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How to choose a virtual event platform for the virtual concert.

How to choose a virtual event platform for the virtual concert.

Covid-19 pandemic has changed the event industry and virtual events have made a place for themselves by conducting different engaging events. Concerts are a good example of virtual events activity that can reach people globally.
For a successful virtual event, all aspects of the event should be considered such as set up, ticketing, management, marketing and more. As a next-generation webinar and virtual events platform, Almond Solutions supports hybrid events with all the features which are important for an online concert.

What you should look for in you virtual events platform?

Capability of providing high quality streaming.

To conduct a successful concert, you need to make sure the virtual experience you are offering to the audience is extraordinary, therefore you should always look for a virtual events platform that allows high-quality audio and video streaming.

Features to engage with your audience.

With the ongoing performances in the concert, it is also important to engage with the audience throughout. Almond Solutions offers many features like round tables, café and game zones, surveys and polls, live interaction with the audience and many more to keep your audience engaged.

Event Analytics.

Choose a platform that’ll help in analysing the engagement and behaviour of your audience. This will help you in gaining event insights, make necessary changes, and plan future events more efficiently.

Support large audience gathering.

To ensure no issue or failure happen during the event streaming, the virtual event platform you have chosen must have a bandwidth to host a large number of people without crashing. The platform should be hosted on a secure cloud and poised to scale quickly to deliver a successful event.

Event Marketing and Promotion.

If you want your event to be successful, you need to make sure that it reaches as many people as possible. Almond Solutions have in-built invitations and emailers along with in-built registration and automated email reminders for registered attendees.

Choosing an ideal platform for your virtual events will require a little initial effort and investment but at the same time a seamless and successful event will result in good ROI by ensuring global reach.

Current scenarios have increased the demand of virtual events and people are choosing to attend different virtual concerts actively that they can enjoy from the convenience of their home. NOW is the time to leverage the benefits of virtual events!

Source by: Almond Virtex

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Ideas for Your 2021 Online Employee Engagement Event

Ideas for Your 2021 Online Employee Engagement Event

As the Coronavirus has struck the nation once more, the world’s only choice is to operate remotely. The HR manager of the organization has to come up with new ideas for enhancing the efficiency and productivity of employees through virtual involvement activities. Virtual Employee Engagement is a way of improving the connection between the organization and its employees.

Here are 8 creative virtual engagement activities to put an end to your worries and to keep your office staff engaged.

Virtual Concert

There can be nothing more relaxed than a live show, and you can stream a pre-recorded concert with Almond Solutions by which you can say no to the stress of internet problems. Remember to seek out those unknown artists within your organization and provide them with the recognition they deserve.

Cook Off Challenge

Everyone has a chef inside them, and who doesn’t miss those delicious office lunches? So, while those lunches might be few and far behind these days, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t bake pies in the master chef style. Whether it’s a scratch card challenge to make something sweet with fruit, prepare a three-course meal in 40 minutes, or bake the most imaginative cake, there’s something for everyone.

Motivational Speech

Nothing can go wrong with the motivational speech regarding the broad market your business serves. You can then narrow the details of how your employees affect that market. Speak with clarity, enthusiasm, and integrity.
If you get an inspiring speech right, your employees will work more efficiently and effectively.

Laughter Club

Giggling is the best medication. It is the best way to motivate and engage your employees. Invite talented stand-up comedians to perform live, or let the secret comedy talent within your coworkers try their hand at the workplace. For better results, you should do this once a month.

Virtual Trivia

When was the business established? What is the meaning of our company’s name? How many employees are there in our organization? Who is our youngest employee? Guess the name of the movie. It’s time to form the trivia team, which will run weekly trivia themes. You can do this weekly for half an hour. Therefore, trivia games aim to keep the brain active and motivated, which is beneficial for any career.

Talent Show

Everyone is born with a special talent. Encourage your employees to upload the recorded video on the employee app. If you want your employees to participate enthusiastically, you should do it every week. It will also act as an ice-breaking session between the employees.

