Monday Sep 23, 2024
Monday Sep 23, 2024
Wednesday, 3 December 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
From left: GroupM Associate Director Safwaan Husain, Mind Share CEO Ravi Rao, GroupM Chief Operating Officer Sabry Haniz, GroupM CEO South Asia C.V.L. Srinivas and GroupM Managing Partner Tushar Vyas
The event is largely open for the marketing fraternity and their clients as well as senior media personnel. GroupM Circuit will be a platform to discuss the future of digital marketing featuring speakers from digital powerhouses Google, Facebook, Xaxis and GroupM.
Sharing some of the broad numbers to provide a perspective of how and why digital is important GroupM CEO South Asia C V L Srinivas noted that “in the UK the largest medium that gets the advertising is Google. 8% of the ad spend in India goes to digital. Sri Lanka is catching up and it is close to 4%-5% of the total advertising spent today is getting on to digital. Before long the 8% and 5% are going to zoom up to may be 12%-15% owing to mobile penetration. The mobile penetration in this part of the world is very high. Mobile will revolutionise ad spends into digital. This conference will focus on how to advertise on digital and how different it is from advertising on traditional media. Through this initiative we hope to answer some of the questions marketers have about Digital and share some best in class case studies from around the world.”
Commenting on the program, GroupM Chief Operating Officer Sabry Haniz affirmed: “Digital at present in Sri Lanka unfortunately is limited to Facebook and Twitter not more than that. The conference will pave way for the newest phase in media. We are looking forward to opening minds, inspiring new methods of connecting with audiences and taking the industry to a whole new playing field.”
The opening keynote address on the ‘Impact of Digital in Today’s World’ will be delivered by Google India Director for Ecommerce and Online Classifieds Nitin Bawankule. A panel discussion on ‘Multi Screen Planning and its relevance to Sri Lanka’ will follow.
Xaxis India Director Atique Kazi will speak on ‘Programmatic that works – the Basics, the Opportunities and the Pitfalls!’ Atique will shed light on the basics of the subject while explaining how to leverage programmatic advertising, demystify programmatic, dispel misconceptions and provide pointers to making programmatic work.
A panel discussion on ‘Comparing ROI of Digital Media to Traditional Media’ will follow. Despite digital media being a buzzword 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. This discussion will plumb the depths of this topic, comparing the ROI between traditional media and its digital counterparts.
GroupM India Social Practice Head Karthik Nagarajan will address the topic ‘Can Social have a Strategy?’ While going viral is the marketer’s dream, the internet is a graveyard of many such initiatives. This session will analyse the success of some of the most socially-active brands globally and delve into their strategies through case studies.
His session will be followed by a panel discussion on ‘The Value of an Online Influencer’. Trends in data suggest that the modern consumer is increasingly wary of an advertiser’s promise, relying more on external recommendations, which are perceived to be unbiased. The discussion will explore the value of an online influencer to a brand, and how best to leverage a positive review, and manage negative sentiments.
Facebook Global Marketing Solutions Agency Head Vidyadhar Kale will discuss ‘From Mobile Marketing to Marketing in a Mobile World’. He will explore mobility and how it will be the driving force for Facebook, and digital media overall.
The address will include data on Sri Lankans and mobile trends. The panel discussion ‘What’s Next in Digital?’ will evaluate the receptiveness of the relatively conservative Sri Lankan audience and will explore both, a forecast for digital media in Sri Lanka, as well as how communications teams can best exploit these trends.
This will be followed by the keynote panel discussion moderated by GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas on ‘Marketing in the Digital Age’ as he speaks to leading marketers across brands in Sri Lanka on their experience with digital media and advertising.
The GroupM Circuit Colombo will also feature an interactive ‘Experiential Zone’ by Crossworks Digital Experiential Lab showcasing state-of-the-art technology for participants to experience firsthand. The inspiring collection will include a Holobox display unit, a directional speaker, marker based AR on brochures and magazines, a digital sampling tray, an oculus rift, a virtual wardrobe, a recipe vending machine and a magic screen. (SH)
