Better communication between new and traditional media must happen

The sixth digital marketing roundtable was organised yesterday in Mumbai. Conducted by Interactive Avenues and IAMAI, the discussion revolved around interactive media and traditional media.

Bhaskar Das, executive president, Bennett Coleman and Company was the moderator and presented the required questions to the panellists while prodding them as well.

The topic for the panel was interactive media versus traditional media. Tarkas flagged off the discussion by highlighting that any new media needs time so that the consumer can understand it well. Dias added that all those media commonly termed as traditional aren’t rigid but are referred to as so because the medium has been around for such a long time that the consumer is aware of it in all respects.

To enable the consumer to be better acquainted with the newer media that have been bombarding the space in the recent years, specialist agencies have arisen and these agencies have helped bridge the gap, said Tarkas.

Sirohi brought into focus how the consumer doesn’t really differentiate between media as traditional or interactive and emphasised that this should also be the approach of a marketer while creating a media plan.

Das subsequently steered the conversation to whether being a traditional company or agency matters when it comes to the use of new media. Both Tarkas and Dias agreed that being a 1.0 marketer isn’t easy when the consumer has attained a 3.0 version. The way out here, said Tarkas, was to have better communication between new and traditional media.

Dias added that since the medium is new, there is also greater time spent learning, understanding and predicting the medium, thus indicating that there is an appreciation of the medium and its strength.