Synergy between Internet Technology and Traditional Media: A Perspective on Indian Marketers

There has been limited research in the Indian Internet advertising space and this paper explores the media preferences of Indian marketers highlighting their attitude towards the new medium. Since Internet penetration is rising in India, the research also identifies whether advertisers prefer a synergy between the traditional mediums and Internet Technology for their advertising campaigns. The paper is based on empirical research conducted amongst 69 Indian marketers/ advertisers belonging to New Delhi and Mumbai (India) and 50 Indian advertising/ online agency professionals. Advertisers have been chosen from industry verticals including Banking and Financial Institutions, Automobile, Fast Moving Consumer Durables (FMCG) and Telecom because they include the top advertising spenders in India (KPMG and FICCI, 2010). Views from advertising agency professionals, published in trade magazines, are considered to further substantiate the research findings through industry inputs. Based on some unique strengths of Internet advertising , Indian marketers respond positively towards including Internet in the media mix and believe in drawing synergy between Internet and traditional mediums. However they are still apprehensive about the efficacy of the medium. Indian advertising agency professionals consider it important to include Internet in the media mix, however they do not push the medium aggressively. The study identifies that Indian marketers and advertisers prefer to use Internet Technology and web advertising, in a campaign\'s media mix only when the campaign is also run on traditional mediums. In seclusion, the medium is not the preferred choice for advertising. The paper pinpoints the reasons for the slow acceptability of Internet advertising amongst Indian marketers and suggests learning of advertising agency professionals to leverage maximum benefit out this interactive medium. The paper also offers insight to academicians who wish to explore the changing dimensions in communication managemen