These days ‘brands’ are created by the consumers, not by the advertisers. The top brasses of the media and communication business were unanimous on this opinion. However, the panelists differed on many other issues on the occasion of the Bengal Chamber’s Marketing Conclave on ‘The Changing Face of Communication”.

The Chamber’s President, Mr Sutanu Ghosh opened the thought provoking Conclave. Supported by data, he explained how the world of communication had been experiencing a sea change with more than 40 per cent of the world’s online population - and that’s a tenfold increase over the last 17 years. Mr. Ghosh also laid emphasis on this enthusiasm for digital medium, churning all earlier concepts of communication and marketing.

Mr Anoop Hoon, the Chairperson of the Chamber’s Brand and Marketing Committee set the tone for the day. He emphasized on the knowledge factor and opined that the knowledge factor was the fulcrum of all changes.

Inaugural Session:

Mr. Sameer Satpathy, Chief Executive, Personal Care Products Business, ITC Limited

The keynote Speaker Mr. Satpathy presented some mind blowing findings which show that these days children have a say on selecting a brand, courtesy digital media. He spoke mostly on building a new brand. Sighting the example of Google, Mr. Satpathy said that brand ‘Google’ was created by the consumers through social networks. The company hardly had any budget on advertising & what they did was building trust amongst the users and the rest was taken care of by the consumers.

Panel 1: The Buyer’s Perspective

Moderated by Mr. Mizan Ur Rashid (GM – East, HUL)

Speakers :

• Mr. Tarun Rai, CEO, JWT South Asia

• Mr. Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman & CEO, FCB ULKA

• Mr. Sandip Chaudhuri, Programme Director, Calcutta Media Institute

Mr. Tarun Rai opened the panel discussions on Consumption / Buyer’s perspective. He said that marketing strategists are dealing a generation that hardly has any idea of analog media, for them everything is digital and almost everything is a click away. Mr. Sandip Chaudhuri justified Mr. Rai with his fascinating realization & he added that the biggest challenge to the marketers was to cater to the ‘on demand’ generation. This generation clicks to see, clicks to buy, clicks to pay, clicks to return and clicks to skip to other brands if they are not satisfied. So keeping pace with this ‘digital’ generation is the toughest job. Mr. Rohit Ohri assured the audience that change is scary for everybody but understanding the change is an interesting experience. This is an era of highly connected consumers. Nowadays a brand is created by strangers. He sighted the examples of tour and largely depend on ‘reviews’ written by complete strangers.

Panel 2: The Content Perspective

Moderated by Mr. Supriyo Sinha (VP – Bengali Dailies, ABP)

Speakers:

• Dr. Bhaskar Das, Group CEO, Zee Media

• Ms. Lopamudra Ghatak, Head Lifestyle & Features, economictimes.com

• Mr. Anand Sahai, Business Head, Kolkata & ROB, Vodafone

• Mr. Mohit Hira, President & Country Head, IB Times

Dr. Bhaskar Das opened the second panel, the panel on Content Perspective. He mentioned that decoding intent is the centre of content-context-conversation and commerce model of media business. While creating content, Dr Das laid stress on credibility and trust which in turn generated a good revenue model. Ms. Lopamudra Ghatak, Head, Lifestyle & Features, economictimes.com had a different view altogether & said that ‘Content’ is no more the ‘King’, but the ‘Queen’. She feels discovery, distribution and technology are now the kings of media. Mr. Anand Sahai shared his views on technology & its big impact on our lives. He said that technology intervention is happening faster than our imagination. Mr. Mohit Hira feels that today’s generation live for the moment & words like ‘trust’, ‘credibility’, ‘source’ doesn’t hold good for them.

Panel 3: The Media Perspective

Moderated by Mr. Sandip Chaudhuri (Programme Director – Calcutta Media Institute)

Speakers :

• Mr. Gaurav Jeet Singh, Head Media Services, South Asia, HUL

• Mr. Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG, Mediabrands

• Mr. Suresh Balakrishnan, CEO, SA & ME, Kinetic

• Dr. Bhaskar Das, Group CEO, Zee Media

Mr. Gaurav Jeet Singh talked about the big change in media & media consumption & the bigger challenge of building brands in this constantly changing environment. Mr. Suresh Balakrishna shared his thoughts on today’s customer who can share a feedback very easily & that is only possible due to digital revolution - technology. Although we had been hearing about digital & trends in digital media, Mr. Shashi Sinha made a very vital point when he said that traditional media (press & television) will not disappear. Mr. Balakrishna said that traditional media is constantly upgrading with newer ways of measuring the ROI & making their offering more relevant to the consumers & clients.

Close of Day’s proceeding’s

Mr. Deb A. Mukherjee (Member, Managing Committee, BCC&I; Chairperson – Energy & Environment Committee & Emerging Areas Committee) formally thanked all the speakers & sponsors at the successful conclusion of our Chamber’s Marketing Conclave today.