Microsoft's Rich Media Rocks: Opportunities in rich media

Microsoft Advertising’s annual 'Rich Media Rocks' workshop was held in Mumbai recently. Speakers at the workshop included Microsoft's Neville Taraporewalla, Hemant Sachdev and Salil Kumar, Eyeblaster's Dean Donaldson, BBH India's Partha Sinha, Mindshare's Madan Sanglikar and Millward Brown's Bhomik Chandna.

The subject under discussion included the latest global trends and the opportunities for rich media. Hemant Sachdev, joint managing director, Microsoft Corporation - India, delivered the keynote address. He was of the view that the key to get perfect results from rich media is to keep it simple, yet innovative. He was of the view that the idea was central towards delivering rich media solutions.

Dean Donaldson, digital experience strategist, Eyeblaster spoke about the exciting and dynamic space that the digital media afforded to users today. He predicted that by 2012, about 10% of the world's billboards would become digital. He also predicted that by 2015, it would not be possible to buy any CD or DVDs, as Blu Ray Discs would have become commonplace then. Giving the He gave the example of Cadbury, which had set the standards of TV advertising in the UK for almost 10 years, and which had shifted to digital in the UK. The Cadbury Eyebrows commercial got several hits on YouTube from across the globe, in spite of it being a TVC. Hence, Donaldson pointed out, that TV content is being viewed through the digital medium, more than the originil medium itself.

Partha Sinha, managing partner, BBH India, too, presented numerous case studies. According to him, communication needs to be created for the fundamental reason of communicating the brand effectively to the consumer, and not for communication's sake. Sinha said that the communication should firstly be interesting, since no one likes a dullard. Secondly, the communication needed to be useful. The brand should concentrate on engaging the consumer in a dialogue and not a monologue. The brand experience is critical in rich media communication.

Neville Taraporewalla, director, advertiser and publisher solutions group, Microsoft India (consumer and online), discussed how the industry can look at problems that the digital marketers face and the challenges that they encounter.

Madan Sanglikar,national director - Mindshare Interaction: GroupM Media India said that for effective online communication, brands need to start work early. Beginning rich media work on a brand whose campaign is about to break in three days is not appropriate. The communication must be tested on people first, before making it the official digital campaign. He also said that brands should not be intrusive with their communication. Consumers should be given an option to choose to see and experience.

Wrapping up, Taraporewalla said, that rich media in India still has a long way to go, especially with the kind of bandwidth that is available with the country. However, he said, that is no reason to stop being innovative and come up with newer ways to engage the consumer online.