With the consumer’s preferences shifting from print and television to online platforms, the way companies are advertising their products are changing as well. If once newspapers, magazines and billboards were the go to platforms for ad makers, today the industry is engrossed with how to make their content viral on the web. Larger markets in South Asia—India, Bangladesh and Pakistan—are already making this crucial jump across the digital divide, and according to Ujaya Shakya and Shiva Shrestha, two organisers of the upcoming Brand Van Communication workshop, it is only a matter of time before Nepal makes that definite leap as well.

Organised jointly by the Nepal Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS) and the Advertising Agents Association of Nepal (AAN) in association with The Kathmandu Post, Brand Van Communication, will be a two-day workshop (February 9-10) that will see Syed Apon Ahsan, the Chief Belief Officer of Expressions Limited (Bangladesh) field answers to all issues regarding brand, marketing and advertising. With that in mind, The Post’s Alisha Sijapati caught up with organisers Shakya and Shrestha to talk about why the workshop will be a great boost for the Nepali ad industry and about their views of the current landscape of the industry. Excerpts:

What is your take on the current state of the advertising industry in Nepal? How does it compare with Bangladesh, the native country of the facilitator for the workshop, Syed Apon Ahsan?

Ujaya Shakya: The advertisement industry is a growing industry. The Nepali ad industry today boasts an investment of 600 crores. Advertisement is not only about expenses, it has become more of an investment now. We need a lot of young professionals to get into this sector because advertising is all about sharing ideas and always being creative, a trait that is strongest in the younger generation. This is an attractive industry and the situation of the advertisement industry is not like what it was before. With the industry rapidly diversifying, the ad industry is not just limited to print and visuals, but is moving towards penetrating all available platforms.

For our workshop, as Ahsan is coming from Bangladesh to moderate the workshop, what I felt about Bangladesh is that, it is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Therefore, there is more competition and you are bound to catch more eyeballs; whereas, the market is small in Nepal and that is a huge challenge for advertisers. Bangladesh is a very homogenous country—the language is the same all across, while in Nepal, there are so many different ethnic groups and languages, which is another hurdle.  In the whole of South Asia, Bangladesh has been lauded for their effective advertisement skills; they are extremely passionate about their work and go all-out to make any campaign successful. We have all heard that the Bangalis have creativity running in their blood and I realised that when I was at Bangladesh looking at the billboards across the cities. I am sure Nepal can learn a lot of innovative ideas from Bangladesh in terms of advertisement.

How will this workshop be valuable and different?

Shiva Shrestha: It is unfortunate that there are hardly any workshops that are conducted for advertisement and branding, so this is going to be an important opportunity. With the collaboration of Ahsan, AAN and Nepal AOTS, I think this will be a great podium for professionals and students to learn not only about the Bangladeshi ad culture but also, learn about the Japanese style of work management, via AOTS, and the current trends in the Nepali advertisement industry.

Now that the Nepali market is slowly shifting towards online and digital platforms, what are some things that Nepali brands need to be on the lookout for?

Ujaya Shakya: When we were just starting out, the means of advertisement was only via newspapers, magazines, billboard and TV commercials, but things are now changing. The digital penetration in the country is growing and the media landscape is changing as well. This is true in the whole of South Asia as well. Nowadays, 95 percent of the people are on their smartphones and that is the best way to promote any brand. There has been a huge paradigm shift from paper and billboard advertisements to social networking sites and online platforms. Since smartphones and internet are been used more often than anything else, it is a great platform and a great opportunity for brands and advertisers as well.

With the advertising platform moving online, are ads become a nuisance like never before? It is a complaint most smartphone or tablet users have.

Shiva Shrestha: To avoid such kind of ads, there needs to be a lot of planning. In many cases, ads are duplicated from others to just sell a product rather than created to further a brand. With any advertisement, you need to understand the threshold level of communication. When you are planning for an ad campaign, you need to see the rate of return. You need to upgrade your knowledge and widen your creativity. Focus and finding the target audience is the key to a successful advertisement campaign.

What are the key things a brand manager or a business owner must think about before advertising their product?

Shiva Shrestha: You need to understand what your brand stands for. You need to be passionate about the brand you work for. Many people may not like your brand and you should not stress over it. It is not possible for the whole world to like your product.

What are some of the dos and don’ts of advertising?

Ujaya Shakya: From my experience, I try to make sure that I understand the objective of the brand. Also, knowing the objective of making the ad and understanding who the target audience is, is absolutely crucial. I also believe the idea behind the ad should be out of the box. If a company wishes to stand out—it has to be different. Your ad has to make business sense; otherwise, it’s just an art that is hung on a wall. Lastly, you should not fall in love with your own idea. There are millions of ideas and your idea is not the only solution that will make a successful ad campaign.

What advice do you have for young professionals looking to get into this workshop?

Shiva Shrestha: Come with an open mind. You come for a workshop to learn things. You will not only enhance your knowledge through the moderator but also the participants who come from the same fraternity. All the participants will have different views and different mindset, so, come explore the world of advertisements and discuss ideas with likeminded people.