With worldwide billings exceeding US$33 billion, MediaCom is one of the world’s leading media communications specialists. In India, MediaCom is a joint venture between Madison World’s Sam Balsaraand WPP’s GroupM and is one of the top six agencies in the country with billings in excess of USD 479 mn and blue chip clients including P&G, Volkswagen, Dell, and SAB Miller among others.
For the last 5 years MediaCom India is led by Debraj Tripathy, an alumnus of IIM Calcutta with over 21 years of experience in the agency, media and technology domains. In conversation with Yamini Singh, he talks experiential, agency partnerships and award winning initiatives.
Q- How has experiential marketing evolved over the years?
The main development has been in the area of technology and number of possible touch points.
Q- Experiential marketing is steadily rising on every brand's media plan. What is the reason behind this phenomenon?
Experiential marketing has always been an important element of clients’ communication plans, though off late there has been a perceptible increase. This because of two reasons
The understanding that stickiness among consumers increases when they actually experience that brand, has deepened.
The number of touch points and technology have multiplied manifold. This gives brands more opportunities to include experiential marketing in their communication plans.
Q- Is it because of the change in the client’s objectives, consumer mindset or marketing landscape?
Objectives have not changed nor has the consumers' mindset. Market landscape has changed thanks to technology. This has made experiential marketing far more exciting and easier for marketers to execute and to get consumers to experience their brands.
Q- MediaCom recently bagged 10 metals at the Emvies '15 with Ariel 'Share the Load' and Whisper 'Touch the Pickle' campaigns. What was common with both initiatives to make them award winning entries?
Both pieces of work, like any other MediaCom project, were deeply rooted in consumer insights. They were all multi touch point campaigns with messaging tailored to each touch point. Experiential was one integral element of the multi touch point campaign.
Q- Which experiential agencies worked on both the campaigns?
Both Ariel 'Share the Load' and Whisper 'Touch the Pickle' campaigns were executed by Encompass.
Q- How important is the role of the experiential agency while delivering the experience?
The experiential agency is very critical in the delivery of the brand experience. It helps in selecting the right touch point, creating the right messaging and delivering the experience using the right technology.
Q- Does it go beyond just delivery or do the agency have a role to play in strategizing too?
More often than not the experiential agency works with the creative and media agencies in building the communication strategy. Where the media agency/ creative agency and the experiential agency are the same or are able to work very closely, is where brands get the best results.
Q- How is MediaCom strengthening its core to create more engaging and memorable experiences for brands?
MediaCom has invested in its own experiential marketing team. This is part of what we globally call MediaCom Beyond Advertising (MBA). The MBA team works very closely with the brand teams to provide the most appropriate solution to clients.
(The article first appeared on Oct-Nov '15 issue of BW APPLAUSE)