Virtual Birthday Parties

Birthday celebrations in the workplace imply cakes and good cheer in the cafeteria. When working in a virtual workplace, you might make a few minor adjustments and celebrate anyone’s birthday. It will give them a feeling that the organization cares about its employees.

Treasure Hunt

“Go get something in the color of the company’s logo.”

“Take a photograph of your workstation.”

“A thing that reminds you of your organization.”

“Upload what you’re having for lunch today.”

“Bring anything that begins with the letter A.”

Treasure Hunt helps employees in developing new skills and strengthening existing skills such as teamwork, interaction, and decision making. It helps them understand their coworkers and result in a better relationship with them.

Investing in engaging employee interaction programs is an integral aspect of developing virtual teams. It helps in enhancing two-way communication that is crucial for a healthy workspace.
You don’t need out-of-the-world employee motivation ideas. Just devoting fifteen minutes at the start of a video conference will make a huge difference.

Source by: Almond Virtex

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AI & Machine Learning in Marketing

AI & Machine Learning in Marketing

An era of accelerated technology is giving life the potential to flourish like never before. One such technology is Artificial Intelligence – a modern approach which is crossing the possibilities of super-intelligence. Today, AI has the potential to become more intelligent than any human.
From SIRI to self-driving cars, artificial intelligence (AI) is progressing rapidly.
AI is really taking over the world. Artificial intelligence is more than just a buzzword and is now deeply embedded in our daily lives. The AI technology gives businesses a competitive edge and is available to developers or businesses of any size or budget.
Now, enough of flattering. Let me tell you what Artificial Intelligence is?
Artificial Intelligence is defined as a program that can sense, reason, act and adapt.
Artificial Intelligence is a way of making a computer, a computer-controlled robot, or a software think intelligently, in a similar manner the intelligent humans think.
The term was coined in 1956.
This term has captivated the mind throughout the world and has many significant uses. Let me share some of the applications of Artificial Intelligence which will rely on it totally in the coming future.

Use of Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture

The rapid adaption of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is seen in agriculture, both in terms of agricultural products and in-field farming techniques.
Companies are developing and programming autonomous robots to handle essential agricultural tasks such as harvesting crops at higher volume and faster pace than human labors. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Machine Learning, Satellite Imagery, and Advanced Analytics are empowering smallholder farmers to increase their income through higher crop yield and greater price control.
Today, one of the highest priorities for farmers is weed control and ongoing challenges as herbicide resistance becomes the more commonplace. An estimated 250 species of weeds have become resistant to herbicides. Companies are using automation and robotics to help farmers find more efficient ways to protect their crop from weeds.

Many companies are relying on AI and utilizing this technology to get their farming more advanced. Companies like Harvest CROO Robotics Crop Harvesting have developed a robot to help strawberry farmers pick and pack their crops. The company claims that its robot can harvest 8 acres in a single day and replace 30 human laborers. Berlin-based agricultural tech startup has developed an AI application called Plantix that reportedly identifies potential defects and nutrient deficiencies in the soil. Another company called Sky Squirrel Technology using drones to vineyards. The company aims to help users improve their crop yield and reduce crops.

Use of Artificial Intelligence in Marketing

Marketers were somewhat reluctant few years ago to incorporate Artificial Intelligence in their Digital Marketing strategies. But now they have gained a lot more confidence in using AI since its ambiguity has been reduced w.r.t result it can provide.
In the coming future, both AI and Machine Learning will be the most important data initiatives. A survey indicates that 51% of the marketers are already using AI and 27% more are planning on incorporating this technology next year.
Today, AI has the capability to create and generate content. A machine that creates content from scratch. There are certain areas in which content created by AI can be useful and help attract visitors to your website. It can write reports and news based on data and information. AI is not only able to generate content but it can curate it also and make it possible to better connect with visitors on certain websites and show you more relevant content.
For example, the Netflix recommendation system can also give you a suggestion for movies and T.V shows you might find interesting.
Another interesting field that has vastly adopted AI is Digital Marketing. For example, Facebook and Google ad platform already use machine learning and AI to find people more prone to making the advertisers desired action and to achieve this, they analyze the user’s information like their interests demographics and other aspects to learn and detect the best audience.
Innovations like Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apples Siri and Microsoft Cortana make it easy for people to perform searches by just pressing a button or saying a voice command.
Moreover, the application like Grid that uses AI to design a website based on user-provided information like images, text, calls-to-action etc. They can make the website look professional in much less time and an unbeatable price.
Hence, Artificial Intelligence has dominated the market in such a rapid manner that it will be a backbone of marketing in the coming future.

