Mahesh Murthy at Engage 2012 in Kolkata

Posted on June 6, 2012 by admin

The first day at Engage 2012 and things are rolling!! Mahesh Murthy the CEO and founder Pinstorm MM “a college dropout” explained the necessity to think and do out of the box. “Kotler is for all purpose dead and its time that we moved ahead of the 4Ps …” a humorous and intelligent Murthy said!! But well as we went through Murthy’s bullet-pointish presentation we inferred that intelligence always does not refer to being a traditional man. It’s more about invention and work radiation. However we will come to this point later.
According to Murthy the focus of media and creative agency should be on building a remarkable brand experience. A simple question put forth by Mahesh: “Brand customers never sleep so how can we?”
As a solution, Mahesh proposed a very simple work plan: absorb, solve, plan, analyze, invent, radiate and act. This circle covers every aspect of media marketing; from customer generation to brand management and building brand direction, preference etc.
For Mahesh the most important things to work upon are: SEO, SEM, ORM, e commerce optimization, online management, and consistent social media management.
Mahesh also elucidated on media cost effectiveness in digital media; he said that if other media resources use Rs 10 on advertisement and on image building, digital media expenditure is limited to rupee 1 and with it the results are tremendous . The result is obvious: no wonder Google earns more than home channel networks and facebook engages 23 million people everyday – and all for Free. Mahesh we are inspired and because now we have you we will leave Kotler in peace!

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Snapshots of Anurag Batra Speech at the First Day of Engage 2012

Posted on June 6, 2012 by admin

On the first day of Engage Digital Summit 2012 held here in Kolkata Mr. Anurag Batra took us to a whirlwind tour of a teenager’s world. He begins by stating “Today we do not have teenagers but we have screenagers”. The youth today is more addicted to the screen and therefore digital media is so important. As a result any business trying to etch for itself that profit making platform cannot ignore the digital.

“We are the lean forward generation and not the lean backward generation” he says. Carefree as the young minds are today they don’t like to worry about anything too much; and this he feels is the prime reason why they love digital content because with digital content one does not have to worry about anything. Digital is very much in Anurag opines and states that it is an essential for brands to have a well defined digital strategy.

Mr. Batra pointed out the fact that digital media is growing at a rate of 100% and more marketers are putting money on digital now than ever before.

What happens within 60 seconds in web? Well 60 seconds in web can give rise to humungous amount of activity and loads of stuff right from flicker posts to facebook likes and share to you tube downloads and may more other activities which are related and which can take a brand to great heights an happen. Is it possible in any other form of media marketing? he questions and thereby clearly establishes the fact that brands need to take advantage of these humungous ranges of activities happening each minute in digital media.

Watch out this space! We would be uploading his complete speech in this platform in a short while

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A Tête à Tête With Rita Bhimani at Engage Digital Summit Kolkata

Posted on June 4, 2012 by admin

A pioneer in her domain, Rita Bhimani is a spirited public relations practitioner. Forty years in business and still going strong she is as lively as any other 25 year old PR practitioner who has just joined the industry. Her enthusiasm is infectious and as we talk to her about Engage Digital Summit 2012 which is scheduled next week she seems excited about exploring the hitherto unknown yet must to be known territory.
Owner of renowned public relations consultancy firm, Ritam Communications, Ms Bhimani is convinced about the power of social and digital media. She agrees that digital media is a must for promotion of any brand – however each and every brand needs to have a communication strategy that is suited to its required brand presence. “Just going digital is not an alternative – know what your options are and plan well before you jump on to the brandwagon,” she says.
“Traditional PR is definitely evolving – this is the time for metamorphosis. In fact it is a phase similar when we all switched to computers from the typewriters! The brands need to understand the importance of digital space and be there;” she says.
However, Ms Bhimani has a word of caution for brands foraying into the digital arena. “Keep in mind that appropriate content is king; know your target audience and create content which will sell to them – only then you can successfully digitally build your brand,” she adds.
Note: Rita Bhimani, MD Ritam Communications would be participating in the panel discussion Changing Face of Public Relations – How Online PR is Becoming Important? Listen to her views at Engage 2012 Event.

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India Social Media Conference, Engage 2012 Kolkata Summit to Focus on the Importance of Digital Media

Posted on May 19, 2012 by admin

The benefits of online advertising are well established by now and about 15 % of world’s ad budget today is spent on digital marketing. This should come as no surprise as the benefits derived from digital marketing are plenty and in this blog we are going to revise all of it for you.

Marketing is reinventing, in the era of digital communication. Marketing online can create new levels of brand advocacy and engagement. It helps generate immediate target audiences and helps create immediate impact on the client. The way consumers relate to brands these days has undergone a drastic change. The question now has shifted from ‘Why Digital?’ to ‘How Digital?’

But first lets focus on Why Digital?
Well digital is easy to access, easy to use and understand and is a time effective tool. Also the cost if compared to print media is much less. In one word digital is profitable. Digital is never nugatory. It has immediate impact and is a multi-platform, multi-channel engagement. To measure the possibilities of digital arena we will have to take a look at the various sectors that has benefited from digital marketing. However we will come to this point later; initially we will focus on how brands can benefit by going digital.

