How Brand And Agencies Are Adapting To The New Normal?

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic; advertising, marketing, promotional and media spends have forced brands to re-evaluate their current and future advertising and marketing campaigns in order to maintain a steady stream of income. Subsequently, digital agencies are taking an active role in the brand’s communication strategies. With digital media rising significantly, brands are focusing on real-time metrics, building real-time data dashboards, re-formulating brand strategies which have benefited digital agencies to an extent.

The current year has been a game-changer for the digital industry. The pandemic has made brands realize that they can’t treat the digital medium as an alternative advertising platform anymore. Digital has the potential to outperform traditional mediums like ‘Television’ when used wisely.

Ways Digital Agencies Are Leveraging The Potential Of Digital Innovation

The pressure to prove return on investment (ROI) is high on marketers and agencies. Brands are preferably looking for data, investing their marketing spends in which they are most confident according to their measurement ability.

The Spends in digital channels will positively increase going forward, but owned media (websites, email) need fundamental considerations as well. Given the reduced physical interaction between brands and consumers, each brand’s digital presence needs to work that much harder. Digital agencies are well equipped with the fact that this is the best time where they can out seize other mediums- by focusing on new and innovative technology to solve the problems and serve their clients in achieving the desired results.

The coming year will see digital agencies working more closely with brands and digital ad spends will continue to grow.

Brands Adapting To The Ongoing Digital Transformation

Brand’s behaviour has changed post-pandemic, and the same is seen across various sectors.

FMCG has seen a strong shift towards D2C models to be future-ready, automobile brands have moved to online sales model. In general, most of the brands have done significant investments in digital vs mainline, and are considering digital as the first medium of communication post-pandemic.

Consumers have also shown a very strong digital-first approach, the overall digital penetration has increased in pandemic leading to much more decisions being taken online now compared to pre-pandemic. Pandemic has accelerated the overall digital shift which would have otherwise taken a long time.

Strategy To Achieve Expected Overall Growth

Digital is measurable and more and more brands have taken the full-funnel approach online, from lead generation to actual sales, Digital marketing plays a vital role for any brand from FMCG to Education to Automobile, no brand today can think of its presence without digital being the first medium of choice. Even pre–Pandemic, Digital played a crucial role for industries.

Grapes are looking to expand at 30 - 40% in 2021 and continue the momentum of digital. We are aggressively focusing on new business development; deepening into a new digital approach as a medium with our existing clients, which will continue to be the key growth driver. Apart from this, we are expanding our team strength across Mumbai and Delhi.

Elements Helping Shape The Indian Advertising And Marketing Industry In 2021

This year the Indian advertising and marketing industry is revolving around overall growth in Digital Penetration in 2021. Though, TV still continues to be a mass awareness medium for brands, whereas Digital is yet to reach many businesses and verticals which still relies on the mainline and do not focus much on the digital outreach.

To add, the next Growth story of digital will come in from regional brands. To illustrate this, Vernacular is the next big thing that Digital would be adopting to and if this overall ecosystem picks up well, digital is going to become a lot more relevant to regional brands. Agencies and marketers are aware of the potential of this medium, and steadily digital agencies are leading at a global level. The merger of digital and creative hot spots are taking place to be one step ahead of the game.