Use of Artificial intelligence in E-commerce

Many e-commerce businesses are already using forms of AI to better understand their customers, generate new leads and provide an enhanced customer experience. Major tech firms such as Facebook, IBM, Google, and Yahoo have already publically expressed their focus on developing artificial intelligence as a new source of business.
Today, many e-commerce companies are using AI to build better relationships with customers by incorporating chatbots into their marketing strategies.
E-commerce websites are using chatbots to improve customer support service. Chatbots are built using AI and are able to communicate with humans. They can also collect your past data and provide you with a very personalized user experience. Chatbots are providing 24/7 customer support to buyers.
This helps in understanding the customer behavior of the whole population as well as of the individual buyer. Understanding the customer buying pattern can be made E-commerce to make changes wherever needed and predicting the next buy of the user also.
AI is helping e-commerce companies like eBay, Target, and social media giant Pinterest take the guesswork out of online shopping by simplifying the search process. Pinterest also reported that 93% of its users use the site top plan purchases. Many brands are using chatbots to simplify the user experience and whether humans realize it or not, they are having functional, personalized relationships with robots.
The deployment of Artificial Intelligence into E-commerce has given a new dimension to the business. AI has enabled the business to work more efficiently and in a more competent manner. AI in e-commerce helps to achieve objective more effectively. It is expected by 2020, 85% of the enterprises will be overtaken by Artificial Intelligence and is finding a drill in every industry.

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ATechnos Confiderates with Cloudbanter

ATechnos Confiderates with Cloudbanter

The technological revolution has somehow affected the gaming industry in a very constructive manner and has given a massive breakthrough to game developers who are eager enough to portray their skills and persuade the gamer. Today, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality games are the hottest trend in gaming as they are providing more intense and realistic action. UK Game Industry is the fastest growing sector in AR and VR games.

AR and VR are the ways the tech can change the world you look at. The terms can be confusing and sometimes people think they are same but actually, they are not. Augmented Reality is defined as the superimposition of a computer-generated image on a users view of the real world. The primary value of AR is that it brings components of the digital world into a persons perception of the real world. AR is used in apps for smartphones and tablets. AR apps use your phones camera to show you a view of the real world in front of you and then putting a layer of information including text and/or images on top of the view.On the other hand, Virtual Reality is defined as the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. Its a creation of a virtual environment presented to our senses in such a way that we experience it as if we were really there. A new innovation in this technology is VR 360-degree which gives you an omnipresent view of the simulated reality.
India, one of the worlds largest youth populations is audacious to be on the top in the worlds gaming sector but it is still in the process to make its mark. The growth is expected in the next five years.
Abhay Techno Services Private Limited (ATechnoS) has taken a very greathearted initiative to explore itself in the gaming zone. It has developed numerous AR and VR android games like AR Car Crash, AR Cricket, AR Fighting, AR Asteroid Planet etc. which you can download on your mobile. You can go to play store, search ATechnos games and get a delightful experience. Very few companies in India have started this agenda and ATechnos is one of them. Our aim is not only to develop a few games and remain stagnant but our motive is to continuously innovate high-quality games and draw as much as people possible. We always keep an eye on world technology and latest updates to take our games to a very advanced level so that the future generation can meet up to the high tech expression of AR and VR games. Mobile games have attracted people of all ages, nationalities, and occupation, and to fulfill their expectations we have a sedulous and creative team to match up their preconceived notions.
Nowadays mobile games are more trending because smartphones can be accessed by everyone. The center of gravity has shifted from costly games to mobile games. India is on the edge of making a loud noise in the gaming industry and expected to make 71 billion INR in the next three years.
ATechnos has a remarkable ability to design such games and heading towards its goal day and night to emerge as a leading company and gradually reach a level where we can make us proud along with making the gaming sector of the country a symbol of accomplishment.

