Integrated marketing comes to the fore

Cannes is just incredibly beautiful and the weather is great – at least for foreigners. For Indians, it’s a bit hot, but that’s all right as nothing can beat the excitement of being at the world’s largest advertising show.

What adds to the thrill is that the India story is still very vibrant, with almost every jury panel having one Indian on it. That said, one obviously can't deny that this is one of the worst years for the global advertising industry on account of the financial slump and reduced advertising and marketing budgets of companies.

So the mood may be a bit damp, but it’s good to see that the spirit of Indians is high. The conversations revolve around the recession and the changed stance of clients who have become more demanding, but everyone here is willing to learn and share his experiences.

 

That’s the beauty of Cannes, where the focus is on how to deal with the changing dynamics and getting more bang for the buck.

With reduced advertising spends, the number of entries sent by advertising agencies for awards this year has also gone down. The view is that this drop in entries is because the quantum of work done during the year was much less than in 2008.

Another view is that the agencies are being cost-conscious and have sent in fewer entries. However, a few agencies have actually increased the number of entries that they have sent to the festival this year, as they feel that they have a better chance of winning due to the drop in the overall number of entries.

So far, only the jury members are here — in all about 200-250 of us. India's presence is quite noticeable, with 11 jury members. And with Indian work winning awards consistently over the last few years, Indian agencies have not cut back in sending in their entries, though I am told the number of delegates may be less. There is a good mix of Indian work that is being showcased out here. One trend that is coming to the fore this year is the blurring of lines between the different disciplines of advertising, like television, internet, radio, print and outdoors.

Integrated marketing is becoming the norm globally. This can be seen with an individual campaign having multiple entries across mediums. Additionally, even the jury boards have a mix of experts from diverse fields judging the work.

Campaigns globally are being integrated across three to five mediums at large. Currently, in India the budgets and campaigns are dominated by the mass medium. However, with mobile and internet penetration increasing in India, I foresee integrated marketing taking off in India as well in the next three to five years.

(The author is in Cannes as a jury member for the Promo Lions category)