Is India a sweet spot for growth?
Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) and 11 other
emerging economies are growth engines for the $14-billion marketing and
advertising global network, WPP, according to Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive
officer, WPP. New digital and consumer insights would also help, he said.
"Our
clients want to expand to new markets and digital and consumer insights are key
to this growth," Sorrel said at a press conference in Mumbai today. The
growing importance of technology and digital media would see creative agencies
move towards application of technology, which would mean a change in the type
of people the network hired, he said.
"The
profile of people at advertising agencies will change as we increase hiring of
software engineers who would be able to apply technology to different
media," said Sorrell, explaining that even in television there was the
digital television platform where it was possible now to pinpoint the profile
target audience, his preferences as well as viewing habits.
"In
India, digital accounts for 10-15 per cent of the region's $400-million
revenue," said Sorrell, explaining that the internet penetration in the
country was still low. However, he was optimistic about the increasing use of
internet on mobiles as the next opportunity for growth was here.
Sectors
that were early adopters of the online medium included telecommunications and
technology as these were more attuned, followed by media and entertainment,
travel and leisure and automobiles, he said.
"On
an average, companies spend close to 10-12 per cent of their overall media
spends on the digital medium. However, fast moving consumer goods companies are
the most conservative with their spends limited to 5-7 per cent," said
Sorrell, while stressing the fact that online spends of the companies were
disproportionate to the amount of time people spent online.
"On
an average, people spend close to 20 per cent of their time online and this
reflects the under-usage of the digital medium," he said.
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