PepsiCo spends 15%-20% of its marketing spend on digital: D Shivakumar

Emphasising on the importance of the digital medium, D Shivakumar, Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo India, said that 15% to 20% of all marketing spends of PepsiCo were on digital. He said that Rs 35 lakh per month should be the bare minimum digital spend by a Pepsi brand. He was speaking at the inaugural session of the 12th Marketing Conclave, organised by the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in Mumbai.
 

Explaining the efficacy of the digital medium, he said that if the marketing budget of a brand for the year was about Rs 0 crore then, one should spend Rs 35 lakh every month on digital, which is about Rs 5 crore for the year. He explained that if one wanted reach and result, then digital would give them the same. He said there was no need to waste time on television, print and other mediums.
 

Reiterating the importance of mobile, Shivkumar said that mobile was the most effective medium. “In a nation of 1.2 billion people, millions of people have smart phones and a lot of them have internet. Over 50 per cent of search, shopping, travel and YouTube streaming happens on mobile. Not only that, e-commerce has seen the rise of categories which never could have reached the consumers without the online platform. Luxury brands, vegetables, innovators and a lot of categories today reach the consumer through online. Advising the marketers to understand the pulse of the consumers, Shivkumar said' “Today the consumer is King, Queen and has a voice.”
 

In his opening remarks, Tushar Vyas, Managing Partner, South Asia of GroupM, spoke about the importance of programmatic and big data. In this new age digital India, he said that data analytics and big data will play an important role. Not only that programmatic will also play a key role in analysing consumer behavior, he added.

 

Prashant Peres, Director, Marketing (Chocolates), Mondelez India in a session with Tushar Vyas said that marketing had changed over the last decade, or rather more in the last five years. Many brands have gone digital and internet is growing with mobile penetration. He said “Digital is the most convenient mode of anytime shopping. We are way ahead of China and the US in terms of shopping.”
 

Pallavi Chopra, Head of Marketing at redBus.in, wondered, "Why are we still calling it 'Digital Marketing'? Aren't we heading to a place where all marketing will be digital marketing? And marketers who recognize this will win." She said that it was about time for marketers to understand the importance of the medium and stay ahead of the curve.
 

Participating on a discussion, on ‘Mobile: Is It The Minor Screen or The Major Screen?’, Dhruv Chopra, Chief Marketing Officer, Carwale said: "Mobile came in and changed all the rules while many businesses were still coming to grips with the impact of the desktop web. Today any business that wants to have a web presence needs to ensure that they have a robust mobile presence first and foremost. And if current trends continue, we will soon be headed into a mobile-only world!"  Prakash Sikaria, Sales Head - Flipkart Ads said: “Mobile is the most personal medium available to marketers, key to unlock it is deliver contextual personalised experiences.”
 

Participating in a panel discussion on ‘Programmatic Marketing – Make the Best out of it!’, Manish Kalra, Chief  Business Officer, Craftsvilla.com said: “Programatic marketing is the next phase of online marketing which is enabling marketers to take data driven decisions through machine learning while they can continue on understanding their consumers better.”
 

Sourabh Gupta, Engagement Manager at Tata Strategic Management Group, said, “We believe that Digital marketing is at key inflection point where the growth in digital expenditure has already outpaced all other forms marketing spend. The next round of growth in digital marketing is expected to be driven by newer digital avenues such as 360 degree videos & wearable, real time customizable campaigns and ability to engage current customers with relevant activities. It is quintessentially changing the role of various stakeholders, creating need for newer capabilities and strategies. It would be very interesting to see what the industry looks like in next 3-4 years.”
 

The two-day event mega event is attended by industry representatives from the across the country.