And hence, measurement of effectiveness of content should also be equally customized for a brand.
Three takeaways worth carrying forward.
- 01
And then, of course, from there to social media in GroupM and now to branded content.
- 02
How do you measure the success of a content piece or a content campaign today?
- 03
And the time is ripe for advocacy 2.0, where we're focusing more on the ability of a person, a celebrity or otherwise, Right. to influence a purchase, to influence a purchase decision, rather than just amplifying a message.
Connected to the DMAasia operating frame.
Proof
This episode connects content strategy to credible evidence, leadership archives and field-tested marketing practice.
Access
This episode connects content strategy to routes into communities, councils, juries and senior conversations.
Ascent
This episode connects content strategy to learning, recognition and the next generation of marketing leadership.
AdChoices / DAA
This episode connects content strategy to privacy-first marketing, consumer trust and responsible data use.
Unfinished Business
This episode connects content strategy to open industry problems that still need senior participation.
Durable lessons from the record.
- Start with the consumer problem, not the channel.
- Treat digital transformation as a behaviour change, not a software purchase.
- Measure effectiveness without losing the brand story.
If content strategy is now table stakes, what will make the brand genuinely harder to ignore?
Take it into Unfinished Business →READABLE TRANSCRIPT763 words
Filmmaking has always been a very big part of who I am. I think storytelling is something I probably enjoy more than anything else. So tell me, how can brands actually leverage the strength or tap the potential of influencers for sustained engagement? I think there are two parts to the whole influencer slash advocacy story. Right. One is my choices today in terms of the beverage I buy, the car I buy, the show I watch, the country I visit, all of them continue to be deeply influenced by people I follow on social media.
I think that relationship has only gone from strength to strength. The other part of it, which is the business of advocacy, the business of influencer outreach, that has sadly been commoditized, over commoditized in my opinion. In many ways, I think we might have killed the golden goose. What we've done is we've sort of used this as a supplement to paid media. Right. A way by which I could increase my reach, a way by which I could get more people to watch something or to click on a link. What that has done is that has created an artificial economy,
which is difficult to sustain. Yes. This is a bubble. Right. So I think the time is ripe for us to press the reset button. And the time is ripe for advocacy 2.0, where we're focusing more on the ability of a person, a celebrity or otherwise, Right. to influence a purchase, to influence a purchase decision, rather than just amplifying a message. How should brands today leverage native advertising? I think native advertising is one of those things that's been around for a fairly long time, but people really haven't optimally started using it.
Whether it is an agency or whether it is a brand, today if you're looking at a launch or a campaign activity, then immediately it's a well-oiled machine. You know, people reach out to publishers, there is an editorial being done, and everything works well. Yes. The next time someone revisits native is when the next launch happens or when the next campaign happens. But if we really look about it, this is true for both advocacy as well as native, its true power is between campaigns. How do I keep the buzz going between two large campaigns?
It is extremely suited and designed for the audience. It's created in such a way that it is designed for audience first, and then the brand integration is subtle. So it works perfectly, right? So there's no reason why we shouldn't. I think it's just a shift in mindset and probably a lot of inertia at work. How do you measure the success of a content piece or a content campaign today? Business objectives are very unique in nature to different organizations. Completely. Where you are competitively, where you are in the market, etc.
And hence, measurement of effectiveness of content should also be equally customized for a brand. So today you have a whole plethora of options available from neuroscience to brand lift to app data that is available to you better than ever. But you need to tailor a very, very specific solution for a specific business goal. Right. You had an extremely interesting career path, technology research background. Today you're in mainstream advertising, right? You're also an independent filmmaker. How does it all tie in?
And what are you doing in mainline advertising today? So I've been lucky. Initially, I started off my career in cryptography when internet security was a big deal. Back in the day, we were asking banks to open their online banking processes. And then I moved on to RFID, which as an industry itself saw both, you know, hype as well as eventual sustenance. And then when I came back home, I was lucky enough to be in the audience measurement piece with Nielsen. And we also launched India's first listening tool in Buzzmetrics.
And then, of course, from there to social media in GroupM and now to branded content. I've just been lucky in being at a place where an industry is making the transition from niche to mainstream. Filmmaking has always been a very big part of who I am. Right. I think storytelling is something I probably enjoy more than anything else. If I can find the time for it, I could be better at it. I could be better at it. ! ! !