‘Digital advertising has its own share of issues’

As questions over brand safety and effectiveness of ads on digital platforms loom, buying a guaranteed ad placement inside ‘safe’ content now comes at a premium. Harsh Mariwala, Chairman, Marico, insists brands are fighting an uphill battle to earn the trust, and business, of today’s consumer.

Noting that transparency and trust have taken the centerstage across boardrooms, the executive said it is integral for advertisers and marketers to improve both their results and confidence in advertising.

Speaking to BusinessLine on the sidelines of The Indian Society of Advertisers’ CEO Conference in Mumbai, Mariwala said, “Digital is an emergent space. However, digital advertising has its fair share of issues around a few areas: brand safety, view-ability etc.”

Ruing the “opacity in terms of adtech cost models,” he said another major bugbear that corporates have to contend with was getting “the right talent to manage a Harsh Mariwala, Chairman, Marico

specialised and fragmented space, compared to mass media which we were otherwise used to.”

Adtech or advertising technology refers to different types of analytics and digital tools used in advertising.

Social media and digital advertising have given consumers an unprecedented access to brands, emboldening them to hold brands accountable in real-time, Mariwala added that consumers continue to look for transparency in a hyper-connected, hyper-complicated world, given the plethora of data breaches and privacy concerns.