Delhi: The 2019 edition of ad:tech New Delhi kicked-off today with digital enthusiasts, marketers, entrepreneurs, and agencies attending the event in large numbers at Leela Ambience, Gurgram.
Day one kicked off with a keynote session by David Freeman, Executive Vice President, Star India on how the future of digital marketing is ruled by emotions. While sharing some techniques for developing hard-hitting digital campaigns, he said “The best types of stories are the ones where you make the other person’s life better which can be done through emotions.”
The day was filled with various sessions on myriad topics including how marketing in India has yet to explore untapped markets for exponential growth; how agency models can be under threat; how to build and market products& strategies for the GenZ; the role of content in the digital age; death of mobile engagement and several others. The various workshops also helped the audience to understand how to be future ready in advertising.
Commenting on the admirable showcase by players across segments, Jaswant Singh, Country MD at Comexposium India said, “The response to the 9th edition of ad:tech has been phenomenal. This edition of ad:tech focuses on the growth imperatives for winning the future. The Indian market remains the brightest spot in the world today and is the fastest growing economy. ad:tech has provided a platform for businesess across marketing, technology and media to connect and network and share trends and insights that is shaping the mar-tech ecosystem.”
During an exciting session on whether the agency models are under threat, Neena Dasgupta, CEO and Director, Zirca said, “Agency models are not under threat. If anything, this model has the opportunity to evolve.” Adding further to it, Lalit Bhagia, CEO, Dentsu Aegis opined, “The kind of diverse talent present in an agency is seldom found in-house. Agencies know the craft of their function better than anybody else.”
Building for GenZ session saw some really stirring comments from the panelists. Nikhil Rastogi, Director & Head – Marketing & Digital Sales said, “Keeping things simple and transparent does the trick with GenZ. Banks and financial institutes are trying to re-wire and re-tune to be transparent and user-friendly in order to help the GenZ save, grow and invest.”
A session on rise of Women on the Internet which had speakers like Babita Baruah, Managing Partner, GTB, Sumeet Sigh, Chief Marketing Officer, infoedge, Archana Aggarwal, VP- Media, Airtel, Kubbra Sait, Actor and Abhigyan Sekhar, Head- Sales, Voot saw a stirring conversation on what will it take to get women to consume more and more content digitally. Archana Aggarwal, VP- Media, Airtel said, “The question to ask is what are women doing online and how often are they online for brands to leverage that.” Babita Baruah, Managing Partner at GTB said, “Digital allows you to create a platform where women can consume content and get empowered to do what they want to do.”
Vishwas Mudgal, Author of ‘Age of Kalki’ and CEO of GoodWork Labs concluded the day with a stimulating session on how brands can use identities of superheroes to create powerful marketing ideas.
