By Anand Chakravarthy, Chief growth officer, Omnicom Media Group India
Every year, when I look back and think about how things changed, I am always left wondering if it can get any more dynamic. And yet, each year has never failed to surprise me. I am a firm believer in the India story, and the next decade is ours to create value for our nation and cement our position on the world stage. 2023 is going to be another year of opportunities and we need to be ready.
Data privacy & digital marketing
The India Data Protection Bill, which gets implemented in 2023, aims to recognise the rights of individuals and advocates the imperative of processing personal data in a lawful and privacy-protected manner. Below are the implications for marketers:
- First-party data will finally get its due and brands without enough customer data will scramble to build this repository.
- Brands will have to build or have access to data clean rooms that allow for the infusion of data from multiple sources in a privacy-safe way.
- Brands will need to have relevant technology to collect, store and orchestrate data the right way.
- Contextual targeting will become even more important
- With data access and usage constraints, measuring marketing ROI will become challenging. Multi-touch attribution will be required to ensure marketers have an accurate sense of how effective their marketing investments truly are.
Creator economy will thrive
There is already a thriving influencer community in India. New digital platforms are being created and existing ones are pivoting to enable this need. Young Indians are seeing the potential of participating in the creator economy and this ecosystem will only grow.
As brands proliferate online in every category, consumers will seek validation beyond advertising and celebrity endorsements. Authenticity and relatability will become important and that’s where social commerce could take a leap.
Attention deficiency will force brands to rethink engagement
The massive content ecosystem digital adoption has created has resulted in the deterioration of consumer attention online. At last count, two seconds was all consumers were willing to give a brand ad or website before moving ahead. A shift in focus from viewability to attention will become necessary. These are the implications for marketers:
- Attention metrics will become central to media planning.
- Creative effectiveness will need a serious re-look and brands will have to bring in more science to ensure branded cut-through and engagement.
- There may even be a return to audio branding with fewer eyes
on-screen.