Circuit Colombo 2014 by GroupM kicks off today

Thursday, 4 December 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

GroupM Sri Lanka will hold its inaugural digital conference under the theme Circuit Colombo 2014 at the Park Street Mews today. Colombo Circuit 2014 is organised by GroupM’s Digital media arm GroupM interaction, one of the largest digital media outfits in Sri Lanka. The objective of this conference is to share with partners, clients, media and suppliers the knowledge, new trends and learnings of the ever-evolving space of digital and social media with a focus on 2015 trends and challenges.

Digital platforms are evolving rapidly and are changing conventional marketing approach and thinking. Today the consumers are in command with the power of expression. Social media also influences people’s buying behaviours. With this paradigm shift today’s marketers need to embrace digital and social marketing as part of the marketing mix. Therefore marketers have to believe and embrace these challenges sooner rather than later to find the most suitable solutions. GroupM Interaction has access to key tools that provide key insights on consumer behaviours and also have strategic partnerships with companies such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, Sizmek, Yahoo, MSN, etc. GroupM Interaction is constantly on the cutting edge of technology and embracing new technology developments. Recently, GroupM invested substantial amount on Xaxis, which is a global digital media platform which programmatically connects advertisers and publishers to audiences across all addressable channels. Xaxis combines proprietary technology, unique data assets and exclusive media relationships with the brightest team of audience analysts, data scientists and software engineers. The conference committee has sourced the following eminent resource personnel from the region as keynote speakers who will share their technical knowledge, experiences and case studies which are relevant to the Sri Lankan market and are adoptable in it. They are Director for Ecommerce and Online Classifieds at Google India, Nitin Bawankule, who will speak on the ‘Impact of digital in today’s world’; Agency Head, Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook, Vidyadhar Kale, who will speak on ‘From mobile marketing to marketing in a mobile world’; Social Practice Head GroupM India, Karthik Nagarajan who will examine the idea ‘Can social have a strategy’ and Director Xaxis India, Atique Kazi who will address the theme ‘Programmatic that works: The basics, the opportunities and the pitfalls’. Panel discussions Five panel discussions will also be conducted by eminent panellist on the following topics from the industry, corporate sector and media who will deliberate on the following topics. ‘Multi-screen Planning: Is it relevant in Sri Lanka?’ - Moderator - Ravi Rao - Leader for South Asia, Mindshare with Shehara De Silva, General Manager, Marketing and Sales, Janashakthi Insurance Plc, Siddarth Bannerjee, Country Marketing Director Unilever Sri Lanka, Vidyadar Kale Agency Head, Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook and Tushar Vyas Managing Partner - GroupM South Asia GroupM as panellists. Mindshare leader for South Asia Ravi Rao will moderate a panel on ‘Multi-screen planning, is it relevant to Sri Lanka?’ in the morning. Along with the increase in penetration of technology and digital devices in Sri Lanka comes a change in media consumption patterns. Specifically, the proliferation of mobile devices facilitates a one-on-one interaction between media and the potential consumer. This discussion will focus on the importance for clients and agencies to identify the role which digital plays in ‘normal communication’ and further explore the advantages of multiple screen planning. ‘Comparing the ROI of Digital vs. Traditional Media – Moderator - Chevaan Daniels - Group Director, Capital Maharaja. The panellists are Atique Kazi Director Xaxis India, Ben King Agency Relationship Manager for Emerging markets Google, Sidath Chandrasena Senior General Manager, Innovation and digital services Dialog Telekom and Hasrath Munasinghe DGM Marketing Commercial Bank Sri Lanka. Despite digital media being a buzz word within the industry for a number of years, only a handful of brands have tapped its inherent potential, too often, it is a last-minute add-on to a media plan. Rationale for this behaviour does not fully comprehend the return on investment of digital platforms. This discussion will plumb the depths of this topic, comparing the ROI between traditional media and its digital counterparts. ‘Value of an Online Influencer’ - Moderator – Daily Financial Times Editor Nisthar Cassim. The panellists are Karthick Nagarajan, Social Media Practice Head, GroupM India GroupM India, Ramani Samarasundara, Marketing Director, Unilever Sri Lanka Unilever Sri Lanka, Jeggan Rajendram Co - Founder Anything.lk, SocialRoo, Rohantha Athukorala Country Director, Turner Investments (USA) and Ravi de Coonghe, Director Marketing GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Trends in data suggest that the modern consumer is increasingly wary of an advertiser’s promise. However, they do rely on external recommendations as these are perceived to be unbiased. Social media further antagonises the situation. The innate nature of social platforms is to make the world a more social place. We’re now living in a world where each consumer is connected to the other via social media. The discussion explores the value of an online influencer to a brand and how best to leverage a positive review and manage negative sentiments. ‘What’s next in Digital?’ - Moderator – Anushka Wijesinha - Economist and Founder, Smart Future Forum The panellists will be Dulith Herath Chairman/Founder - Kapruka.com, Janaka Jayalath, Chief Commercial Office, Etisalat Sri Lanka, Unny Radakrishnan, Head of Digital - South Asia, Maxus, Irfan Ahmed, Director, Insight and Innovation, MAS Holdings and Tharanga Gunasekara Head of Marketing and Communication, HSBC Sri Lanka. Digital is a dynamic media, constantly evolving with new technology being introduced daily. However, the conservative audience in Sri Lanka is not always receptive to global digital trends and as a result the Sri Lankan market is not indicative of what’s happening internationally. The panel will explore both forecasts for digital media in Sri Lanka as well as how communications teams can best exploit these trends. ‘Wrap up Session – Marketing in the Digital Age’ - Moderator – C.V.L. Srinivas - CEO GroupM South Asia. The panellists will be Dirk Perera, CEO Union Assuarance, Rajendra Theagarajah, Director/CEO, National Development Bank, Hiran Cooray Chairman Jetwing Hotels and Shaziya Syed, Chairperson, Unilever Sri Lanka. By the time this session starts the audience would have taken in a lot of information about digital media and realised how important it is to be on digital. However, convincing the top tier decision-makers is the biggest hurdle. Marketing in the digital age has its own challenges and opportunities. This discussion will explore the mindset of the top management on how they see digital. Do they see it as a challenge or opportunity? Are they willing to build a digital vision for their organisation and push it down to the rest? GroupM Sri Lanka says it is confident Circuit Colombo 2014 will be an enriching experience for all its participants.