Digital
Digital marketing beyond Google, Facebook, Amazon
NEW DELHI: The realm of digital marketing has grown much beyond the porticos of Google, Facebook and Amazon, with advertisers becoming eager to experiment with the platforms and investing in more targetted solutions, highlighted the diverse panel discussing the widening scope of digital marketing in the new world with Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor in chief Anil Wanvari.
The panel consisted of Team Pumpkin co-founder and CBO Swati Nathani, Zoo Media and FoxyMoron co-founders Suveer Bajaj and Pratik Gupta, White Rivers Media CEO and co-founder Shrenik Gandhi, iProspect India AVP-strategic solutions Nihal Nambiar and Wavemaker India chief client officer and head-west Shekhar Banerjee.
While the advertisers were already staying alert about the diverse possibilities digital marketing has to offer, Covid2019 acted as a catalyst in facilitating the move.
Gandhi insisted that while the world was expecting the number of people on traditional media and digital reaching at par in 2025, Covid2019 has managed to attain that within this year itself, thus prompting even the most traditional brands to venture online.
Nambiar noted, “It is a fact that the lockdown has been a crazy experience for the industry. Many brands had to remain completely silent while many increased their spends on digital platforms. Going ahead, brands realise it will be smarter for them to invest in at least one or two advertising media than going completely thin and that’s where digital will benefit.”
He added that apart from the usual Google, Facebook, Amazon (e-commerce) mix, the brands are looking at more organic options to advertise. They are churning out their own properties, content, and are greatly investing in technology, to make the most of the medium.
Banerjee elucidated that brands are going heavy on performance marketing. “Apart from the usual search, social, and e-commerce mix, one platform that has become the biggest gainer during the period is e-groceries section, taking a huge part of the digital pie. Going ahead, hyperlocal platforms, with their changing business models will be more conducive to advertising.”
He also hinted that influencer marketing will change in a big way in the future, with it becoming more hard-core and result-driven. Additionally, social commerce will attract a lot of advertisers.
Nathani added that outdoor screens like tabs inside the cabs will also attract of a lot of advertiser attention.
Bajaj lauded the growth that platforms like TikTok have gained during the period and also highlighted the prominence that OTT platforms are getting from the advertisers as consumers spike. “OTT picked up a big way during the covid-period, and with most of them running on a hybrid (AVOD+SVOD) model, attracted good revenues. While this quarter might not be big for them with advertisements, the subscriptions are hitting the roof. Going ahead, they will attract a lot of advertiser attention too.”
In addition to these, gaming platforms and digital events are also going to get a substantial part of advertisers pie in the coming future.
TAGS: Digital Marketing, Indiantelevision Virtual Roundtable. FoxyMoron, Zoo Media, Pratik Gupta, Suveer Bajaj, Team Pumpkin, Swati Nathani, White Rivers Media, Shrenik Gandhi, Wavemaker, Shekhar Banerjee, iProspect, Nihal Nambiar, TikTok, Google, Facebook, OTT
Digital
Ethical AI must benefit society, not dominate it, says WFEB chief Sanjay Pradhan at IAA event
At Mumbai event, ethics expert urges businesses and governments to shape AI responsibly
MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence may be racing ahead at lightning speed, but its direction must still be guided by human conscience. That was the central message delivered by Sanjay Pradhan, president of the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB), during the latest edition of IAA Conversations held in Mumbai.
The session was organised by the International Advertising Association (IAA) and the Artificial Intelligence Association of India (AIAI) in association with The Free Press Journal at the Free Press House on 7 March. Addressing a packed audience, Pradhan called for stronger ethical leadership to ensure AI remains a tool that benefits humanity rather than one that governs it.
“Artificial intelligence has rapidly become one of the most powerful technologies humanity has created,” Pradhan said. “It is unlocking breakthroughs in medicine, science and creativity at a pace unimaginable just a few years ago.”
But he warned that the same technology carries serious risks. AI, he noted, can amplify disinformation faster than facts can travel, compromise privacy, deepen discrimination and disrupt millions of livelihoods. Referencing concerns raised by AI pioneers such as Geoffrey Hinton, often called the godfather of AI, Pradhan stressed that the real challenge is not whether AI will shape the world, but whether humans will shape it with ethics and wisdom.
Structuring his talk around four guiding questions, why, what, how and who, Pradhan introduced the audience to WFEB’s emerging AI Ethics Partnership, a global platform aimed at advancing responsible artificial intelligence. He outlined four priority concerns that demand urgent attention: disinformation, bias and discrimination, data privacy and job security.
To make the idea of ethical AI easier to grasp, Pradhan offered a simple metaphor. Ethical AI, he said, is like a three layered cake. The outer layer represents the visible value ethical AI creates for businesses and society. The middle layer is organisational culture that moves ethics from written codes to everyday practice. The innermost layer, however, is the most crucial, the conscience of individual leaders.
Drawing from Indian philosophical thought through WFEB co-founder Ravi Shankar, Pradhan noted that while artificial intelligence can reproduce stored knowledge, true intelligence is boundless and rooted in conscience, creativity and compassion. Practices such as breathwork and meditation, he suggested, can help leaders develop the calm clarity needed for ethical decision making.
The event also featured a discussion with Maninder Adityaraj Singh, chief of staff and head of innovation at Rediffusion Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd, and Yash Johri, lawyer, Supreme Court of India.
Opening the session, IAA India chapter president Abhishek Karnani, highlighted the need for industries to understand and engage with AI responsibly.
“AI has to be befriended and understood,” added Rediffusion managing director and AIAI national convenor Sandeep Goyal. “Its ethical use will determine whether it becomes a friend or a foe.”
As AI continues to reshape industries and societies, Pradhan ended with a simple but powerful call to action. Businesses, governments and individuals must work together to ensure that the algorithms shaping the future reflect human values rather than just cold logic.