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The Digital Kumbh

The Digital Kumbh

I have lived in the USA for many years and one thing that always excites me is the night of “Super Bowl”. Many of the time its not the game but for the marketing enthusiast like me, it is the advertisements that are being shown on the tv in between the breaks. Brand advertisers try their level best to make advertisement commercials look different and remember worthy especially on these super expensive ad spots.Kumbh; also recognized as “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO” is no different. Its the worlds largest human gathering, with over 120 million people expected to attend and it is not just the crowd of millions of people that make the Kumbh special, but also the desire of every brand to connect with the unbeatable audience at one shot makes Kumbh pretty unique.
In order to take advantage of the opportunity to reach masses, brands have already been thinking about the Kumbh campaigns for almost a year. Until the pre-Jio era, OOH (primarily hoardings, billboards, handouts) properties were seen as the opportunities to grab attention at the Kumbh. There were also some campaigns like “Dant Snaan” by Dabur, “Roti Reminder” by HUL which innovatively delivered the brand messages in the previous Kumbh gatherings. I have written previously about the same on LinkedIn Pulse here : https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/kumbh-heartland-360-marketing-abhinav-jain-aj-/
Now with expected 40%+ Internet-enabled users visiting the Kumbh in 2019, it is a mandate for brands to think digitally and use technologies innovatively that connect them with the audience and not just that but also make this engagement rememberable for a longer period. We should not be surprised to experience similar digital innovation like the ones at the CES or FOM at the Kumbh.

Here are the five digital trends that brands are expected to take advantage of at the Kumbh 2019
1. Location-based notifications to drive traffic on stalls: Like every other mela, most of the brands would want the visitors to come to their stalls, experience/sample the product. Technologies like OEM/APP based notification can help that happen. Based on the real-time location of the user, the type of the phone, consumer history and many other consumer segments, mobile notifications can be sent to the audience with a call to action. A call to action can be as simple as replying with an SMS, WhatsApp message, or opening the map application on phone with directions to a predefined or pinned location.

2.Bluetooth enabled services: Bluetooth is out of content share and connection (except car audio) business for a quite a long time. Beacons, once introduced with a high mileage have not yet received a great response in marketing campaigns. However, in 2018 some brand marketers have innovatively used beacons in campaigns, and it can be seen as a ray of hope for marketing festivals like Kumbh. There were two barriers seen so far while ideating campaigns using Bluetooth as a medium 1. The hesitation of the consumer to connect with an unknown Bluetooth network 2. Even if the connection is made, a consumer needs to have an app or something that can be the transmitter of notification, information or advertisement. Both the barriers still exist on the consumer side however now brands are looking for innovation and hence there is the chance for Bluetooth adoption at scale.3. IOT and Sensors – I am fond of sensor-based campaigns like #LookingForYou (https://vimeo.com/139453252) that have tried to innovatively use technology to offer their audience a beautiful ad experience and have returned great results for the brands. In near future, OOH billboards are expected to be converted to Big LED Screens and in gatherings like Kumbh and big melas sensor based engagements will influence the overall experience positively.
4. AR/VR – It’s no brainer for marketers to think about AR and VR experience enablement in their campaigns now. 360-degree videos have already picked up a great momentum in the last few years and now platforms like Facebook, YouTube etc. have integrated these type of content. Brands have a great opportunity to create integrated campaigns ( Online and Offline Experience). VR based engagement experience offers a wow factor to the audience and if integrated with instant gratification, this experience can offer a very long term remembrance. Think of going to a stall, play a VR game in which you win 100 points and so for that, you instantly receive 100rs on your mobile wallet.

