Do you think online media in India can be sold on a fixed spot or time spent basis?

Since its early days for digital marketing, and optimal use of online space, both marketers and publishers are working out business models that are sustainable and effective over long periods. I believe the consumption and usage of digital media cannot be driven by any old principles and it would be very innovative ways of selling that one is going to witness as we become more mature in the online medium.

With new engagement forms such as videos and apps coming up on internet, what are your thoughts on visual brand building exercises on internet in India?

As i mentioned earlier, the opportunity to engage with the audience and the ability to drive richer brand experiences, is what the digital space opens up for brands. And video content and apps only amplify those experiences.

Today, videos and apps have opened up newer and more innovative ways for brands to communicate to their consumers. These mediums have also encouraged brands that were hitherto unable to communicate, to come forward and communicate in innovative ways. For example, Pharma and healthcare brands now have apps that help make life convenient for their patients by helping monitor various body parameters on a regular basis and stay healthy. Similarly, other brands in the nutrition and mother and child care categories provide rich video content to educate mothers. Such possibilities let brands develop positive word of mouth and credibility and equity.

The other big opportunity that apps also provide to brands is ‘true value’ creation. From being intrusive and invasive 30 seconds on TV, brands now have the opportunity to be a part of people’s lives, making them simpler and richer and that’s the larger picture and the big story.

Mobile is being held as a great medium for brand communication, but still, very less amount is spent on the particular medium. What is your take on this?

Although the reach of mobile phones is phenomenal, the medium still suffers from low spends primarily because1. People have tried to sell mobile solutions as a standalone and that constrains the scale for any possibility2. Number of characters available and the screen size are limiting to what one can do over the medium3. Non flexibility to run content created for internet over the mobile also limits the use4. Infra challenges like bandwidth, speed, share of smart devices etc are also responsible for the relatively smaller mobile pie. However, with the convergence of media, mobile as a medium is expected to play a very significant role in completing and complementing a typical “campaign ecosystem”.

Internet is said to be a measurable medium. What is your take on this? Have we overdone the measurement quotient and made this medium hard to understand for the brand marketers?

Measurability of internet as a medium has worked, both, for and against it. Internet is relatively much more measurable and hence has given marketers enough reason to start using it. It has been a catalyst for getting first time digital marketers on board.

But, to create campaigns and spend money on digital just because it is measurable, is working against the medium.Too much emphasis on measurability has restricted creativity in the digital space. It also has led to marketers and agencies alike, to focus all energies on getting the numbers right rather than the quality of brand experience or the engagement. Over emphasis on measurability has also led to dubious ways and means to achieve the target campaign KPIs. The efficacy of measuring some of the parameters like clicks etc is also under cloud now.

Therefore, marketers need to understand digital and embrace it because it is a better, richer, experiential and a two-way communication tool and being measurable is a bonus rather than a core benefit.

Social Media is a phenomenon now days. How do you see brands utilising this platform?

Most people confuse Social Media with a Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn– maybe a few more or few less. However, very fewmarketers truly understand social media in its entirety or the changes that it is bringing in our society.

To put it very simply, social media is like a tsunami, it’s a wave of revolution that’s taking place in the human behaviour and is completely changing the way we/ consumers do things – from communicating, to sharing, to creating content and data. This revolution has far reaching consequences and impacts every single aspect of human behaviour including the way consumers are ‘consuming’ their brands today. Consumers today are raising hands and expressing themselves inthe social space, wanting to be heard and making their opinions matter at all costs.

Essentially, with the emergence of social media, the very fabric and fundamentals of consumer understanding and insight have changed. And brands can no longer afford to ignore these fundamental changes taking place in the human behaviour. To understand these changes, brands need to be alive to this cultural shift, rather than being enamoured by mere facilitating tools like facebook. Such tools might come and go but the shift in thinking and way of living and expressing is permanent.

To truly understand this fundamental shift, brands need to adopt a three pronged approach. First and most importantly, is to 1. Listen to the consumer and then create – today consumers are leaving behind wealth of simple information that describes them. By listening to what the consumers are saying, brands can gather clear and concise description of consumer likes and dislikes and process it accordingly. The second step is to 1. Target the user generated (UG) profiles – most brands often make the mistake of focusing only on the profiles they have created for their consumers, instead, brands need to focus on profiles that consumers have created for themselves and are using on various platforms. These profiles are likely to be more informative and share accurate information for marketers. Finally, brands need to focus on 3. Real time or near real time marketing and impact- which is the other big opportunity digital provides. The relevance of a brand message could get altered completely depending on the situation/scenario/coordinates/location of the target.

People say that cost of acquiring a fan on Facebook in India is Rs 2 to Rs 4, whereas in US, they cost around a dollar. How do you see the social media spends getting big in India and how do social media agencies make profit?

The notion of acquiring a facebook fan is flawed and like I said, marketers, brands and agencies need to start looking at more meaningful parameters such as engagement and so on. Only brands that are committed to understanding the changes that social media is truly bringing, will make profit in the long run while the others may end up spending a whole lot of money and still not succeed.

Speaking about the current year, which sectors, according to you, have increased their media spends on internet?

Most sectors have increased their media spends in the digital space. BFSI, auto,ecommerce,telecom andentertainment are some of the most prolific categories on internet and mobile.

Speaking about Euro RSCG 4D, what do you reckon as some of your best campaigns?

We have been fortunate to have partnered with the Marketing team at Max New York Life Insurance to create one of India’s most effective communities and digital destinations’. iGenius (iGenius.org) is a 1.5 million strong community of parents and children coming together to participate in nurturing and recognizing all-round  talent among young children.

One campaign you wished were made by Euro RSCG 4D India?

I personally love the Evian roller babies and it is done by our colleagues at EuroRSCG in another country only.

One client you would love to work with?

Irrespective of the size of the brand, the most important criteria for a client that we would love to work with would be the brand’s sincerity to its consumers. Brands that are driven by transparency and sincerity to their consumers do some truly great work versus brands that thatdoes things for the sake of measurability or visibility.

One client you regret losing.

As tenures of marketers at various brands become shorter and shorter, the challenge is to find flag bearers of larger platforms and communities that one creates in the digital space.

Where do you see the digital marketing and advertising industry move two years down the line?

Digital marketing has come a long way and increasingly companies are looking at digital initiatives as key part of their marketing plans. There has been a tremendous shift in companies willing to invest substantially in digital campaigns versus traditional marketing activities and with the growth of digital reach in India, and the emergence of the new age consumer, it will not be long before digital initiatives will be a part of CEO’s mandate and not just the CMO’s.