Automobile, alcohol & FMCG sectors use digital media more

Automobile, alcohol & FMCG sectors use digital media more

MUMBAI: Marketers need to know where consumers are spending their time in order to best engage them, states a new report entitled ‘Living with the Internet – What is Driving Web behavior’, jointly executed by Microsoft Advertising, MEC and Mindshare.

The study says that it’s important for advertisers to realise that getting consumers’ attention is becoming increasingly difficult. Brands need to understand their target audience’s surfing habit and patterns; and realise where, how and when is the ideal time to best engage with them.

Brands must be market specific and use audience targeting tactics to pinpoint their consumer base. They must surround their consumers, the study claims.

MEC South Asia COO Shubha George said that the digital world is an amalgamation of multiple digital touch points, often simultaneously. Hence, “for holistic campaigns, brands need to activate all aspects of digital to engage the multi-tasking consumer”.

The report advises that brands should look to feature owned assets on the most popular platforms as much as possible. As the report has claimed that transaction is not the primary motivating factor for internet usage, brands should look to avoid allocating substantial budgets towards developing content close to the point of sale.

The report also maintains that marketers should consider the platform that consumers use to go online – and use this platform to the best of their ability.

Given the different role of smartphones and laptops in the digital world, advertisers should realise the benefits of customising their content and placement to match their business objectives, the study maintains.

For example, if the brand’s goal is to create awareness or provide interesting brand knowledge (information) to users, advertisers should put heavy resources towards the development of mobile applications based on these research results.

“In an increasingly connected and multi-tasking world this means, that brands need to create strong somatic markers for themselves. The key is to adopt a smarter approach to online media by making a brand’s presence fit more naturally into a user’s experience”, the study asserts.

Except for online information seeking and content creation, laptops are more favorable when it comes to -- communication: laptop (51 per cent) versus smartphone (46 per cent); entertainment: laptop (23 per cent) versus smartphone (17 per cent); transaction: laptop (13 per cent) versus smartphone (8 per cent).

Television creates awareness and creates a desire, while Internet provides the platform to execute them, said Mindshare South Asia leader R Gowthaman.