5. Application/Wap Based Activities: App or web-based engagements are an all-time high and it’s not the peak yet as the innovations keep on ringing. Recently ATechnos delivered an online experiential campaign for a brand in which we encouraged the audience to play a simple game like a picture puzzle online. You enter your mobile number, accept terms and condition and when you arrange the pictures of the products in a specific (correct) order you can win instant gratification, recharges, gift cards, coupons, discounts or even the dinner with a celebrity etc. The campaign was super hit!

6. For decades, Kumbh has been a venue for spirituality, tourism and advertisers who have thought more on the lines of experiential branding, product sampling, OOH or brand display etc. But thats expected to change this year with more engagement via digital activities, technology subscriptions and IOT.
Advertising is changing as digital ecosystem influences the thinking of a consumer and its lifestyle. In my column, #ThinkDigital I explore the intersection of the latest digital-tech, advertising and everything around. Every fortnight I will be sharing insights on the latest digital trends, innovative campaigns and conversations from the Innovation and data-driven digital leaders across the planet.
Internationally acclaimed advertising and analytics enthusiast, data-driven digital strategist, Abhinav has worked across countries with data and analytics-driven companies such as SAP, Dell, Citrix and led consumer behavior focused data and marketing teams of JetBlue, PlaceIQ, OnDeck. Currently, he is Managing Director and Cofounder of ATechnos (www.atechnos.com), a 2012 established innovative digital consulting think-tank based out of Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore.

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Influencer Marketing 2.0

#ThinkDigital – Influencer Marketing 2.0

“Hola~~ A few weeks back our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi tweeted a picture worth more than 100 million followers. Everyone who was is the picture had a hefty population of followers on almost all social platforms. The picture floated on all platforms for a good week and received a good response from everywhere. To a marketer like me, it was a perfect example of good influencer marketing.
Let’s take a step back as I welcome you to the world of influencer marketing 2.0. In many types of research conducted by well-known institutes across the world, it is observed that people are more willing to try a product suggested by the people they follow. However, it is not new as this was the reason why we had celebrities endorsing the products in TV commercials or print/banner advertisements. The difference is the personalization of the advertisements now. Let me explain to you that in some deeper details.”

As a general public, we use social media platforms to express personal views, share our opinions, and to let others know about what are we in to. We also follow the people who we like or whose opinions, style, thinking we like. Eventually, these people ( the one we follow) become influencers to us. As we are more interested in finding out what they are doing, what’s new in their profile, what are they sharing and hence it creates a great opportunity for brands to engage with the audience at some personal level. Campaigns have shown the improved result, sometimes up to 30% more engagement when using influencers with the right digital mix.

There are also some interesting campaigns, for example, run by brands like Walmart who is trying to Integrate Influencers content on the brand/product review and pages. The real results of such experiments are yet to be observed however this clearly indicates a shift in the mindset to include the influencers in the media and the medium strategy. Walmart is also experimenting with brands who are selling on Walmart.com to have the buy buttons from Walmart.com embedded into influencer blogs and channels.

Now marketers also need to understand one thing clearly that who are these influencers and who should be in their target list because finding correct and authentic influencers is equally important as finding right publisher to run your ad campaigns. Until last few years, influencer discovery was done manually (and I mean it) as the digital marketers had to manually find their profiles on social media platforms and then reaching out to them with campaign brief, negotiating and executions were the other side of the pains.

Now Artificial Intelligence algorithms in conjunction with Big Data is on pace to solve the neck cracking influencer discovery. I call it Influencer Marketing 2.0. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram allows fetching a lot of public data via APIs for a free or nominal cost and technology companies are now using this data to understand the Influencer profile, categories, engagement score, and total outreach.

