Alyque Padamsee On Internet And Mobile Advertising

Rediff has an interview with Indian advertising guru Alyque Padamsee. He says that the Internet is still not a powerful medium for advertising. Watching ads on the interent is a tedious process and isn’t “instant enough” – by the time you switch on pc and log on to a website, you could have “read at least two newspapers, watch half a dozen television commercials, or read 15 SMS-es.” Padamsee feels that an SMS is more effective – convenient and instant. “You just cannot resist checking your messages” he says.

I’d disagree with him on both counts – a click on an advertisement, or even just a search is an indication of intent or interest, which makes it more powerful. It’s a great medium for targeted, niche marketing – because it can be contextual. TV suffers from channel surfing, print and OOH from banner blindness. Padamsee may also be talking only about above-the-line advertising on the Internet, though. He does have a point when he implies that for many, the Internet isn’t “always on”. But the numbers just do not add up yet for the Internet yet, do they? Net-addiction will happen.
About mobile marketing, well I’m not sure about how keen brands should be on disappointing/irritating users with unsolicited SMS’ or calls. I find them irritating, particularly when I have to park the car on the side of the road, to find that it’s an unsolicited ad. Yes, it can be more targeted that most other media once data collection has been completed, but it would probably be better to embed ads in regular SMS’.

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