Ambrish Mody, associate vice-president, Solution Digitas, part of the Publicis Group was recently on a trip to India. He took time off to speak to FE?s Vivina Vishwanathan. Edited excerpts:
What brings you to India?
A mandate to develop our digital practice in India.
Any impact of recession on the new media?
The slowdown has impacted digital industry. Clients are more cautious about spends. However, the market is gradually limping to normal and may return to pre-recession levels in 2010.
What?s the potential that you see in India?
At present, digital spend is just 5-10% of the overall marketing spend, which is nothing to write home about. However, the way Indian consumers have taken to Facebook, Twitter etc shows that digital marketing has a future in India.
What is the major bottleneck?
Extremely low internet penetration.
How is Digitas doing in India?
We contribute about 20-25% to the digital marketing industry. The target is to grow 30-40% over the next five years. At the moment, digital marketing is a fledging Rs 600-crore industry, but it has the potential to grow. In the US, brands spend nearly 40-50% of their marketing budget on the digital medium.
What is the key strength of the digital medium?
The potential to precisely target a consumer. This is not possible with traditional media.