In the 1st Session of SMX India Communication Summit 2021, Day 2, Varun Duggirala joined as one of the eminent speakers. The Summit aimed to examine the current scenario, identify new trends and best practices emerging in the media, communication and entertainment industries. He fulfilled the objectives of the summit by sharing his thoughts about work from home and guided those who want to work digitally or in the social sphere.
Varun Duggirala, the Co-founder and Content Chief of the Glitch, is one of the leading voices in modern advertising. He Co-Founded the Glitch in 2009 and helped it to become one of the most premier new age creative agencies in the country. He is popular for his podcast ‘Advertising Is Dead’ in which he talked about the changes, developments and disruptions in the business of Advertising, Media, Content and Entertainment.
Digital Media during the Pandemic
While discussing ‘Work From Home’ he happily agreed that the present mode of working from home suits him and he in fact loves it. He then gave insights from the content and engagement perspective during the lockdown period. He shared his excitement regarding how during the pandemic people were majorly communicating through digital media and felt that this communication was very different from the pre-pandemic era as earlier it was convenient but now it was a necessity.
Duggirala especially talked about the new generation that is the primary audience on the digital platforms and explained how they are using every form of social media to create unique content. He added that due to the digital platform it has become very easy for people from any city, town or village having certain talents to showcase their talent to the world. They can do this without the help of any agency or without moving to any other city or country. Thus Digital Media is helping in bringing out talents from all parts of the country and providing them with a global stage.
Content Creation during the Pandemic
He talked in detail about how content creation can be done through creativity and the mindset of doing something innovative. According to him, content has evolved primarily through how it has been consumed online across the world. He was very pleased that now everyone is able to create their own content thanks to the Internet and digital technologies.
Duggirala mentioned that “Due to Digital Media technologies, those who don’t have fancy sets and expensive cameras are easily able to create good quality content”. He further declared that pandemic has generated opportunities in the creative field that were not present earlier as the crisis made people more creative. Also, he pointed out that due to the pandemic content creation has changed drastically.
Trends and Opportunities
Duggirala explained the challenges of working online by saying that “It’s not easy for us to work online with technical issues but if we are dedicated towards our passion then we will surely find a way out to fulfil our dreams.” He shared his thoughts on the coming future by remarking that he is supremely optimistic about it. He felt that a lot of changes that were to be seen in the future are already here as they got accelerated during the pandemic. These changes took place not just at the city or country level but at the global and that is why the future is here already. He also elaborated how companies are now not just focusing on regular advertising or communication but on effective communication.
Shedding light on modern-day audiovisual advertisements, he highlighted that most of the ads are now story driven which are way better than plain informative ads. This is the reason why the audience is able to connect with them. He also gave advice to those who are interested in advertising. He said that ad makers should create ads that are platform-specific instead of designing an ad that serves all the platforms. He suggested ad-makers first understand the medium before making their ad and then focus on writing the concept of the ad. He firmly believed that content will drive the ‘brandscape’ and will reform the narrative built around advertising forever. At the end, when concerns were raised regarding technology interrupting human experience he pointed out that “The technology is not taking away the human experience it is in fact enhancing it.”
The author, Soumyasikta Sen is associated with Adamas University Media School.
