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BW Marketing Whitebook Summit held in Mumbai on Thursday saw a huge turnout of marketers from around the country.
The summit saw an ‘Out of the Box’ session chaired by Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM South Asia. The panellists were Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, filmmaker, writer & director; Gaurav Kapur, actor, TV presenter & founder of Oaktree Sports; and Nidhika Bahl, entrepreneur & author. The theme of the session was ‘Talking to content curators on how content plays a central role in any brand connecting with consumers’.
Session chair Kumar asked the speakers whether it is purpose or performance or personalisation that play the key role, how content is the king and how it plays an important role in the business of marketing.
“With more than 600 TV channels (top 25 channels contributing 50,000+ original shows), 20 OTT platforms and 60 per cent media reach, there is no lack of content. So, how is the role of content changing in connecting with the consumers?” asked Kumar.
Replying to Kumar, Ashwini Iyer Tiwari said, “Consumers’ choice of content is changing according to the changing India. We, as Indians, have become culturally strong.”
“Content is the king and distribution is in sync. Also, gatekeeping in content is important. Creators, brands and viewers should form a perfect trinity to form a good content,” added Gaurav Kapur.
Kumar then asked his second question: How has content evolved in the age of AI and chatbots?
Nidhika Bahl replied, “Technology and content work in synergy. Good content creators should understand the emotions of consumers so as to sync it properly with technology.”
“Also, with excellent data proliferation, democratisation of creation and content is important,” added Kapur.
To get an insight on the hurdles in content creation in movie making and brand strategy, Kumar directed the question to Tiwari. She replied by stating that “being fearless is the way out. The client and creator have to work together for better content.”
Bahl said that there are two very important facts to keep in mind. The first is better content marketing and the second is a differentiation between noise and signal.
Concluding the session, Kumar asked, how will content creation evolve with time?”
Answered Kapur, “Millenials are more digital natives. They are the future of content curation.”
Agreeing with Kapur, Bahl added, “Working closely with younger generation is important now.”
Ashwini concluded the session stating that digital detox is a must for better content to be curated.