Artificial Intelligence involvement in media planning is yet to take the full speed however media discovery and analysis is something that is on a set path for AI to tap in. As per Adext blog a few years ago, marketers were somewhat reluctant to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) in their digital marketing strategies. But last year they have gained a lot more confidence in using AI since its ambiguity has been reduced with respect to the results it can provide. These intelligent tools keep evolving more and more and are even reaching a point at which they are able to surpass humans in certain aspects like we are about to see.
Growing Influencer marketing expertise is critical for the business as it looks to break with some of the direct-to-consumer marketing tropes that can no longer be relied on their own. AI has changed the way how the world is being perceived now and its applications to the marketing ecosystem will continue to make marketers life efficient.
Advertising is changing as digital ecosystem influences the thinking of a consumer and its lifestyle. In my column, “#ThinkDigital” I explore the intersection of the latest digital-tech, advertising and everything around. Every fortnight I will be sharing insights on the latest digital trends, innovative campaigns, and conversations from the Innovation and data-driven digital leaders across the planet.
Internationally acclaimed advertising and analytics enthusiast, data-driven digital strategist, Abhinav has worked across countries with data and analytics-driven companies such as SAP, Dell, Citrix and led consumer behavior focused data and marketing teams of JetBlue, PlaceIQ, OnDeck. Currently, he is Managing Director and Cofounder of ATechnos (www.atechnos.com), a 2012 established innovative digital consulting think-tank based out of Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore.
Follow Abhinav on twitter @aj_atechnos or LinkedIn – www.atechnos.com/aj
© AbhinavJain. No part of this article can be used without explicit permission. All rights reserved.

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Digital, Discounts and Drama – Marketing for the 3D-Generation

#ThinkDigital – Digital, Discounts and Drama – Marketing for the 3D-Generation

Flipkart Big Billion Days Sale, Amazon Great Indian Shopping Festival, Zomato No Cooking January are some of the best examples of the campaigns that are run to target the new generation of India – the 3D Generation. A generation that believes in shopping digitally, likes to have massive unrealistic discounts and consumes a lot of dramatic content from all possible sources.
Let’s unfold the 3D Generation – Over the last five years, India has seen a huge spike in internet and smartphone usage. Interestingly 46% of urban and 57% of rural internet users are under the age of 25. This is number is expected to grow at the average yearly rate of 15%. These young age users are avid content consumers and online shoppers. As per statistics, 50% (approx. 200 mn people) of India’s smartphone population has shopped online at least once and this number is expected to grow faster than ever before.

As per the below chart from smartinsights.com, convenience and price comparison are the main drivers for Online Shopping. The chart below also illustrates the importance of free shipping offers. The report also considers variation in perception by country and in different generation groups from Baby Boomers to Gen X and Millennials.

Indian shoppers are very very price sensitive and hence it is also very crucial for online shopping platforms to keep them engaged and enrich this engagement in such a way that it converts to loyalty. Discounts, Cashback, Every Season sale and Exclusive offers are the key ingredients of this process. As much as e-tailers do this to keep their consumers engaged, these kinds of sales are also turning users to discount addicts or in other words Sale-oholics.
“Since the last 3 years, I have been actively and primarily buying good online. I have accounts on almost every e-commerce website and I look for as much as discounts on all possible websites before buying it. Yeh, it sometimes takes some time however I feel satisfied and happy. Discounts make me happy” – Vikas, Sr Developer at ATechnos told me when I saw his desk full of online shopping boxes and enquired about his online buying habits. In my opinion, people like Vikas represents the 3D generation of India. And this generation is growing faster than the population of India.
Brands require a different approach to engage with this generation. They are always online, always in the mood of shopping and always ready to consume the relevant content. One more thing that we noticed about them is the willingness to give open feedback about their experience with the product they purchase. Here are the three things that brands can do to differentiate themselves from their competitors –
1. Produce ad-free content with super relative product placements. Yes, AD-Free. Do you like ads? No Right. No One does. So why do we make it annoying for our consumers to watch the content they like. Instead, the bigger opportunity for brands is to optimize product placements. OLA, Airtel, Coke many brands have done it successfully and created better impressions.

