A Digital Strategy

Hi,

It is quite funny to know that though 'Digital' is the most happening thing in the advertising world... it is usually left at the end of the pitch. After hours of gazing at agency presentation, the facts, figures, research findings, and then the big Idea - how it looks on print and TV.... Internet/Digital marketing is left at the end.

Clients all want to be in the digital space.. Why ?? If it is an MNC - then their counterparts or parent company are doing a lot of great stuff on the Internet.. hence India should not be left behind. Or if it is an Indian company - they have to be online, because the companies in the west are online... and there should be some reason why they are online.

None of the clients, I have met, ever have a digital strategy in place... The whole digital presence, are offshoots of some tactic.. with minimal exposure on the Internet. It is funny to note - I had asked a client, during a presentation, what the company digital strategy was? the reply - "We want people to visit our website." Whosoever is their digital ad agency, must be having a great time... doing nothing :)

While the Internet universe in India is not large, so as to compete with other media... Internet reaches to the people who matters. I know for sure, most of the journalists are online, and they are on the look out for news. If I were to do a campaign online, it would reach out to this community of writers, of which some maybe more keen to peruse the matter, and ultimately it would lead to a story and thus a news article..

Internet, can also be the source for word of mouth. It can deliver information on real-time, and the person reading it can become a source of information dispenser.

Part of the blame lies with ad agencies too. As there is no much monies involved in the digital space now, the same is not pro-actively suggested to the client. If i were to compare Advertising process/activities to the human digestive system (The end result is Exact - atleast in most of the cases), then digital marketing is like the Appendix - you can live with it or even without it...

I hope to see a day soon, when the pitch would start with the digital marketing, and how all the other marketing activities are encircled to the digital core...

The day is not far off..

Till then... I shall believe that the best is saved for the last - Viva Digital Marketing

Best,

Santosh

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