#AOTYAwards 2021 spills: Brandscapes Worldwide's MD on 3 aspects of great marketing

Priding itself in powering effective marketing decisions through data management, analysis and synthesis, Brandscapes Worldwide rode the acceleration of digital transformation in 2020 and led more of its clients in their digitalisation efforts. In fact, the agency's experience in understanding the eCommerce drivers and the omnichannel shopper journey has "been a big boon", Pranesh Misra, chairman and managing director, Brandscapes Worldwide, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

Although affected by the negative impact of COVID-19, the agency also strengthened its offerings throughout the course of 2020. Aside from having innovations in its data collection methodologies, Brandscapes saw a big jump in its insight mining efforts as well. It also formed a "social squad", which aims to help clients get insights on the fly from social media conversations. Brandscapes also ended the year on a high note, being shortlisted as finalists at the Agency of the Year Awards 2020, for the categories "Market research agency of the year", and "Mobile marketing agency of the year".

What are some of the expectations your clients have for your agency?

Misra: Agility is the buzz word given the tough pandemic conditions and economic realities. Most clients expect us to be agile – which roughly translates to “doing more for less”. That means to deliver better, more effective solutions than before, with lesser time and cost investment. We can understand that, since the pandemic has created pressure across businesses. That translated to a lot of innovation in the way we do business.

• We had significant innovations in data collection methodologies:  moving from face to face data collection to virtual (online, chat groups, video conferencing, etc. In face to face markets like Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand in India, we were able to successfully launch a data collection process called CAMI (computer aided mirror interviews) which replicated face to face interviewing on the digital world with a live interviewer guiding the respondent. We have delivered solutions with interviews, group discussions done in the virtual space.
  
  
• Our practice of insight mining, where we curate insights from past studies and secondary research saw a big jump.
  
  
• We made huge strides in forecasting future volumes in uncertain times, by using additional variables such as Google Mobility Index in our modeling. We were able to predict the recovery curves at a country and category level, and ended up with some very accurate predictions.

How has your clients' marketing plans shifted this year?

Misra: Clients have seen an acceleration in digital transformation. Many clients were already exploring digital space (digital communication and eCommerce) for the past few years – but this area has accelerated tremendously – as is to be expected in these times. Our experience in understanding the eCommerce drivers and the omnichannel shopper journey has been a big boon, as we have a lead in supporting clients in this space.

What are some of the trends you see carrying on post-pandemic, and how are you readying your workforce to be ready with these trends?

Misra: One trend that will carry on is working from home: Being a globally-connected company, we had a head start in managing projects virtually. However, the pandemic triggered work-from-home scenario forced us to test many of our assumptions. With the entire organisation working offsite for nearly a year, we are now confident that productivity is not adversely affected in the virtual work environment. When life gets back to normal, we will probably be more flexible in terms work place and work timing. The focus would be on productivity, rather than hours at work.

Another trend I see carrying on is "everything to do with digital". We will see a lot of opportunities here. Apart from the usual ones, we are seeing a big impetus on social media analytics. We have formed a "social squad", which helps clients get insights on the fly from social media conversations. Some of the products we are working on could replace traditional research methodologies in future.

What do you think makes for great marketing these days?

Misra: There are three aspects I think makes for great marketing: purpose-led marketing, coping with ad-free world, and virtual selling.

• Purpose-led marketing: The pandemic has forced consumers to move from being totally materialistic to being concerned about meaning of life. So, brands that sincerely build an purpose-led proposition will be the winners in the future. Over the years brand positioning had moved from product (functional USP) to proposition (benefits that the brand offers) to personality (associative image that the brand has). Now in the post-pandemic era this will move to purpose – that’s going to be the big differentiator.
  
  
• Coping with ad-free world: Lot of the consumers are moving to ad-free OTT channels such as Netflix and Prime. Marketing managers have to think beyond the 30-second TVC to be able to communicate with audiences effectively. Digital media works in trickles and it will be difficult to make the same quantum of impact we could make with a high decibel TV or print campaign. Good marketing would need to discover the keys that will unlock powerful digital communication.
  
  
• Virtual selling: All brands and categories will need to have a direct-to-consumer digital channel. Physical shops will continue, but digital commerce, social commerce will become more profitable. Shoppers who were forced to try out digital commerce channels during the pandemic have pleasantly discovered the power of these channels. This includes discovering how they don’t have to plan a “shopping trip”, or how they can wake up in the middle of the night and order the next morning’s breakfast. These pleasant discoveries will lead to long-term behavior changes.

How are you planning for 2021?

Misra: Our single point agenda during this year was to avoid downsizing, despite the pandemic. We did a lot of belt tightening, as business slowed down – including salary cuts, salary freezes, hiring freezes, cutting down discretionary expenses and so on. The one thing we did not do was to get rid of people. Our people are our most important assets. We are hopeful that this decision will help us come out of this crisis with a stronger team.

We will invest in exploring new, innovative technology led areas in generating consumer insights. We have already started investing in social squad. We are working on solutions that will help us understand the nonconscious minds of consumers better, as we know that 93% of shopping decision is made by the nonconscious mind. Neuroscience and implicit observation solutions would come center stage next year.