Ultimate future is death, digital is the present

It began with banner ads, went onto interactive ads, applications and then the entire wave of search and social networking swamped the digital marketing space.

We heard agencies convince marketers on why they should go digital and marketers defending their standpoint based on their apprehensions. One of the most frequently stated reasons for an evasive tendency like this was “My boss is not online!”

While this is a valid reason and must have hold true for a while Sane, who is chief digital officer of Starcom for North and South Asia, says it isn’t the case any longer. In his presentation Sane said: “The top management is fully digitized, for the simple fact that your 45 plus year old boss has teenage kids who are online and to connect with them, they have to keep up with the latest trends in the online space.”

With ample of evidence of digital’s prowess and success, marketers cannot escape the reality and Sane adds that no longer can we say the digital is the future, it’s now and it is the present.

“The ultimate future is death, nothing else,” he says.

Drawing a parallel with a rear view approach, Sane said this attitude of marketers makes them see competition at much greater distance than it actually is. “The need therefore is to realise the difference between interruption and interaction. We have only scratched the surface in terms of leveraging on digital,” he says.