When ads get personal

Smartphones are redefining the way brands can reach out to consumers. But a majority marketers in India feel that they are under-invested when it comes to advertising on smartphones.

According to a recent Adobe Digital Insights 2017 report, around 89% of Indian marketers felt that they had under-invested in smartphone advertising in 2016.

In smartphones, videos are the most popular choice for Indian consumers in consuming content. Indian consumers spend an average of 34% of their video viewing time on their mobile phones.

Ashish Shah, CEO and founder, Vertoz, said, “Mobile remains the third-largest mass medium for ad spends as personalised ad messages form a big portion of consumer demand. About 63% of the audience is comfortable with brands using data for customisation and it is a well-organised tool to deliver personalised ads to the customers. The automated technology strategy has truly come of age and hence we can expect its reach and adoption to grow by 25% this year. The audience has evidently moved to mobile, giving us a thumbs up for a bright future in mobile advertising in India.”

To add to it, Indian consumers do not find advertising on digital intrusive. In fact, a majority—75% — of those surveyed feel that the ads on digital should be more personalised and are comfortable with brands using their personal data customised ads.

Rohit Pabalkar, SEO-head, Webmaffia, said “It should be taken in consideration in the process of providing quality content to the users. The competition is ever growing in the market, and the quality is being compromised in some or the other way. Due to this, there is a major disconnect between users and advertisers. However, this gap can be filled by understanding the user intent and providing them with the most relevant options.”

The report added that Indian consumers have shown stronger preferences for personalisation of ads than any other country they had surveyed.

Even Indian advertisers hope to solve this personalisation of ads through programmatic advertising.

While customisation of online ads is what consumers want, are brands doing this in India?

Lavin Punjabi, co-founder and CEO of mCanvas Media, said, “Brands are not doing enough. There are exceptions like eCommerce and some travel brands. Most of the traditional FMCG, auto, BFSI companies are not leveraging the opportunity. In our process of evangelising mobile ads, we find that there is a growing interest from brands with every passing year.”

While brands know that video consumption on mobile is growing, not many brands spend on customised ads for the medium. “This is because brands are used to producing content for TV and repurposing on mobile. The typical one-tv-ad-reaches-all approach is not effective for the mobile generation. Ad content needs to be produced by brands dedicatedly for mobile. And it should be shot in vertical mode. It should also be short and snackable,” he said.

…& ANALYSIS

• 59% of consumers find digital ads “more interesting and useful” than ads on TV channels and radio
• 63% of those surveyed are comfortable with brands using their personal data to customise ads

 

This article first appeared on DNA India and can be read here.