2. Use analytics and artificial intelligence to understand consumer habits. Some time ago Amazon filed a patent that could help them in leveraging the consumer buying habits in deriving the purchase pattern for consumers. They were intended to use this method for advance shipping the products in nearby warehouses so that when a consumer buys, it can be delivered quickly. What data do you have about your consumers? Use it not just to solve the current problems but also optimize the consumer experience.

3. Encourage consumers to give feedback. Now If I have to choose one out of the three points I mentioned, this would be the one I would choose. The reason is very simple, no one can give better feedback to you about your products or services than your consumers, and brands must encourage it. Amazon reportedly started a new ad product on their websites that will allow brands to get feedback from the purchasers directly. Amazon also launched a reward program called Amazon Moments last week that will allow other brands to reward their consumers on Amazon. Gratification is a great way to reward consumers for their honest feedback.

Advertising is changing as digital ecosystem influences the thinking of a consumer and its lifestyle. In my column, “#ThinkDigital” | explore the intersection of the latest digital-tech, advertising and everything around. Every fortnight I will be sharing insights on the latest digital trends, innovative campaigns, and conversations from the Innovation and data-driven digital leaders across the planet.

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The Fantasy Marketing

#ThinkDigital ? The Fantasy Marketing

IPL is something that needs no introduction in India and it is here to stay. Well-known brands like Vivo, Coke etc. are spending higher amounts than ever on the IPL that kicked-off its 12th season recently. What makes IPL different from any other game series is the intense involvement of team franchise owners, players, as well as the audience in a short duration game in comparison to one day cricket. So far brands have been pouring money to take the sponsorships and various placements to make themselves visible on this high-quality dramatic pitch when hundreds of millions of people are watching on every possible screen.

On the other side, Fantasy gaming is a relatively new thing for India as it picked up especially in the last 4 years. Most of the people in my generation may not know that when they were in schools and early collages ESPN has brought an interesting show called SUPER SELECTOR. Contestants could win the points based on performances of the players selected by them for the leagues. We can call it the start of fantasy gaming in India.

One of the key reasons for fantasy games success in India is that it is easy to play by just selecting some key players for your team (let us call it a skill) and as they perform in the real match you will get rewards. And who doesnt love instant gratification?
Nowadays, fantasy gaming has spread beyond cricket and has stood tall in games like Kabbadi etc. However, it is needless to say that the biggest chunk of fantasy gaming fans in India still follows cricket. And Hence biggest fantasy gaming platform of India “Dream 11”, that has reportedly said to have 50 Million+ users have chosen Mr. Mahendra Singh Dhoni to be their brand ambassador.
Interestingly another breed of fantasy gaming platform is also nurturing in India and that is money-free fantasy (skill-based) gaming. Think of the Vodafone ad in which they say “Unofficial sponsor of fans”. If you are a Vodafone customer, in cricket match ad breaks you can dial a number to get a question and by answering it correctly you can win many gifts, iPhones or even get an opportunity to win an international trip.

Now if you observe closely, what are the key similarities and difference between the Vodafone campaign and Dream11? In my opinion, not many except in one you pay money and time to play, however, in the another you just pay time. On the other hand, you are contesting in both and have almost equal probability to win, provided you are using your brains or in fantasy language, what’s called skills. Another latest campaign is Zomato premiere league where you are given extra cashbacks for predicting the winners.

So whats in it for marketers? A Huge opportunity to tap the fantasy gaming generation. I call them Gen G (G for Gaming). Their simple traits are that they are young, munching into the internet or internet savvy and a bit of risk takers. So what, you may ask? Well, its how the majority of young India is inclining towards to be. Why? because a good chunk of fantasy gaming generation lives in tier 2 cities. And a huge wave of migration from tier3 and rural is going to flow towards the tier 2 cities.

