DIGITAS INDIA : Taking Digital Marketing To The Next Level
India has been demonstrating a significant growth in the digital technology domain. The Indian landscape of businesses is at different stages of evolution with some organizations much more evolved and seeking cuttingedge solutions and some just on the lookout to bring in a difference and catch up with the digital movement. Hence, they have a myriad of business needs. With this radical change, the digital advertising market is projected to grow at 32 percent CAGR till 2020. This prediction done by several researches also further emphasizes on how there is an immense potential to be uncovered in this domain with several new-age techniques that businesses can leverage such as data analytics, digital targeting, developing relevant content for target audience and consumer profiling.With the capacity this market displays to expand even further, several vendors have begun penetrating into this sector but are unable to deliver valuable insights and metrics for the key stakeholders to make informed decisions. Cutting a large chunk of the adtech and martech pie with its unique approach is Digitas India, a global marketing agency with its India headquarters in Mumbai that ensures high levels of client satisfaction with its five capabilities which are data, strategy, creative & content, technology and media. In essence, these core capabilities connect to form solutions for today’s marketing needs. “These are not services but capabilities; so they can connect with any service you need, whether it‘s commerce, campaigns, performance marketing, experience platforms, CRM and advocacy etc. Being a connected marketing agency allows us to provide the answers to modern marketing problems. We also assist clients by consulting in adtech and martech choices and helping them in implementing the product they are buying,” emphasizes Amaresh Godbole, CEO, Digitas India.
Extensive expertise
He further goes on to explain how the team’s approach is to gain a complete understanding of the business opportunity and the problems associated with it and then finally tailor solutions for it, from media, content, technology, to all of it. Publicis Groupe-owned digital agency Digitas India has over 420 plus skilled professionals spread across four cities with the marketing hubs in Mumbai, and Delhi, development center in Ahmedabad and a newly launched office in Bangalore. This is in addition to the access it has to its network of over 3000 professionals across 30 plus countries. The company boasts of a team of technically adept experts with a deliberately diverse set of skills attained from working in various industry verticals ranging from advertising and design to decision sciences and IT. Over the years the company has catered to a broad spectrum of renowned clientele such as Reliance Jio, Nestlé, FCA (Jeep), TVS Motors, Hewlett Packard, Hindustan Unilever, Tourism New Zealand, HUL, NIVEA, Nissan-Datsun amongst others. For over a decade now, an automotive tyre, tubes and flaps manufacturing company based in Delhi in association with Digitas has been running the dealer engagement program and almost 80 percent of the sales for passenger vehicles come via the same program. Working with yet another highly recognized organization, a Swiss transnational food and drink company with a subsidiary in India, Digitas designed India’s first SaaS solution for consumer engagement using emerging technology (conversational UI & ML).
Achieving New Heights
Enthusiastic about holding a leadership position in this domain, Amaresh goes on to tell us what in his opinion differentiates Digitas as a company from the several solution providers that have permeated into the market, “For the last three years consecutively, Digitas has been in the Gartner Leaders Quadrant for digital marketing agencies globally. If you look at IDC, we are the only non-consultancy brand, as in, the only agency brand that is in the data consultancy leaders’ quadrant. Our global data capability and local data capability are in the heart of our other solutions and that really differentiates us from the rest of the market.”
Solving Marketing Challenges with Behavioural Analysis Tool
Known for its comprehensive suite of offerings and services, the team at Digitas designed and developed what they believe was the first and proprietary tool and process that harnesses behaviour data globally. Today, this product has been integrated under the wider Publicis Groupe data platform called People Cloud. Known as IDIOM, it seamlessly organized an influx of observed behaviour traits to shape individual portraits that are a perfect combination of wildly predictive and 100 percent accurate.
Understanding the offering on a more deeper level, the tool leverages real, observed behaviour to solve marketing challenges by connecting varying sources of data at an individual level, across a gamut of channels to answer meaningful business questions like the true competitive set and how consumers research products, the differences between segments of customers and prospects, the activities right before and after purchase, and the customer/prospect journey. In conjunction with this, the tool has been engineered where the individual portraits created by it directly informs not just the final creative product, but also, how, where, and when the brand partners should invest the money.
