Visionaries: IAS’s Saurabh Khattar on why advertisers need to make media quality a focal point
In the first chapter of Storyboard18’s Visionaries, Saurabh Khattar, country manager for India at Integral Ad Science, spoke about the importance of smart media strategies and measurability.
In the first chapter of Storyboard18’s Visionaries that was recently held in Gurgaon, we not only felicitated the brightest minds in marketing but also tackled important points of discussion that are vital for the industry. Storyboard18’s Visionaries was an occasion to celebrate marketers who have made a deep impact through their work that has catapulted the growth of their respective companies and brands.
The event also included a discussion on the state of media quality in India by Saurabh Khattar, country manager, India, Integral Ad Science. With India’s advertising industry projected to grow at CAGR of 11 percent from 2024-2032, talking about of media quality is critical.
According to Khattar, media quality is a measure of how safe, suitable and efficient an advertising channel is. It encompasses three major factors. First, brand safety and suitability. Are brands placing their ads in a safe, suitable environment? Second, is around ad fraud. It is important for brand to understand they are placing their ads in non-fraudulent placement. Third, is to understand viewability and attention metrics. Khattar said it is important for marketers to make media quality a focal point to protect their imagery and brand equity. It will also help brands to save money or to not have no wastage spends. It’s also critical for marketers to measure the efficiency of the campaigns to get better return on investments (RoI).
With the festive season approaching, Khattar also shared recommendations for Indian advertisers who are busy planning campaigns for Diwali and New. While social media is a driving focus, within that videos and mobile ads bring in a lot of RoI for brands. Over the recent years, Khattar said they have been unprecedented growth through these media using festive season. Therefore, he suggested that marketers should have a different strategies for these each of these channels.
He also recommended that marketers should measure and verify their campaigns and optimise it basis the data they get. He stressed on how important it is for marketers to be responsible with their media spends. Khattar highlighted that both advertisers and publishers have to come together for this task. Advertisers should also measure the carbon footprints and reduce it.
Storyboard18’s Visionaries night opened with a powerful keynote speech by Suresh Narayanan chairman and managing director of Nestle India.
The evening also included stimulating panel discussions on key topics. One of them, mediated by Storyboard18’s Delshad Irani included prominent names such as Kulmeet Bawa, president and MD, SAP India; Aseem Kaushik, MD, L’Oreal India; Prativa Mohapatra, VP and MD, Adobe India; Sukhleen Aneja, CEO, Good Glamm Group; Madhav Sheth, CEO, HTECH; and Devendra Chawla, CEO, GreenCell Mobility. The panel shared insights on a rather interesting topic—the relationship between CEOs and their CMOs and if CMOs can be CEOs.
For more on Storyboard18 Visionaries click here.
