A super-connected consumer journey is all set to begin...
Craig Greenfield, who has been a part of Performics since 2005, leads global technology and innovation in the company, which is the performance marketing specialist in the Publicis Groupe. A part of his job is to work in tandem with the Performics Worldwide leadership, client teams and external partners and to help clients identify and capture new business opportunities, negotiate strategic partnerships and enhance operational efficiency. Talking to IMPACT about India’s digital future, he says that the future looks good and will be led by mobile. “Both India and China are now among the Top 10 markets in the Performics global network, which was not the case two years ago. So, their growth is clear and due to size and opportunity, this growth will become even stronger,” explains Greenfield. He predicts that the opportunity around e-commerce, especially on mobile in these markets, would play a key role in Performics’ global growth. “The interesting part is that the whole behaviour on mobile is moving to ‘I want it and I want it now’ which is reflected in search behaviour too. With this phenomenon; and increase in online purchases, everyone from telecom companies to start-ups to banks is looking to get a strong foothold in the mobile wallets and payment gateways space. The mobile eco-system is moving out of nascence.” On trends that would revolutionize the market in 2016, Greenfield says that the next decade will see the rise of new multi-billion dollar industries that will have the potential to change communication and commerce. “The omnipresence of m-commerce will help shape 2016 in our opinion... 2016 will see the Internet of Things, smart homes, virtual reality, connected vehicles, and meaningful wearables become very real consumer offerings. We’ll see the rise of a superconnected consumer journey—your tablet, phone, watch/band, TV, smart home, fridge, car will all connect and interface with each other,” he adds. Meanwhile, Performics, that has a presence in more than 40 countries, plans to stay focused on corporate development through acquisitions, new offices and strategic alliances across countries. “We support projects in 50 global offices with various models depending on business need (central, local, and hybrid). About 20% of clients run multinational campaigns. Our practice is built upon capturing and converting consumer intent. Our strength is understanding intent at each decision point to deliver relevant experiences that drive performance,” says Greenfield. Recently, the company opened a digital media technology unit in Bangalore to help clients make informed decisions on the choice of media technology and to work on implementing them to drive maximum ROI on their investments. Elaborating on how it is faring, Tanmay Mohanty, Managing Director of Performics and Resultrix in India, says, “We opened the unit with the assumption that for digital to really reach its potential as a channel, data needs to be unified to give clients a single view of the customers and to help them make informed marketing decisions. While there are a lot of technologies out there which help bridge the gap, almost no one in the market knows how to set it up right. As a result, clients invest in a lot of expensive products that are never really used to derive their potential. We, as their partners, need to help them leverage these new age solutions. So we partnered with Adobe to fuel our Media Tech division which will help clients make the right choice of technologies that meet their need.” Talking about the company’s plans, especially with regard to India as a market, Greenfield says, “In India, client acquisitions are our main focus. Driven by cheaper handsets and the spread of wireless data networks, the number of Internet users is expected to go up significantly in India. Mobile marketing today is more alive in the East, than in the West, with India being a case in point. India has just reached the 1 billion mobile users mark. We are examining investment opportunities in technology-driven olutions to drive the growth story here.” BY SAMARPITA BANERJEE
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