Today marketers and planners are faced with fragmented consumers, changing consumer purchase patterns, the all new intelligent ever evolving consumer added to this, the media and sales proliferation in an unprecedented fashion has arguably beefed up the challenges ahead in deciding the media mix for a brand!
Coping up with these rapidly evolving challenges, marketers have started looking for unique ways of promoting their brands to grab consumer mind share and hold their attention through integrated marketing communication programs, which capitalize on the unique proposition of below the line – minimal spill over. Due to their sheer impact, usability and a virtually limitless scope for innovation, ACTIVATION has emerged as a strong alternate media.
In India, however, marketers have not in totality flexed their muscles in experimental below the line activation and alternate media in pace with their global counterparts. Most of us rely on conventional and template mediums. Budget allocations get restricted within this understanding. Even these forms are not explored in totality for their delivery mechanisms or the content or creative solution required increasing measurability and effectiveness. ACTIVATION opportunities extend into many other forms like word of mouth marketing, viral marketing and street marketing, which are still a rarity in the Indian parlance.
The flexibility and potential of Below the Line has been grossly undermined and hence, under-utilized. Thus the humble “Roadshow” has sadly migrated from being a medium to being THE activation. ACTIVATION doesn’t work in silos. In fact it is possibly the most flexible platform where-in all the existing media vehicles can be seamlessly integrated to create a long lasting brand salience. Convergence is the key to the new age ACTIVATION and the resultant is the multiplier.
How many times have we had to respond to a query on the cost for a below the line activation before the concept has been put in place? Yes, the instances have reduced in the last few years but are still quite substantial. We all agree more or less that below the line activation is but a fragment of the fragmenting media landscape. Yet most of us, marketers and agencies alike when confronted with a below the line activation tend to concentrate more on the output rather than on the outcome.
The burden of bringing about a “renaissance in the ACTIVATION planning process” lies with the ACTIVATION agency and, but of course, also with the client. What can’t be ignored is the shift in creative endeavour in below the line, where policy on convergence, planning and creativity is being rewritten as a cornerstone contributor to a maturing medium. Below the line may be under explored and with fuzzy boundaries but in the shift of precedence (however nascent) from output to outcome, are we witnessing the evolution of the ACTIVATION medium? More over are we participants or bystanders?
Coping up with these rapidly evolving challenges, marketers have started looking for unique ways of promoting their brands to grab consumer mind share and hold their attention through integrated marketing communication programs, which capitalize on the unique proposition of below the line – minimal spill over. Due to their sheer impact, usability and a virtually limitless scope for innovation, ACTIVATION has emerged as a strong alternate media.
In India, however, marketers have not in totality flexed their muscles in experimental below the line activation and alternate media in pace with their global counterparts. Most of us rely on conventional and template mediums. Budget allocations get restricted within this understanding. Even these forms are not explored in totality for their delivery mechanisms or the content or creative solution required increasing measurability and effectiveness. ACTIVATION opportunities extend into many other forms like word of mouth marketing, viral marketing and street marketing, which are still a rarity in the Indian parlance.
The flexibility and potential of Below the Line has been grossly undermined and hence, under-utilized. Thus the humble “Roadshow” has sadly migrated from being a medium to being THE activation. ACTIVATION doesn’t work in silos. In fact it is possibly the most flexible platform where-in all the existing media vehicles can be seamlessly integrated to create a long lasting brand salience. Convergence is the key to the new age ACTIVATION and the resultant is the multiplier.
How many times have we had to respond to a query on the cost for a below the line activation before the concept has been put in place? Yes, the instances have reduced in the last few years but are still quite substantial. We all agree more or less that below the line activation is but a fragment of the fragmenting media landscape. Yet most of us, marketers and agencies alike when confronted with a below the line activation tend to concentrate more on the output rather than on the outcome.
The burden of bringing about a “renaissance in the ACTIVATION planning process” lies with the ACTIVATION agency and, but of course, also with the client. What can’t be ignored is the shift in creative endeavour in below the line, where policy on convergence, planning and creativity is being rewritten as a cornerstone contributor to a maturing medium. Below the line may be under explored and with fuzzy boundaries but in the shift of precedence (however nascent) from output to outcome, are we witnessing the evolution of the ACTIVATION medium? More over are we participants or bystanders?
5 comments:
Very pertinenet and relevant specially in todays economic scenario.It is great insight on why activisation and how in the corporate world this important activity really does not get its due importance.
love the poll...I am from a similar industry, what can I say? It’s so true.
very true
While so many corporates talk of social responsibility, very few follow it. A good initiative to push establishments towards a good cause
very nicely portrayed and written ..
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