Finance News

Ad firms beef up digital comm wings, 'DLC' is in

To connect with consumers, Indian advertising majors are increasingly opting for 'database-led communications' (DLC) to design targeted marketing programmes. Recognising the growing significance of this concept, Ogilvy & Mather India (O&M), Draft FCB- Ulka Interactive, Mudra's Tribal DDB and JWT's RMG Connect are beefing up their operations to gain a competitive edge in Rs 16,000 crore Indian ad industry.

For starters, OglvyOne Worldwide, interactive wing of O&M is extending the science of database-led communications to the fields of healthcare marketing while Ulka Interactive and RMG Connect are investing in tools and technology to upgrading their offerings. With this shift in ad strategy, there will be a dent in mass media ad spends in the country, opine analysts. "Unlike conventional advertising, these targeted programmes offer accountability for the ad spend. As a result, the hot focus is now on 'database-led advertising' in the Indian market place," said an analyst based in Mumbai.

On O&M's game plan, Prasanth Mohanachandran, executive director - Digital Services, OgilvyOne Worldwide & Neo@Ogilvy, India said: "We are looking at investing in digital and healthcare communications this year. Being the pioneers of data driven marketing, OgilvyOne is now extending DLC to healthcare marketing and also enabling it across the data rich digital medium."

At present, OgilvyOne's key clients include DHL, IBM and American Express in this sector.

Across the road, Draft FCB-Ulka Interactive is also investing in the upgradation of its tools and applications to design database-led advertising for its clients. The agency has recently launched a precision tool called 'Targetter', which was developed by its in-house team. Explaining the concept, Satish Ramachandran, vice-president, Draft FCB Ulka Interactive said: "With data analytics, we create a cluster of consumers who have similar behaviour. With this data base, we design marketing plans for companies."

According to Ramachandran, auto majors, banks, retail majors and financial service providers are increasingly opting for this mode of marketing in India.

Competitor, Tribal DDB, Mudra's digital wing has developed a proporitory email blasting software that allows for detailed reporting. "Additionally, using our propritory lead management system we are also able to analyse and funnel the response to the grassroots level across 2000 cities and towns in India This coupled with an inbuilt escalation model ensures responses are responded to immediately," said Leroy Alwares, country head of Tribal DDB. Currently, RMG's clients are Singapore Tourism Board, Reliance Communications and LIC.

Yet another major player in this sector, JWT India's RMG Connect has invested heavily in an e- CRM (customer relationship marketing) Suite - the Oracle 11i-to streamline its operations and maintain complete control over data management processes. "We are the only communications agency to offer this advantage to clients. A meaty 5% of our earnings get ploughed back into enhancements and upgrades. Oracle closely partners with us to keep us constantly on the leading edge," Meera Sharad Chandra, president & national creative director, RMG Connect. Will the concept of data-base led communications gain momentum in India?

According to Kinjal Medh, chief operating officer, Cogito Consulting, FCB-Ulka said: "In the digital space, advertisers are now opting for database-led communication through mobile, internet and direct mails. This strategy works well as it offers accountability, I think this concept will surely gain momentum in India," he said.