At a recent marketing summit organised by the Economic Times and Mindshare, experts discussed the growing importance of new strategies to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the emergence of new media.

What is important for us to understand here is that with technology penetrating consumer space and two-way communication easier than ever before, the need of the hour is to finally recognise every consumer as an individual and not just another sales figure.

The consumer now has the option of not just voicing his/her opinion on a social platform---for example a Twitter, Facebook or Buzz---but also has the power to make or break brands. Recommendations from a fellow consumer are a hundred times more powerful than an advertising campaign. It is, thus, no surprise to see brands/companies using such platforms for their campaigns.

So how can a brand attract, preserve and enhance consumer attention in this fast moving world? The best and the only thing to do is to give them what they need, i.e., variation and customisation. Changing the design, modifying the product or giving them the power to pick up something unique makes them feel involved with the brand and enhances consumer loyalty.

Chetan Bhagat, the famous writer and a panellist at the summit, mentioned how "being awesome and fresh" all the time is the need of the hour. If it was difficult to create demand earlier, now there is a constant challenge to give the consumer a total brand experience. Today, consumers want the brand to relate to them at every level; they want a "wow" moment with every purchase. Again, with the limited attention span of this generation, the task gets more challenging. Innovation and communication will be the keywords in this new decade.

- Soumi Das