<FONT COLOR="#FF0033"><B>IAMAI Digital Marketing Conference:</B></FONT>Lack of ideas plagues the Internet space

The power of the Internet as a medium to build brands was what an eminent panel discussed at the IAMAI Digital Marketing Conference held in Mumbai. The panel ensured a free-flowing discussion between advertisers and online publishers on ways to capitalise on this booming medium.

Rahul Welde, GM and head, media services, HLL; Vikram Sakhuja, chief operating officer, Group M, South Asia; Pearl Uppal, director, advertising sales, Yahoo! India; and Sharat Jain, chief executive officer, Dentsu Media Palette, were part of the panel moderated by Neville Taraporewalla.

Welde substantiated his belief that the Internet is a promising medium to build brands, with examples such as Sunsilkgangofgirls.com and Axe unlimited academy. These portals, he said, were built to raise awareness about the brand and have been very successful in that aim.

He said that while, traditionally, a television commercial would have taken centre stage, sidelining the Internet as a tertiary medium, HLL decided to take the web approach, with other media complementing it. The outcome, he says, was unbelievable. “From being a popular brand among women in their 30s, it actually became a rage among girls,” he states.

Welde was of the opinion, like several others, that the medium’s effectiveness depends on what is done with it. He said advertisers must spend serious money on it.

Sakhuja put forth his opinion that key factors in using the Internet will be customised content and creation of communities to make profound use of the medium. “Often, the Internet is used blindly, without well-defined objectives,” he said.

He also cautioned that mere adaptation of a creative of another medium on to the Internet would mean near-death for a brand.

Jain of Dentsu Media Palette charted out the AISAS route map to influence the consumers- attention-interest-search-action-share. “In the age of cross-media consumption, buzz, viral marketing and word of mouth will be the efficacious techniques,” he said, referring to the Mentos Helpline case study.

Pearl Uppal of Yahoo! stated that the Internet was the place to be since most opinion leaders, brand loyalists and enthusiasts were there. Some of the important propositions that the media could offer marketers, according to her, are brand favourability, brand association, repeat visits and ad interaction.

Everyone complained unanimously that the creative strategies in the medium were weak and that it is really the power of the ideas that will be deciders of the effectiveness of the Internet as a medium.

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