Kochi: The first panel discussion of Techspectations 2018, the second edition of the digital summit organised by Manorama Online in association with Geojit, turned out to be a stunning session on 'analytics and data', two keywords that are being discussed and debated world over by marketeers and consumers.
Ramanujam Pobbisetty, enterprise sales director, India, comScore; Ruhbir Singh, Head of Partnerships & Enterprise Measurement Solutions, Google Marketing Platform, India; and Rahul Vengalil, founder and CEO of What Clicks attended the session.
Pobbisetty, Singh and Vengalil spoke at length on the latest trends in data tracking analysis, offering vital inputs from their illustrious careers in the area. They stressed on the need to protect privacy while tracking data.
Pobbisetty, who has more than 15 years of experience across media, technology and real estate, kickstarted the discussion with a piece of advice to new-age marketeers that they have to start a discipline of measurement from Day 1.
He also made clear the need to track 2-3 things vital to a business.
Pobbisetty said his firm comScore helps validate and optimising marketing plans.
Giving the example of the US, where film producers use data to decide the release date of new films, he said comScore has also started exploring the possibilities of data analysis in the area in India.
"If you look at what kind of content consumption happens in India, entertainment and news top the chart. We are a news-hungry population. There has also been a rise in the consumption of sports recently. Financial literacy is also improving," Pobbisetty said, stressing on the need to understand where one's audience are.
He stressed the need to understand the sort of content conducive to reach one's audience.
ComSquare data is considered as an accepted currency, Pobbisetty said.
"When you want to make a media plan, comScore is a service provider marketeers rely on for real data," he said.
In his advice to data and analytics players, Singh pointed out the need to align everything around data and visualise a strategy for it.
"Collect data, analyse it and check if it's actionable," he said.
Singh, a passionate marketer and business leader with more than 10 years of experience across multiple industries, said Google Marketing Platforms simplified the process of data analysis.
"You need to understand the customer better by understanding the touchpoints better. The more and more you track the movement of the customer, make sure you track in a safe way; not too much intrusion," he said.
Vengalil gave a detailed account on the importance to understand attribution models and the need to check the secondary metrics while trying to understand data.
"Create your attribution model and understand what kind of attribution model works for you. Look at the attribution models holistically," he said.
He said frauds and fragmentation are two factors due to which wastage of online campaigns are happening. "WhatClicks helps clients identify and solve these issues," he said.
The panelists agreed it was important to identify true and reliable data from the millions of sources available.
