Welcome to the live blog coverage of the 8th edition of #SMLive, Social Samosa’s premier event, as we bring together industry thought leaders and enthusiasts from the A&M industry for a day of insightful discussions, trend analysis, and more.
Today’s virtual event promises to be an exciting journey through the ever-evolving digital landscape, with expert sessions on brand building, the battle between long-form and short-form video formats, the creator economy, and much more.
Tune in live to the session here, or catch the action on Social Samosa’s YouTube, X, and LinkedIn channels. Get ready to dive into the latest industry trends and takeaways, and let’s make this a day to remember.
2:40 PM – We’re live! Tune in to Social Samosa’s #SMLive for a day of industry insights and expert discussions.
2:41 PM – Karuna Sharma, Head of Content at Social Samosa and the event’s emcee, welcomes viewers and industry experts to the 8th edition of SMLive.
2:43 PM – Karuna Sharma welcomes Hitesh Rajwani, CEO, of Social Samosa Network and Saugato Bhowmik, Director, CPG D2C Auto at Meta for the first fireside chat on Building an iconic brand In the Age of Digital.
2:47 pm – The principles of building brands have not changed, what’s changed is the consumer and their habits. The most fundamental habit today in our lives is scrolling all day – Saugato Bhowmik.
2:49 PM – The average number of reels an Indian scrolls every single day is at a high double-digit. We still need to be salient, meaningful and differentiated – Saugato Bhowmik.
2:53 PM – We are natively and innately discovering when we are browsing the internet – Saugato Bhowmik.
2:54 PM – The rules of media, creativity and measurement are changing – Saugato Bhowmik.
2:57 PM – Digital ad revenues are growing upwards to 15 to 20% – Saugato Bhowmik.
3:22 PM – A workshop on ‘The Strategy Lie: The ONLY 4 questions your social strat should answer’ by Viren Sean Noronha, Co-Founder, The New Thing.
3:24 PM – Strategy as we know is dead – Viren Sean Noronha.
3:29 PM – Social Strategy is Pretentious; what it needs to be is Simple – Viren Sean Noronha.
3:34 PM – If it sounds too simple, it’s probably the right thing to do. Focus on one thing at a time. It’s about what people are saying about your brand on social. Not every part of your brand needs to be on social – Viren Sean Noronha.
3:52 PM – The first-panel discussion for the day on ‘Long Story Short: What kind of Content works on Social Media’, moderated by Mrinil Mathur Rajwani, Founder and Editor of Social Ketchup and Managing Editor Social Samosa Network with panellists:
- Ayush Shukla, Founder, Finnet Media
- Preeti Oza, Senior Vice President, Content and Strategic Partnerships, FCB Group
- Priyanka J Pimpale, Deputy Manager, Marketing, Tim Hortons India
- Sandeep Balan, Founding Team Member & Partner – Branded Content, Spring Marketing Capital
3:55 PM – Every brand should chase social with an objective, not just create content because you want to be present – Preeti Oza.
3:58 PM – You should look at creating content that you feel will resonate deeply with the audience – Sandeep Balan.
4:00 PM – Before you start the campaign, lock down the KPI right at the beginning. Once the campaign begins, we can decide what brings in more value – Priyanka J Pimpale
4:03 PM – Yes, KPIs are important, but identifying your consumer is more crucial – Preeti Oza.
4:06 PM – When it becomes more about the brand and less about the consumer, the content becomes problematic – Sandeep Balan.
4:13 PM – You need to sell your product without selling your product – Ayush Shukla.
4:16 PM – It’s important for brands to realise it’s not just them creating content, you need to collaborate with the right set of influencers. Yes, the creation of content is important, but collaboration is equally important – Preeti Oza.
4:26 PM – A common link between viral content/sleeper hits is it is something the consumer really connects with, whether the brand is present or not – Priyanka J Pimpale.
4:32 PM – The next panel discussion is on ‘How to build a Social First Brand in 2025’ moderated by Hitesh Rajwani with panellists:
4:35 PM – The current landscape has changed but in terms of strategy, the core values still stay the same – Aditi Mathur Kumar.
4:40 PM – When we were putting out content, when we went deep into the insights that people were searching for, it was different from what we were doing as a brand – Shitiz Dogra.
4:42 PM – In today’s social-first era, brands are unhinged. While this approach can generate buzz, in the long term, this can blur the lines. Brands have to strike a balance between authenticity and strategic visibility. Define your core identity and what your brand’s core values and mission are. Do moment marketing as long as it defines who you are at the core – Paloma Sharma
4:48 PM – In recent times, it’s more about customers and as a brand, it is more important where the users are – Sandesh Gupta.
4:52 PM – Today, anyone can be an influencer, they just need to find the right kind of user – Sandesh Gupta.
4:57 PM – You might have different KPIs at different points in time. It depends on how you are defining your metrics at a certain stage – Shitiz Dogra
5:00 PM – Engagement depends on category and brand and how you strategise your brand and what you want from social. It’s important for brands to know what they want from social media and if it is achievable – Aditi Mathur Kumar.
5:02 PM – What you chase on social is dictated by what your brand is chasing in the long term – Paloma Sharma.
5:03 PM – Start tracking if your brand searches are increasing. It’s a good metric to see if your content is working – Sandesh Gupta.
5:19 PM – A workshop on ‘How to make your Brand Pop on Social in 2025’ by Saksham Jadon, Founder & CEO, Youngun.
5:28 PM – Social media is filled with content, today social media is about intraday trading (within the day). It’s a strategy that should be used for influencer marketing, at least a part of their strategy should be – Saksham Jadon.
5:32 PM – There isn’t a bigger sentiment than human touch – Saksham Jadon.
5:33 PM – Personal branding is the most authentic way to proceed and founders/ founding members of smaller brands should be hands-on with personal branding – Saksham Jadon.
5:37 PM – Social media’s only purpose is to bring visibility – Saksham Jadon.
5:43 PM – The last panel for the day is titled ‘The state of Creator Economy in 2024′, moderated by Mrinil Mathur Rajwani with panellists:
- Mayur Jumani, Content Creator
- Prableen Kaur Bhomrah, Content Creator
- Riya Jain, Content Creator
5:47 PM – Thanks to Instagram, today, we can see more and more talented creators around the globe – Riya Jain.
5:52 PM – In terms of the ad space and brand building, creators as ‘brands’ are not recession-proof at all. We need to keep evolving and staying relevant – Mayur Jumani.
5:54 PM – If there is a recession, creators will make 10X money out of it by solely making content about ‘recession’ – Prableenm Kaur Bhomrah.
6:00 PM – What I cater to the audience on YouTube is different than what I cater to on Instagram. Users on YouTube want relatable and candid content while users on Instagram want aesthetics – Prableen Kaur Bhomrah.
6:02 PM – People are engrossed on YouTube. Short-form and long-form content go hand in hand. Long format helps you turn content consumers into fans and ultimately that’s what matters – Mayur Jumani
6:05 PM – To stay ahead of the curve I study my audience and what they love and do not, it’s the first factor in engaging with them – Riya Jain.
6:09 PM – It’s also about letting the audience know that you are reinventing and upgrading yourself – Mayur Jumani.
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