Q&A with Mogae Digital's Sandeep Goyal

Former Dentsu India chairman Sandeep Goyal, who now runs mobile ad agency Mogae Digital, tells BUSINESS TODAY his firm not just creates mobile ad campaigns but also develops customer relationship management tools. Excerpts:

BT: What are the challenges and opportunities mobile media has created for you?

Goyal: The challenges of creativity have multiplied by the arrival of technology. The joy has also multiplied, as technology allows you to do things far more creatively.

BT: How are you using mobile media to reach out to the target audience?

Goyal: We are working with a dozen clients on developing CRM models, loyalty models, retention models. Traditional advertising agencies have never functioned like this.

BT: What are the challenges?

Goyal: The screens are different. It took art directors a long time to understand TV. When you watched a movie on a 70 mm screen, you looked for expanse. The moment TV happened, the screen size got reduced. Art directors had to learn the importance of close-up - from shooting expanse to shooting close-up. So, the importance of dialogue. I just can't see your face, you also need to speak to get the show going. It required a lot of relearning of basic creative concepts. With mobile, one has to yet again relearn storytelling. Twitter is already teaching you rewriting.

BT: What is the big change that will happen in the world of brand communication?

Goyal: Soon mobiles will start talking to TV screens and there will be a metamorphosis. If an ad says there is a 50 per cent discount on a product on Wednesdays, then as a customer, I will ask the brand for a discount coupon.