Commenting on social media and its effect on audiences today,
Sanjeev Pasricha, Group CEO, CS Direkt Events & Exhibitions shares, “There’s no denying that social media has taken the world by storm. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter boast millions of users. It offers huge engagement opportunities and the most important being a branding tool. But the same storm has three major elements - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly side to it! We all know the good part. Every opportunity you have to syndicate your content and increase your visibility is valuable. Your social media networks are just news channels for your brand’s voice and content. The Bad is the privacy, authenticity of content, and lack of brand control over customer use can actually hamper the brand promotion objectivity. The ugly part will come in if the brand doesn’t take a control of social media. You risk social media taking control of you adds Sanjeev.
Today it is no longer about branding, pricing and the channels; instead it is about the customer experience. Marketers are using a combination of various customer touch points through experiential engagements, brand activations, in store retail marketing, consumer engagement events to maintain the physical connect with customers to over critical touch points. "Experience drives engagement. Experiences that instigate, incite or invoke conversations are at the heart of all successful experiential campaigns. An event, a road show, an exhibition or social media are just different platforms to create experiences. With the lines blurring between the physical and the virtual experiences need to cohabit various platforms to make a real impact. So it's really not a choice of either or. Of course, this is a broad generalization and things like who, what and when will determine how you prioritize the experience vis-a-vis the platform"
says Ranjit Raina, Managing Director, Brandwidth Events.
Laila Fathima, Creative Director, CSD believes in the fact that the Bad and Ugly of social media can be eliminated by bringing people to experience products through creativity and individual experiences that culminate into lifetime memories. I work on campaigns with detailed analysis reports provided to me by a dedicated team who works tirelessly in creating plans that involve audiences personally and leave a lasting effect. Social Media today has shrunk our world opening doors to everyone who has an opinion and wants to express their thoughts adds Laila. At CSD we plan positive experiences for everyone. The essence of a brand should be to bring awareness of existence through such a platform. With the world moving toward a higher dependence on social media information it is imperative that, we as experiential marketers work towards comprehensive brand solutions for the educated and well informed consumer.”
When it comes to acquisition of customers through digital content and innovative methods to engage audiences; social media plays a vital role. Extending a hand to touch and engage customers is important for brands in order to be accepted. A real engagement experience with the target customer where they get a chance to try the product, ask questions and physically participate in some way that makes them feel a part of the brand makes a difference for the demand of a particular brand. The consumers believe in the brand and what it stands for; which surely is a closer step in the path to purchase.
