The Digital Media Conference 2010 further explored the various aspects of the digital media industry through two sessions titled Digital: The Medium and the Growth Driver for Mediums and Are the reasons to be bullish on the digital domain valid? The two sessions featured speakers like Mahesh Murthy, Srikant Sastri, Atul Hegde, Hoshie Ghaswala, Rajesh Lalwani and Rammohan Sundaram.

Digital: The Medium and the Growth Driver for Mediums

Speaking at this session, Srikant Sastri, Country Chairperson, ViVaki India, noted, “We have not been able to sway the heart of the client towards digital medium, why would they spend money on this medium? My driver, who changes his mobile phone every three months, is the future of the mobile medium. We will have to understand minute things like this. We live in a TTD (talk till death) society, thats why mobile as a medium has exploded in India. We will have to make Internet similarly attractive. Money in this medium is coming from content and not from advertising. Innovation in content is very necessary, however, advancement in technology and social media will take this medium ahead.

According to Mahesh Murthy, Founder & CEO, Pinstorm, “Digital is not just a medium, but it changes the way you run your business. There is an age problem, because senior clients watch TV and they are not much on the Internet. We really have to change the way we look at marketing. Digital media is at a very initial stage in the country, however, in future we can see more new revenue models for this domain like in the case of TV, where not only ad, but subscription money has also started coming in.

Are the reasons to be bullish in digital domain valid?

Speaking on this topic, Hoshie Ghaswala, Managing Director, Global Services & President, CyberMedia Services, noted, “At present, there is just 7 per cent Internet penetration in India, while a lot of our neighbours have got 11 per cent penetration. A country like China has got 27 per cent Internet penetration. Digital masses that we reach out to are sufficient to monetise this medium. Clients need to understand that most of the money goes to the wrong medium, which is not necessary.

Rajesh Lalwani, entrepreneur and Founder of Blogworks, pointed out, “Mobile is becoming a ubiquitous device. Social networking has been seen as a game changer in India. Today, every aspect of life is being manifested through it. Meaning of the content has totally changed, but marketers are not looking beyond the bars. Most of us are bullish about advertising revenue. I am about revenue, but not about ad.

Rammohan Sundaram, Founder, CEO & MD, NetworkPlay, observed, “There is a huge demand-supply gap. Market is underlining the value of the medium. Although it has taken 10 years to reach this height in India, in future it will not take that much time. I have no chance but to be bullish, but I am not conservative. Clients need to be educated. If you educate the client, they will spend money on digital medium too.

Atul Hegde, Co-Founder & CEO, Ignitee, noted, “We are doing nothing about the audience that we already have. In the last few years, we have seen significant changes in terms of advertisers noticing us. That is a positive sign. The fact that FMCG is a barrier is no longer true as they have started coming in. Even the advertisements of political parties can be seen on the Internet. I believe more and more advertisers will associate with the digital domain.