ShareChat and Moj’s Head of Emerging Business, Gaurav Jain, kickstarted the event with an enlightening keynote address. He spoke about the vast extent and reach of ShareChat and Moj, providing marketers with a glimpse into ShareChat and Moj’s high-impact ad solutions. Gaurav brought forth the prominence of the Indic language in marketing and presented compelling data points such as - “Indic language audience (Bharat) in our country is nearly 10X of English audience (India)” and more. He underscored the immense opportunities that lie in reaching out to the multitudes of users across diverse linguistic backgrounds.
After the keynote address, the stage was graced by the esteemed guest speaker, Vikas Chawla, the Co-Founder & Director of Social Beat. In his informative talk on 'Digital Consumption in India,' Vikas skillfully offered invaluable insights to marketers on understanding India’s digital landscape and the consumer behavioral patterns of Indian consumers. He emphasized the tremendous growth of Tier 2 cities and beyond as potential markets, urging marketers to recognize and tap into the immense potential that lies in these regions. He also advised marketers to leverage Indian-made platforms like ShareChat and Moj, which have demonstrated a remarkable understanding of this dynamic user base.
The first panel discussion of the evening focused on , 'Creator, Content & Campaigns: Embracing Cultural Diversity and Language-First Approach to Drive Brand Strategies.' This discourse was chaired by Seema Walia, Director of Scaled Business, ShareChat & Moj. The panel consisted of esteemed business leaders renowned for their profound acumen in the industry. Among them were Atul Pujar, Head of Marketing, ITC; Neeraj Moorjani, Partner & CEO, Bleap; Rithesh R, Co-Founder, Deepsense Digital; and Vinodh Ramakannan, Founder & CEO, Spinta Digital.
During the panel discussion,Atul Pujar emphasized that when it comes to advertising “we can’t go with a one size fits all approach and that’s why this entire perspective of reaching consumers in the language they understand is very crucial.” The discourse brought to light many more such interesting insights.
Rahul Srivastava, Director of Mid Market & Government at ShareChat & Moj, skillfully moderated the subsequent panel discussion. The esteemed panelists, including Arjun Dhananjayan, Founder & CEO of 88GB; Bala Manian, Director of OPN Advertising; Hari Hara Sudhan Sridhar, Head of Marketing Communication at Nippon Paints India Pvt Ltd; and Surej Salim, COO of Digitally Inspired Media, shared their expertise on 'Beyond Translation: The Roadmap to Captivating Bharat and Young India through Culture, Language & Short Form Video.'
During the discussion, Hari shared an interesting perspective, highlighting the significance of delving into regional cultural nuances. He emphasised that when brands and agencies actively engage with local audiences to grasp these nuances, remarkable outcomes can unfold. Drawing from his own experiences during work travels in the northern parts of Karnataka, Hari elaborated on how this approach led to the initiation of a compelling campaign by Nippon Paints. The campaign ingeniously tapped into the behaviour of locals who frequented stand-up comedy nights quintessential to the region on weekends. Hari candidly admitted, "This nuance I wouldn’t have grasped if I were sitting behind a laptop, asking somebody what works in Karnataka". Each panelist enriched the discussion with their extensive experience and an in-depth understanding of the industry.
City Connects Chennai was a huge success, leaving marketers and advertisers with a wealth of knowledge and vast networking opportunities. The event offered enlightening insights on capturing the audiences of Bharat and young India, empowering industry professionals with renewed acumen to approach this ever-evolving user base.
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