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Quick Summary: I was quoted recently in Indian newspaper Deccan Chronicle’s story on online advertising in India.

I was quoted recently in a Deccan Chronicle story on online advertising in India, along with advertising legends Alyque Padamsee and Piyush Pandey and fellow blogger Chandrachoodan.

Basically, we all agreed that online advertising will become the core of the Indian marketers’ marketing budget in the next few years. I also pointed out that the internet works best when marketers use it to reach one person at a time. So, search advertising for generating leads and social media initiatives for building community engagement are both great, but not plain-vanilla banner ads.

Here is the complete text of the story –

Consumer Caught in the Net
Online or web advertising is the next big thing in the sphere of advertising
Ashlin Mathew
Sunday, June 15, 2008

The Online pie is getting bigger and better. Of course with almost every youngster choosing to buy tickets or shop online or even home in on the optimum brand through the Internet, even conservatives are willing to put their thumb into it.

Until a few years ago most companies were unwilling to consider advertising on the Internet. But with most of the population in India getting tech savvy, companies are ready to invest 10-15 % of their spends to advertise on the web, say experts in this field.

According to a study by MSN, the target for companies going online is the 40 million Internet users in India. Moreover, the online segment is likely to cross the $100 million mark by 2010, states the same study. However, online advertising comprises just about five per cent of the pie. On a global level, India is nowhere in terms of online advertisements yet, said ad guru Alyque Padamsee, who is the chairman of London Institute of Corporate Training. “In 10 years when computers will become as affordable as telephones, we will see a revolution in online advertising,” he added
.
“Online advertising does have its share of viewers but it is yet to reach its peak in India,” says Chandrachoodan Gopalkrishnan, creative supervisor with Publicis Ambience, a global advertising agency. But, advertising online has definitely come a long way from those banner ads, he adds.
Earlier, most agencies would just put up banner ads on major sites. This could be skipped as it would come in the way of most users. But now websites such as Google, Yahoo and MSN fall back on text-based advertising. When users search for material on the net, related text-ads are placed on the same page. This is most effective for financial and automobile services, says Gaurav Mishra, who heads the sales and marketing division of an automobile brand.

Interactive ads and the viral concept of advertising are the latest concepts in online advertising. The former creates interesting content for the user to interact with. According to Chandrachoodan, this concept has been followed by www.sunsilkgangofgirls.com and www.hondamentalism.com.

The television ads of both these end with the website addresses prompting users to check it out. In the viral concept, the creators put an ad on a prominent website and from there it should usually spread through word of mouth. Chandrachoodan says this is a brilliant and effective concept if it gets accepted.

Internet is also being ventured into by organisations, as it is cost effective too. “The medium as such costs you nothing and it is much cheaper that television,” Padamsee states emphatically. “Internet has the power to reach out to one person at a time unlike television and radio ads and can engage consumers with a brand. We can also target customers based on their intention to purchase a product,” says Gaurav Mishra. When customers get engaged with a brand, then brand loyalty is just a step away, he adds.

Most admen agree that it is the next big thing in another five years.

“It will grow very fast and will see its boom in five years, so ad filmmakers have to be ready for it. But, it is not going to ring the death knell for television ads either as brands will need all media vehicles,” said Piyush Pandey, executive chairman, Ogilvy and Mather, India.

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