Engaging Customers throughout the Journey Possessing deep expertise in keeping customers engaged and retaining customers rather than just attaining new ones, CRM Hub, one of Digitas’ core offerings plays a pertinent role in the business where there is a strong focus on building valuable relationships between consumers and the brands via its transformational strategies. Amaresh firmly believes that it is imperative to retain and grow the customer-base and looks at CRM with two lenses. One is CRM platform and technologies and other is CRM programs and operations. With the first part, the team can build custom solutions on which the client can test the amalgamated data and run loyalty programs or have a more holistic system like Salesforce which does everything right from lead generation to after conversion CRM management. “We work with the client to ensure it is set up in the most optimum way for them or for smaller clients we build custom CRM products. As for the program and operations side of it, one must have a strong CRM system in place. We have customer relationship marketised planning framework where we identify what a brand‘s current relationship with its customers is. To make it happen we have our own call centers, own warehouses where the gifting happens under the loyalty program and redemption,” adds Amaresh.
Harnessing the Power of Social Media
Social media acts as one of the founding pillars in content marketing and hence Digitas looks at it as a subset of wider content marketing efforts that can rake in more benefits. Social media is utilised as a medium to deliver content and keep the consumers engaged. Amaresh informs us of how advances to clients are made, “When we go to the client, we ensure that they know we are not a social media agency but it is a part of what we do in content marketing. We understand the business and the marketing problem and find a communication strategy for it with the delivery to the social media platform.” With advancing technologies and continual additional features added to social media platforms, the team works to ceaselessly keep up with this trend as it changes rapidly. The team keeps a track of how the algorithms are evolving which defines the kind of content that is needed to put up, what kind of content gets ranked higher and gets more engagements and so on. Next, user behaviour trends are kept track of as well along with keeping a close eye on how the platform features are evolving. The team then puts the content strategy layer on top of it to deliver the solution.
Gearing Up For the Future
With a strong commitment to delivering excellence, Digitas has recently launched its office in Bangalore. Owing to the company’s proven track record, the new office already has several clients and projects in the pipeline. Talking about some of the future projects, Amaresh says, “We have got some exciting work in the pipeline with TVS in deep technology application that should get the market talking. We also have a couple of projects in the pipeline with Unilever which will be marketed very heavily and Nestlé as well which will be amplified with surround marketing.” The company is growing at a phenomenal pace and has aggressive expansion plans mapped out for the near future.
“Being A Connected Marketing Agency Allows Us To Provide The Answers To Modern Marketing Problems. We Also Assist Clients By Consulting In Adtech And Martech Choices And Helping Them In Implementing The Product They Are Buying”
Engaging Customers throughout the Journey Possessing deep expertise in keeping customers engaged and retaining customers rather than just attaining new ones, CRM Hub, one of Digitas’ core offerings plays a pertinent role in the business where there is a strong focus on building valuable relationships between consumers and the brands via its transformational strategies. Amaresh firmly believes that it is imperative to retain and grow the customer-base and looks at CRM with two lenses. One is CRM platform and technologies and other is CRM programs and operations. With the first part, the team can build custom solutions on which the client can test the amalgamated data and run loyalty programs or have a more holistic system like Salesforce which does everything right from lead generation to after conversion CRM management. “We work with the client to ensure it is set up in the most optimum way for them or for smaller clients we build custom CRM products. As for the program and operations side of it, one must have a strong CRM system in place. We have customer relationship marketised planning framework where we identify what a brand‘s current relationship with its customers is. To make it happen we have our own call centers, own warehouses where the gifting happens under the loyalty program and redemption,” adds Amaresh.
Harnessing the Power of Social Media
Social media acts as one of the founding pillars in content marketing and hence Digitas looks at it as a subset of wider content marketing efforts that can rake in more benefits. Social media is utilised as a medium to deliver content and keep the consumers engaged. Amaresh informs us of how advances to clients are made, “When we go to the client, we ensure that they know we are not a social media agency but it is a part of what we do in content marketing. We understand the business and the marketing problem and find a communication strategy for it with the delivery to the social media platform.” With advancing technologies and continual additional features added to social media platforms, the team works to ceaselessly keep up with this trend as it changes rapidly. The team keeps a track of how the algorithms are evolving which defines the kind of content that is needed to put up, what kind of content gets ranked higher and gets more engagements and so on. Next, user behaviour trends are kept track of as well along with keeping a close eye on how the platform features are evolving. The team then puts the content strategy layer on top of it to deliver the solution.
Gearing Up For the Future
With a strong commitment to delivering excellence, Digitas has recently launched its office in Bangalore. Owing to the company’s proven track record, the new office already has several clients and projects in the pipeline. Talking about some of the future projects, Amaresh says, “We have got some exciting work in the pipeline with TVS in deep technology application that should get the market talking. We also have a couple of projects in the pipeline with Unilever which will be marketed very heavily and Nestlé as well which will be amplified with surround marketing.” The company is growing at a phenomenal pace and has aggressive expansion plans mapped out for the near future.
