What Vani Gupta Dandia teaches about privacy-first marketing

Digital in itself is raising the standard of advertising that is being served to consumers. Purpose-driven marketing is quite the trend these days. How do brands gain from it? So, you're absolutely right. I think purpose-driven marketing today has become the new buzz. All brands are talking about it. But when it's done credibly, when it's tied to the brand's own purpose, the brand's own stated communication idea, then it's authentic. So, for example, when Lifebuoy says that it's chasing the agenda of making Indian villages disease-free,

it's credible because Lifebuoy is about washing hands and we know that, you know, the bulk of the diseases are transferred from the germs on our hands to our mouth. But when brands try and chase that agenda only because they're trying to make a point, only because they want to be a part of this new wave. Exactly. And be a part of the conversation, then it feels unauthentic or inauthentic. We see a lot of content being generated these days online. What role does it play in influencing the decision-making process of consumers?

So, content is becoming extremely important only because consumers today are believing less and less in advertising. Advertising is a paid medium. All consumers recognize that this is an ad that's short in a studio. You can get anyone to say anything. But content feels authentic and authentic is the new black. So, anything where I feel I'm consuming information, where it feels set in the right context, where I'm getting the right information at the time that I'd like to get it, I'm far more convinced and I'm more influenced to make that purchase.

So, can a brand integration work there? Yes. If a brand is integrated in a manner that is right for that content and that context, it is most authentic when the brand is talking about itself without even the mention of the brand name. As a consumer or as a reader, if I'm able to read content which makes sense to me and via subliminal branding. Think of a certain brand. Think of a certain brand. It's a synonym kind of, it becomes synonymous with the content. With that content. Exactly.

That is the most authentic and the most powerful way that content marketing can actually be employed. So, Vani, you've been a veteran marketeer. During your tenure, you would have seen a phenomenal growth in digital. What is your outlook of the medium which has exploded massively in last year? I think the potential of the medium is still to be far, far, far leveraged than what it is today. And what digital enables is authentic conversations.

Digital is able to very quickly take the facades of brands and bring to the fore what the brand is really offering, what consumers are really saying about their user journey. And the other bit that I think hasn't spoken about enough is just the fact that digital in itself is raising the standard of advertising that is being served to consumers. Because it's a medium that is so live and it's so constantly alive. Every moment it's alive and it allows for so many consumers to talk to each other. And it also changes the shape of creativity.

So, there's no fixed format. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, advertisers have to rethink about how they're serving the right message in the right context at the right time when the consumer wants it. So, Vani, you've been with both traditional brands and also startups, new age brands. Yes. These days, if you see all these young brands, especially internet-driven brands are giving traditional brands who've been in business for 30, 40, 100 years a run for their money. Yes.

So, do you think that traditional brands have been able to catch the young consumer? If not, what do they need to do? Yes. I think that's a very good question. Eventually, what will win will be consumer trust. It is also true that very new brands have come to the internet, have launched on the internet and have been able to win consumer trust very quickly with very less money spent on the brand building.

So, in that sense, actually, internet is a great leveler and internet has led to the boom of a new consumption economy because there are so many more choices available to the consumer. The consumer has the means to discover so much more. And the consumer herself is becoming so much more open to experimentation. No longer is there the mindset that only if a brand is salient everywhere and there are billboards everywhere should I trust the brand.

Today, the consumer herself is willing to trust a brand that she has just discovered on Instagram via one post and is willing to spend money on that brand. So, I think in that sense, competition today is definitely far, far, far tougher. But in all of this, what will still win, whether it's a new age brand or the traditional brand, will be the brand's ability to consistently deliver authenticity to the consumer, to be able to find a meaningful relationship with the consumer. Worker side, what do you do to unwind?

I'm sure marketing is a very difficult job. Well, mostly I spend time with my son to unwind. So, anything creative that he's spending time on, I try and be a part of that. So, whatever he indulges in. Exactly. And he likes a lot of painting and he likes dabbling with colors. So, I do that with him.