In an interaction with Industry Outlook, Pooja Baid, CMO, Versuni India Homes Solutions , shares her insights on what are some of the emerging trends that are expected to shape holistic marketing campaigns in 2024, How can brands keep their marketing campaigns aligned with sustainability and social responsibility and more. Pooja Baid holding a BSc. in Economics from St. Xavier’s College and having completed her MBA in Marketing from International Management Institute, Pooja boasts of an extensive 18 years long career during which she has successfully handled key roles across companies such as Rediffusion DY&R, ITC, and The Coca-Cola Company prior to joining Philips in 2013. Additionally, she had also incepted a startup named Papercups Marketing Solutions, which was back then India’s first food delivery platform.
What are some of the emerging trends that are expected to shape holistic marketing campaigns in 2024?
There are a few emerging trends that will shape holistic marketing campaigns in the coming years. First is the power of content, wherein today’s consumers are spoilt for narratives and stories because everyone is trying to serve more interesting stories through multiple platforms and mediums. This has transformed even the marketing campaigns into an entertaining and relevant storytelling space for the consumers. The second trend will be the further strengthening of influencer marketing, especially within the digital media landscape, which grew by 21.5 percent last year in India. As a result, every brand irrespective of their industry or size, is now latching onto this trend of influencer marketing in recent times. The third trend that will become mainstream going forward is personalization, wherein we are already witnessing a large number of brands customizing their communications with their consumers. Lastly, but importantly, one trend that will no doubt be the most talked about topic of our age is Artificial Intelligence, which is poised to transform the entire way brands approach marketing.
Briefly explain the importance of having a holistic approach to marketing in today’s competitive business environment?
Adopting a holistic approach to marketing is not just important, but a necessity in today’s business context. By this, I mean that brands must mandatorily have a presence on whatever mediums/channels their consumers are on. Since there is a plethora of brands that each employ a variety of marketing communication techniques to reach out to consumers, it is paramount for every brand to accurately map its customers and engage with them wherever they are. However, one area where brands can take a polarized approach is in their point of view to be able to maintain a competitive edge in the market. To summarize, polarization in point of view, positioning and content is imminent, but a holistic approach in addressing the consumers across every touch point that they engage with the brand will become a norm in the days to come.
How can brands keep their marketing campaigns aligned with sustainability and social responsibility?
Sustainability and social responsibility are rapidly evolving from being mere placeholder words to assigning meaning to a brand’s existence. Today’s millennials and Gen-Z are increasingly becoming conscious about the impact of their choices on the planet, thus encouraging them to make more sustainable and socially responsible choices across every category of product/service that they are consuming. Companies too have realized this and have started communicating their social responsibility and sustainability efforts more effectively to their customers. As a result, brands today ensure to highlight their CSR efforts in every aspect of their marketing campaigns – be it a simple physical stall, hoarding, or social media content.
How can brands induce the essence of ‘global’ in their marketing strategies?
Consumers today are more globally connected than they were ever before. Anything that happens in any part of the globe today finds a way into the content we access regularly such as news or social media posts. This piece of information sometimes turns into trends we want to follow ourselves as well. The biggest example of this is the rise in K-pop and Korean dramas across the world. This has resulted in brands realizing the impact even a small incident/situation in a faraway nation might have on their marketing efforts and going that extra mile to add a touch of ‘Global’ to all their marketing campaigns.
Share your thoughts on having an ‘omnichannel approach’ in marketing?
The omnichannel approach in itself is a choice made by the organization to go ahead with its particular function. However, this choice is largely dependent on a few key factors – determining the channel that brings in maximum sales, the story that you’re trying to portray, and the availability of the budget. Given the high cost of media being high in India, many brands face a lot of difficulty in having a presence across all mediums/channels and are thus pushed to focus more on the next alternative which is most cost-effective and able to connect with their target customers