How brands can benefit from digital presence?
Digital communication compliments quick & direct information dispense. The genuinity of deliverance is 100%; for instance there is no chance for an SMS to go astray. Also digital media has the unique ability to convert the physical into virtual. For instance now with the help of strategic and sensible digital marketing it is now possible for a brand based in Southern part of India to sell its product in North India, and that too without having to launch a physical store. This means that even if you are not near you are there!..or rather you are nearer, Near enough to be accessed from home.

How does it work?
Now this is indeed a plush! You can choose any data format: text, audio, video, graphics etc. to communicate with future clients. This aspect of digital marketing is called the multi-channel operatives. You can keep a tab on business profits, analyze sales, analyze market reputation and accordingly plan, revise and change competitive policies. This adds to your business dynamism and helps you expand.

What you need to do?
Having a Facebook account is not just enough. You need to plan a strategy that involves not only creation of your website but various digital assets pertaining to your business! After all Mark Zuckerberg could wake up tomorrow and change the rules. So having all your information on someone else’s platform always puts you at risk. That’s why you should also have your own site that you have total control over. However, is that enough? No!! Simply having a website is not enough as website is like an empty shop which draws no visitors – so to sum up you need to have a comprehensive digital media strategy.

Yes! Internet is important and you cannot afford to ignore it any more. To yield effective results digital media activities should be planned minutely and sensibly.

However, how to go about it? To know more join us at the new media summit India/Kolkata, Engage Digital 2012.

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Engage 2012:East India’s Largest Social & Digital Media Summit to be Held

Posted on May 18, 2012 by admin

Engage 2012 Summit, is going to be a big event for Eastern India. A hallmark conglomeration of top marketing icons of India will discuss the future of digital marketing.  Join them to learn how you can best optimize, plan and measure the digital world. Get Engaged Now!

Engage 2012, Eastern India’s Largest Digital Media Summit is all set to be held on 5th and 6th June 2012. The summit brings together world famous marketing experts who will share knowledge and provide insight to best ways of utilizing digital media. When contacted Soumyajit Mahapatra, Secretary Public Relation Society of India, Kolkata Chapter, the organization that will present the summit, we got some interesting and useful information.

What is the take of digital media in business? “It is the best form of advertisement, cost effective and powerful.” says Mr. Mahapatra. “Digital media offers entrepreneurs correct analytics and quality business report; like number of Facebook and Twitter fans provide insight to product popularity and general awareness. To understand the vastitude of digital vista you have to be a part of Engage 2012.”

What is the reason behind digital media gaining prominence? “Usability and Functionality.” is the prompt answer of the Secretary, PRSI. “People in general have an inclination to use and work with simple tools and easy to operate / analyze strategies. Digital media efficiently addresses both. In one word it is Multi-platform and Multi-channel engagement. This is the core reason why people are taking interest in digital media.” explains Soumyajit Mahapatra

So what will Engage 2012 provide? “Engage 2012 will bring forth a new definition to digital marketing. You can directly interact with the industrial giants through panel discussion and gain fresh knowledge on what to do and what to do away with. If you are looking for quality workshop on digital media then make sure that you are there at ITC Sonar on 5th and 6th June,” Said  Narendra Ranjan Mukerje, Chairman, PRSI, Kolkata Chapter

Who are the speakers of Engage 2012 ? “Whos Not? smiles Mr. Mahapatra. “We have as Speakers:

  • Anurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-In-Chief, Exchange4Media,
  • Mahesh Murthy, CEO, Pinstorm,
  • Vikramaditya Sharma, Director, Online, Watch Segment Services, The Nielson Company,
  • Eric Weaver,VP,Ants Eye View,USA,
  • Gillian Muessig, Founding President at SEOmoz, IncKNS,
  • K K Ratan,GutsGo eMarketing.

The other panel includes eminent personalities like Charudutta  Vishnu  Deshpande,Chief Corporate Affairs and Communications,Tata Steel, Gitanjali Sriram, Founding Partner, Naked Communications, Hareesh Tibrewala,Jt. CEO Social Wavelength,    Kapil Gupta, CEO, Omlogic, Kiruba Shankar,CEO, Business Blogging, Narendra Nag,Co-Lead MSLGROUP India Social, N Chandramouli,CEO , Comniscient Group, Nishad Ramachandran, Vice President and Head iContract, Paroma Roy Chowdhury,Country Head, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs,Google India, Pradeep Chopra, CEO, Digitalvidya,  R K Dharan,CEO,R K Public Relations, Rajiv Dhingra, CEO, WATconsult, Ratish Nair,CEO,Ad Magnet,  Ravi Soni,Flipcart, Rita Bhimani,MD, Ritam Communications. To check the schedule, visit http://engagedigitalsummit.com/

With such representations from all over India and abroad, Soumyajit Mahapatra is sure that Engage 2012 will prove to be a unique representation of the web world and will open up diverse possibilities for entrepreneurs, online publishers, digital based brands, content writers, web designers, and online marketers to exchange their views, experiences, and knowledge that can be put into effect for improving digital communication in India. There’s always more but that’s for you to find out.

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