Dr Annurag Batra, the Founder, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the iconic Exchange4media Group. The Exchange4media group includes exchange4media.com – India’s leading media industry website, PITCH – India’s only Advertising, Marketing and Media Magazine, IMPACT – The Marketing Weekly, Franchisee Plus – Business Opportunity Magazine, Realty Plus – India’s leading monthly real estate magazine and samachar4media.com/ – leading media industry website in Hindi. Dr Batra is an alumnus of IIT Delhi. He is a storyteller of many success stories.
Dr Batra spoke about multiple things including how content marketing has become bigger and how it is ruling the contemporary industry. He mentioned the very important term “Multiple Media Platforms.” He said that brand and content are media-neutral, which are available on television, magazine and OTT platforms. He also elaborated on the possibilities of brand and content in the next few years. Dr Batra has also been appointed by the Government of India as the Chairman of an industry committee formed to come up with a vocational training framework for the media, communication and entertainment industry.
Dr Batra is one of the youngest successful media planners in India. Earlier, he was a system analyst for renowned companies like Tata Consultancy Services. He has the distinction of running the most respected business publication in the country. He also does face-to-face digital events.
Dr Batra said, “An entrepreneur should blend three things to make a business perfect, which are business, content and technology.” He mentioned that nowadays we can use the content for different purposes. He also said, “In media, we have to domain experts. There are so many domains like food blogging, travelogues, agriculture, sports, advertising, politics etc. Content will always exist in triple layer format – text, audio or podcast and video.
He further said that storytelling will be the business purpose of media in the future. He added that media content and media have become polarized. He focused on building community through content, through which we have to focus on B2B (business-to-business) communication. Dr Batra explained that content should be relevant so that people can relate to it. He emphasized on the fact that case studies and benchmarking are important to make a community.
He said, “The world is full of specialists and the specialists will be the future of media.”
Today is the era of digital media and with each day, the scenario is changing. These days, traditional media is less effective than digital media. If someone is a good storyteller, a planner, an event manager and a PR professional, then he/ she is the future of media.
Dr Batra said that having a camera and being an editor is enough to become media experts. According to Dr Batra, “We all have the technology and the aid of social media. Therefore we all are influencers, who can help promote a brand.”
He focused on the continuity of any habit. He said that newspapers could be a great vehicle to reach out to audiences but one has to increase one’s brand value.
He suggested aspiring media professionals be authentic. He concluded by saying, “Being in media demands one to do the right things and in the right manner”.
The author, Sayani Haldar is associated with Adamas University Media School.
