By Our Staff

Criteo released its ‘Covid-19 Impact on Marketing’ report which surveyed senior marketers in India including CMOs and Heads of digital marketing. The report highlights the impact of Covid-19 on consumer buying behaviour and that it has led to more online sales and rapid digital transformation. The survey findings reveal the implications of Covid-19 for businesses, their priorities, challenges and digital marketing spend.

Criteo surveyed 1,000 senior marketing executives globally, including 105 in India, to learn more about their plans for 2021.

Said Taranjeet Singh, Managing Director of South East Asia and India, Criteo: “Our Survey focuses on marketing as the remote control to the success ladder for any business, especially during Covid-19. Digital transformation will continue to be a focus in 2021, as companies realise that we may never go back to ‘business as normal.’ By staying on the top of new trends, analysing the market insights, and understanding the growing customer demands and changes in behaviour, marketers can develop a successful marketing campaign for moving ahead in the future. Agility in all facets of business, especially marketing, will be a key to success.”

In terms of digital marketing spend and re-allocation budgets, nearly all marketers in India have made changes to their strategy due to the pandemic. According to the survey it can be observed that Covid-19 resulted in more marketing spend across digital channels which will continue in the years ahead. 58% of marketers in India say their digital campaigns are too dependent on walled gardens. Digital marketing budgets have increased, but brand safety, and high dependency on Facebook, Google, and Amazon are big concerns (50%). Nearly half of the marketers in India say that their marketing budget commitments and new product/service launches are going ahead as planned. Events and outdoor marketing campaigns have been more negatively impacted.

As a way forward, the survey highlights 51% of marketers say their budget for advertising on publisher websites and apps is likely to increase in 2021. Here, customer retention and expanding into new offerings are top objectives moving forward. Marketers in India confirm that digitalisation of business operations is their top priority (70%).