In recent times, we have comes across an ever-evolving medium of digital communication which has pretty much changed how the marketing game is played. Almost every brand that matters has now decided to embrace the digital medium to connect better with their target audience. This is a good sign of adaptability but at the same time, we have an issue at hand — not every marketer is able to produce consistency between their traditional marketing efforts and the digital medium. This synergy is of critical importance users are now ‘consuming’ media from multiple screens and traditional media still plays a significant role in the media viewing habits of people. Digital may be the next big thing but it is wise to not put all your eggs in the same basket. I feel entrepreneurial brands in the country need to establish a synergy between their marketing platforms and channels — offline as well as online.
So How Do Do It Right?
Achieving synergy might not be really easy, however, it can be attained if your knowledge of both mediums (traditional and digital) is strong. Understanding newer digital mediums and how they function is the key here.
Once you have this working knowledge, you can then rely on your experience from traditional marketing and create communication and campaigns which can adapt to both platforms in a consistent way. One of the best ways to decide how to adapt a campaign or piece of communication is to have good data on the consumption habits of your target audience. Are they always on their mobile? Are they from a younger generation? How much TV (and when) do they watch? These are some of the questions that you should have the answers to. Once you do this, you should craft your campaign idea around your specific demographic and consumption patterns. This allows you to tweak your campaigns rather than going all out and shoot in the dark, thereby saving you precious media spends.
Pepsi’s recent ‘Oh Yes Abhi’ campaign is one good example of marketing synergy between varied platforms that I can think of. The brand’s message which evangelizes restlessness and doing things quickly has been adapted to all possible channels in which Pepsi operates. The ‘Oh Yes Abhi’ tagline has been used in the IPL in various ways, as you must have already seen. The brand’s target audience is the ‘younger’ generation and thus the full force of their campaign has been towards mediums which their audience uses a lot. They have used digital platforms well — like Pepsi Shot 60 and Music Abhi which capture the essence of their message. In addition, this also ensures that the same message gets across to people who watch the IPL on their televisions, increasing brand recall and helping consumers identify with their tagline.
Remember, the goal of any marketer is to put the brand’s message out there in front of the consumer and it really does matter which mix of platforms you use to make it happen if you wish to target the right audience. Digital mediums offer the luxury of metrics and analytics and every marketer should use them like a scientist trying to get his tools and numbers right for the next big invention!