Sai Nagesh, the Chief Strategy Officer of Laqshya Media quipped that branded content is imperative in today’s VUCA world. He said, “Branded content gets more attention and creates brand recognition.”
In a career spanning a quarter of a century, Nagesh has been a client as well as a media investment specialist and has worked with most of the top global advertising networks.
Nagesh talked about branded content, its evolution and perspectives and the market compulsions. He has the experience of handling various client problems including advertising clutters that lead to advertising avoidance. In his career, he has experimented with different options to take the brand message to the consumers.
He explained the changes in the entertainment process in the global and Indian contexts and the challenges faced by various clients. He also talked about the changes and evolution of the advertisement scenario, advertisement clutters and resultant advertising avoidance. He elaborated on the evolution of entertainment media from the early to the mid-1900s to the present day – from gramophones to silent cinema to colour televisions, from walkman in the 1960s through to the 1990s to the contemporary on-demand entertainment. He described India as one of the largest and fastest-growing media markets in the world.
He further discussed sponsorships and advertorials and product placements by using examples so that the students can relate. He elucidated further about product placements by using examples of the movie ‘Cast Away’ (2000) and ‘Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani’ (2013). Sai then explained how the agencies have moved on from sponsorships to product placements to using their own entertainment. The change has been towards media integration.
Nagesh also talked about media integration by using examples. He talked about content marketing – how strong the content should be to make the consumers relate to the content. He also showed some videos to make the conclave interesting and lively. He also talked about some brand websites. He summed up his talk by saying that branded content gets more attention and creates brand recognition. Consumers like branded content because it is relevant to their needs.
“The motive of the conclave is not to look into the periphery of communication but to get into every segment of it,” Sai Nagesh added.
Nagesh iterated, “Consumers like branded content because they believe the content is more consumer-focused.” He went on to talk about market challenges and how to build a brand personality. He said, “Advertisements are fleeting but its residues are rock hard.”
He deliberated on how various contents have evolved and how the branded contents can linger in the consumers’ minds and how can brand resilience be created.
Media convergence technology and brand narratives of digital media make advertising and branded content more inclusive. In the Covid-19 times, there is a rise of content in the digital platforms. The entire message delivery system to reach out to the audience has changed to the digital mode. “Both the young and older generation (digital immigrants) are consuming contents on the digital platform because of the recent pandemic of Covid-19,” Nagesh added.
Nagesh also added, “The message isn’t a sales pitch; it creates trust between the brand and the consumer.”
The author, Priya Kumari is associated with the Adamas University Media School.
