Article published in Sunday Guardian (covering FabriQate).

(19th Dec, 2010) In this fast-paced world, the age of the static billboard and movie poster seems gone forever now, replaced by any number of innovative digital options. For instance, compare the flashing digital boards in Tokyo and Times Square with the billboards that used to be such a prominent part of our cityscapes: they seem almost archaic in comparison. As advertising and marketing enters the digital age, a new cluster of companies has emerged to fill this need: companies, movies, TV shows and so on are realising that people are spending an increasing amount of time on the Internet, and they’re looking to catch us while we surf. Welcome to the world of the cyberspace marketers, companies that specialise in using social media to bring your product to the attention of the world.

Using a digital agency has a lot of advantages: it saves time and money, and you can engage directly with potential customers on the World Wide Web. Social media and the use of the Internet as a medium has collapsed the proverbial boundary that separated the advertiser from his target.

FabriQate, a social media marketing firm, feels that consumers today are much smarter, and this is what is triggering the advancement of social media as a marketing platform. “When it comes to social media, it’s all about interaction. We make campaigns on social media or design a website to market a product. For Gurinder Chadha’s film It’s a Wonderful Afterlife, we created a website, a Facebook page and also used Twitter for propaganda. We also developed a customised game around the movie that people could play on the ‘Net,” he says.

Another key player in the digital marketing circuit, Webchutney has created some of the most successful social media campaigns in the field. “Some of our most exciting works includes creative integration of social media in the overall campaign. Jaagore.com (Tata Tea), for instance, was converted into a ‘social exchange network’ to spread awareness. It was initially a simple, static website, but we managed to create a platform where people could come together and discuss important issues. HeartOkPlease (Marico) was another award winning campaign in which we integrated Twitter API with the microsite for ‘crowd-sourced’ content and unique interaction on the subject of health,” says Sidharth Rao, CEO and Co-Founder of Webchutney.

When it comes to social media, it’s all about interaction. We make campaigns on social media or design a website to market a product.  - Harsh MehtaAn annual study of ad-spend of the top 1,000 marketers in India, titled ‘Digital Media Outlook 2010′, shows a 66 per cent growth in online spending in 2009-10 from the previous fiscal year. It predicts a 45 per cent growth in the next year.

According to another industry estimate, 15-20 per cent of the total advertising revenue of companies is now being spent on digital marketing. “If you have a website and add social dimension to it with shared icons like Twitter, it can give you large dividends. We offer open source applications which save money. Also, since it’s interactive, people respond to it quickly. Our YouTube channel for the movie Action Replayy had more than 1 lakh hits in little time,” says Mehta.

But it’s not just the social media that is ruling the roost in digital marketing. Mobiles, iPads and smartphones are also in the race. “E-commerce/M-commerce coupled with the launch of 3G, branded for mobile content and gaming are some of the things we are looking forward to now,” says Rao. Mehta agrees, “We are now concentrating heavily on Android. Once 3G comes, Android will be big, with games and applications.”

However, it is too early for digital marketing to replace the conventional marketing channels. “Digital marketing will grow in a big way as ubiquitous technologies become inseparable from our daily lives. But, replacing traditional mass media is not an ambition the digital world can realise anytime soon, especially in India,” feels Rao.