TVF CEO Vijay Koshy unveils the code to grab the attention of the new generation. He firmly believes that the key principle is to be willing to unlearn what you did successfully for the last 10-20 years.

“A lot of senior advertising and marketing professionals have spent years in the traditional way of doing things. But things are moving at such a rapid pace,” he told ETBrandEquity.

“What got us here will not take us there,” he said, quoting a line from one of TVF’s new shows.

Koshy believes that the future in the world of content belongs to those who are willing to unlearn and seek out new ways to navigate clearly. “That is very, very important. Also, be authentic with your consumer and your brand journey. Customers have so many new ways of figuring out brand chatter using online reviews, a lot of other social media, discussions, etc.. “So brands can get called out, whether it’s their communication, or whatever else,” he said.

Kantara and its success formula

Koshy cites a classic example from the movie industry. Take the example of one of the recent blockbusters, Kantara. The film’s director was very clear that this is a story best delivered in Tulu, a dialect spoken primarily in Karnataka. “I think 70 per cent of Karnataka itself couldn’t understand the language. I watched the movie in a single screen theater in Karnataka and it had subtitles,” said Koshy.

The director of Kantara was very clear that this is how it is going to be done. “I think the rawness of the story worked and the film caught on like wildfire. I mean, they don’t have the marketing budget that any of the big Bollywood movies have. But it was word of mouth. Be judicious, be careful, but be authentic,” said Koshy.

Koshy said that brands should not get into the space of branded content, if they are looking for simple solutions. The days are over when you could call your creative agency and they give you 10 ideas and you will use either. Or when your media agency gives you templates and your contribution is the approval of a certain media plan. “This takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. And, a risk appetite,” he stated, talking about the world of branded content.

Koshy surmised, “Once you decide that you want to get on this journey, there’s a lot of effort you have to make to shortlist and evaluate a partner.” He clarified that he’s speaking from the perspective of a large content creator, not from the influencer space.

“Once you’ve shortlisted somebody, then you explain to them what the brand problem is, what the brand requirements are and give brand guidelines largely. And then stay out of it. Trust them and don’t try to micromanage,” he advises.

“If you have a dog, don’t bark yourself. So you stay out of it. This only happens when the brand manager and the marketing manager are supremely confident about where they are, where they want to go and what is the kind of help they need,” he said.

Touch factor is often ignored by most middle of the road brands. But if they can pay attention to touch factor, during purchase and during usage, they may be able to touch the consumers a little more than they have in the past. FMCG companies also pay reasonable attention to the touch factor.

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