[Video Interview] Harshil Karia on Indian Social Media Lagging Behind in Western Markets

Indian brands are competing ferociously to improve their brand's positioning on social media. These brands have seen a tremendous rise in their fan base, in their consumer interactions, and better profits. However, when we compare them to their western counterparts or with the western social media approach, we find them falling way behind in the race. We see that they are a lot behind when it comes to creating new ideas and executing them. There is a lot more to social media than how the Indian markets view them.

In this video interview Harshil Karia, Co-founder and Online Strategist at Foxymoron, talks about the Indian social media lagging behind in western markets.

Harshil says that western social media in comparison with Indian social media is more technologically advanced. He explains his statement by correlating it with the example of the Nike Fuel band. The brand was one of the winners at Cannes 2012. He says that it is a great example of technical advancement if we talk of integrating social media with products. Indian social media lacks this technical advancement.

The western counterparts of various Indian brands integrate big ideas with social media. They have gone beyond a basic hashtag contest, or a win an iPad contest. They are more focused on creating ideas, and marketing techniques, while tactics rank secondary for them.

According to him, the two important factors which make western social media a winner are: their emphasis on big ideas coupled with great production. He believes that Indian social media lacks in the quality of production, video production, quality of website production, and quality of application production. The Western social media industry have also started technologically integrating social media into products; an area in which Indian markets are far away.

He also replies to our question about the belief of people in considering social media as a low-cost marketing alternative.

He says that for brands today, social media is not a low cost alternative. They are ready to invest in social media and over the last 4-5 years, they have seen the results investing in it, and have begun to believe in social media.

According to him, social media has also started to believe in itself by integrating itself with a bigger picture and putting a story behind it. He believes that the future of social media is bright and the brands have finally understood its importance.