DMAi Convention 2013: ‘Different channels do different things for the consumer’

On day one of the DMAi Convention in Mumbai (4 and 5 June), the key learning of being ‘increasingly mode-less’ with respect to reaching out to consumers was in the spotlight. This is rooted in the fact that the consumer is becoming increasingly channel-agnostic, explained Abhay Johorey, head – Airtel Online, Bharti Airtel Limited.

He said, “In a data-driven enterprise, four sets of data are hitting marketers at all times: Clickstream data, APM (application performance management) data, franchise data and financial data. And the four data streams need to work together.”

Johorey underlined how different channels need to come together to deliver a data-driven user experience.

“Customers continue to adopt a whole range of channels; online is one of them. And different channels do different things to the consumer. Not all channels, for example, entertain – but there are some like a mobile app that do. Channels have to be leveraged in terms of how they fit into the user ecosystem,” explained the Airtel Online head.

Concurring with other speakers at the DMAi Convention, Johori said there was no dearth of data, and highlighted the need to converge data from multiple streams to arrive at meaningful insights and engagement. It is imperative to add value to the consumer’s experience through the engagement, he stressed.

“Consumers do not distinguish between online and other distribution channels. If we say that an online channel is standalone and divorced from other channels, we’re making a huge mistake. Being data-driven is not just about analytics,” surmised Johori.

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