Applications
Tech knowhow increases campaign focus on the mobile
MUMBAI: To do a successful mobile ad campaign advertisers and agencies need to remember that technology know-how can increase the focus of a campaign. Brands should also put themselves in the shoes of their consumers and figure out if the message would appeal to consumers or turn them off. The third thing is whether consumers would come back after being exposed to the campaign.
These points were made by Marico India head digital marketing and media Aditya Salve at the IAMAI Mobile Marketing Conference. He noted that one challenge is privacy and intrusion concerns. Regulation will not evolve to a point where there is complete clarity. His company approaches mobile with the view that the medium can build brands.
“Digital is personal media. It is about one to one reach. You can deliver information specific to a user but that same information will not be relevant to all users.” He gave the case study example of the Saffola Dil Jawan campaign which revolved around the concept of heart age finder. It gives users the age of one‘s heart and the aim was to double conversions to the brand.
Over the years the company‘s use of mobile has grown. In 2009 and 2010 it was used as a backend. In 2011, it was used along with print. In 2012 creatives were done and the company worked with mobile ad networks. It reinvented the IVR system. The Marico team was always on because the mobile is a medium where you cannot simply launch the campaign and sit back.
In Bihar mobile was used effectively. The challenge is that the state has poor literacy. The aim of the company was to reach consumers directly. The company worked with voice-based solutions. A film star was used. There was a built in reminder call and gratification was also present. Equity and business were kept in mind. The campaign got a reach of 680,000 consumers.
Another case study was given by Samsung head digital marketing mobile business Aman Malhotra and ad2c co-founder, COO Anurag Singh. Malhotra made the point that the mobile phone is no longer an accessory. It is a status symbol and a means of self expression. “The device and the destination that a person is going to will tell companies what they can market. This is what we kept in mind when we used mobile as a medium to market the Galaxy S3.”
There are three kinds of media – paid, owned and earned. In mobile, owned media is the most important. An example of earned media is a person using mobile to check a post on Facebook. Samsung‘s focus on mobile advertising is on mobile web. The consumer is predisposed to the mobile category.
Singh said that the aim of mobile marketing is to reach, inform and engage. The aim should be to advertise to people who want to buy the product. “Samsung has had a mobile site for two years. Each product has a presence on the portal. There is no lack of look and feel on the site.”
To push Galaxy S3, creatives were created and targetted at iOS, Android, Nokia E Series and N series devices. One of the things was to create a voice activated banner which is not easy to do on the mobile. On clicking, the ad users could browse through features of the Galaxy S3. They also did an innovation that replicated the Draw Something experience. In the creative, users had to guess drawings. Users spend three minutes engaging with it. 30 per cent of users shared the creative on Facebook. Eventually 33 per cent of users who upgraded to the Galaxy S3 phone were Samsung customers, 25 per cent were from iOS, 31 per cent had a Nokia handset.
Another product that was pushed using mobile as a medium was the Omnia W phone. Here cricket was used as a touchpoint as that is one of the passions of the country. The interface used Windows media and a tiled based concept.
Applications
Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
