Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Mr. Abdul Khan, VP – Marketing, Tata Docomo

Mr. Khan spoke about the modern marketer’s approach towards Social Media. Marketers recognize the arrival of Social Media, but are not yet sure of how to capitalize on it. Most marketing managers spend on Social Media either because a competitor is doing it or because of the big buzz around it.

There seems to be herd mentality in its adoption as a media tool. ‘Look at Social Media as a group of people rather than as a medium of advertising.’ Tata Docomo believes that ‘YOU’ are the people that matter. It ‘un-telecomed’ the telecom sector by replacing minute billing with per second billing, a change that it is proud of having initiated, consequently provoking competition to make the switch as well. He identified a few trends that need to be taken seriously.

• Freedom in everything (choice, expression, medium)

• Transparency is growing with this open channel

• Co-create (Today, Marketing is a series of conversations. Marketers need to understand
how to have a series of conversations, keeping the brand thought in mind). In this
regard, Docomo conducted an animation contest. The winning entry was aired as Docomo’s
TVC for a period of time. This one-off gratification created a buzz and sourced a large
crowd to the issue on Social Media, benefitting brand interest and discussion. This is
the kind of harmless provoke that he endorsed.

• Collaborate with the user

• Social Media is a realistic marketing choice because it calls for the marketer to
‘Do the new’, is untapped and offers a significant Target Group Connect

• Marketing on Social Media is best kept, Simple.

• Strategy in Social Media should include these 5 activities
o Brand Advocacy
o Address issues
o Crowd Sourcing
o Engage user
o Micro Communication

Mr. Khan advised the following or effective marketing on this medium
• Stay Fresh Always
• Don’t Hard Sell – ‘Engage’
• Have a point of view

Mr. Khan concluded by saying that it is important to gratify and integrate, to successfully leverage the medium for growth.

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