Recently concluded 2nd edition of the India International Brand Summit brought together industry stalwarts and decision makers from some of the most influential brands of our time. Microsoft, Samsung, Amazon, Nestlé, Valvoline, Future Generali, Mondelez India, PhonePe, and advertising agencies such as Magnon Group, BBDO, McCann and Grapes Digital were among the key participants. The speakers engaged in conversations on themes designed to address the current market realities and to set the growth agenda for the brands of the future.
As the global business environment is slowly emerging from a dramatic disruption caused by an unprecedented health crisis, it is time for new ideas and a need to reimagine core brand philosophies. Marketing narratives must adapt to the shifting priorities, and advertising needs to innovate faster than ever before to capture the fleeting attention span of the consumers. With this objective, IIBS 2021 kick-started with the discussion on the topic Measuring Success in E-Commerce: Performance Marketing Taking Center Stage with Garima Dikshit (Head-e Commerce & Modern Trade, Mondelez India), Pranesh Urs (Director-Marketing, Samsung Electronics) & Vivek Merani (MD, Magnon eg+) in the panel.
The second panel included Eiti Singhal (CMO, Vega), Rahul Dutta (Director-Marketing, Microsoft), Ashish Tiwari (Chief Marketing & Digital Officer, Future Generali India) & Nitin Naresh (MD, Magnon Designory). The topic of the discussion was Influencer to Creator Marketing: The Fast-changing Landscape of Social Branding. The panelists of the third session comprising Chris Hodgson (CEO, Mother Tongue), Chandan Mukherji (Global Head – Consumer & Marketplace Insights, Nestlé) and Naved Aqueel (MD, Magnon Sancus) shared their insights on the topic Marketing Beyond Boundaries: Building Customer Connections through localisation & Vernacular Outreach.
“Authenticity cannot be compromised, so the culture you drive through small content creators goes a long way,” said Eiti Singhal about the role played by micro-influencers in driving brand messaging.
Fourth session delved into the topic The Retail Revolution: Digital Natives vs. Adopters with Ankit Dhingra (Head of Marketing-Mobiles & TVs, Amazon), Tony McDermott (Director-Marketing, Asia, Valvoline) and Ramesh Srinivasan (Director-Brand Marketing, PhonePe). The panel was moderated by Denny Joseph (Business Director, Magnon eg+).
Highlighting the benefits of digital commerce, Tony McDermott said, “Now the level of personalisation and the ability to monitor & measure is very high. Tailoring offers and providing incentives is something digital has got going for it.”
The final session of the summit covered the topic competing Over the Top: A Paradigm Shift in Content Marketing & Monetisation. Moderated by Bhakti Verma (AVP-PR & Corpcomm, Magnon Group), the panel had Suraja Kishore (CEO, BBDO India), Shradha Agarwal (CEO & Strategy Head, Grapes Digital) & Alok Lall (Executive Director, McCann Worldgroup).