Marketers have already been putting energy in engaging the audience with gaming. However, most of the budget used to go for title sponsorships (likes of VIVO IPL) or ad placements. Now the time is here to offer the young generation of India fantasy marketing experience that engages them, involve them and gratify them for being engaged with the brand. As they say, experiences stay forever, fantasy gaming-based engagement can be a new ray of light for the marketers.
Advertising is changing as digital ecosystem influences the thinking of a consumer and its lifestyle. In my column, “#ThinkDigital” I explore the intersection of the latest digital-tech, advertising and everything around. I share insights on the latest digital trends, innovative campaigns and conversations from the Innovation and data-driven digital leaders across the planet.

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Consumer experience is the new marketing strategy

#ThinkDigital ? Consumer experience is the new marketing strategy

India is a country of elections. Every year, in fact, every quarter there are some elections going on whether at the state level or the national level. 2019 is at the forefront of Nation’s biggest ever election and election spending. According to a media buying firm, approx. 180,000 Cr (or $25 Billion +) is expected to be spent in the next 6-8 weeks. Social Media, Digital, TV, and Print Advertisement will be the key drivers for this 100% increased spending from previous elections.
Since the 2014 election, Digital promotions have started to play a key role in influencing the voters. And this it’s not just the Social Media promotions, its the content that will be the key to win hearts of the voters. There are two political social media campaigns that I reviewed lately – 1. Nation With Namo 2. Soch Se Soch Ki Ladaai. In both of these campaigns, the motive is to touch the hearts of the voters with the pinch of emotions. It’s not the usual direct campaign that asks you to vote for a party, these campaigns just leave you with some food for thought.
Over the last decade, brands have started developing a strong relationship between the Consumer Experience and Marketing, however, it was primarily physical like purchase experience or service experience. Now with the age of digital, it is even more complicated and important to understand that a consumer can also interact with the brand not just physically but also digitally, not just at purchase but also at the exposure. And brands need to make sure that consumer experience is synchronized across all modalities and should be tied up with their marketing strategy.
Think of the below application example from Napolact, which brings a beautiful experience of squeezing milk from the cow digitally at an exposure/sampling event. The audience is left amazed when they interact with it digitally and as results were offered as a sample of the milk. The campaign received a great response and made half of the Romanian Facebook universe go gung-ho about it. YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/VCV9zKC-FmY
Nowadays many of your consumers are digitally active and interacting with the brand via all possible channels. This is very different from some years ago when consumer experience was only physical. It is very much important that their experience with the brand is seamless and soothing on all possible channels that it leaves an amazing print on this mind about it.

Now as a marketer or a brand manager, it is also your responsibility to understand how your marketing strategy empowers your consumer experience. Are there any opportunities where you can use consumer experience as your marketing strategy or think beyond, are there any correlations that you can drive?

Positive customer experience is always a win-win as it will result in making your customer happy, plus it may lead to additional revenue. Marketing can bring you a new customer, however when your customer refers you to others or brings a new customer that’s like Nirvana.
Advertising is changing as digital ecosystem influences the thinking of a consumer and its lifestyle. In my column, “#ThinkDigital” I explore the intersection of the latest digital-tech, advertising and everything around. I share insights on the latest digital trends, innovative campaigns and conversations from the Innovation and data-driven digital leaders across the planet.

Internationally acclaimed advertising and analytics enthusiast, data-driven digital strategist, Abhinav has worked across countries with data and analytics-driven companies such as SAP, Dell, Citrix and led consumer behavior focused data and marketing teams of JetBlue, PlaceIQ, OnDeck. Currently, he is Managing Director and Cofounder of ATechnos (www.atechnos.com), a 2012 established innovative digital consulting think-tank based out of Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore. He is also well known in the industry as political media specialist and strategist.
Follow Abhinav on twitter @aj_atechnos or LinkedIn – www.atechnos.com/aj ©AbhinavJain.
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