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Women marketing executives at notable companies in India have overcome numerous challenges, including gender-based prejudices and the pay gap to reach the top.

According to specialist staffing firm Xpheno, only 18 percent of the10,000 or so experienced marketing leaders active in the Indian market are women.

However, the short supply and high demand for women leaders have kept compensation packages competitive and in some cases, even higher than those of their male counterparts.

Upasna Dash, the founder of Jajabor Brand Consultancy, told Storyboard18 that dedicating oneself to honing their craft and skillset can help women fight the unequal pay situation endemic in the workplace universally.

Women's representation in top marketing positions is higher in sectors like personal care products (43 percent); IT services and system design (40 percent); F&B (37 percent), non-governmental organisations (31 percent), business consulting and services (31 percent), and information and media (28 percent).

Ankita Srivastava, chief marketing officer at Nat Habit labelled the beauty and personal care industry, which her firm is part of, 'gender agnostic'.

"In my early stint at L’Oréal, women outnumbered men while at RB (Reckitt Benckiser) and Marico, women led large portfolios. At Raymond Consumer Care (now GCPL), I was identified as leading the largest business vertical despite the fact that I was young and a woman," she said.

Siddharth Verma, head, executive search, Xpheno, said that the median salary for marketing leader positions vary by the size, stage and sector that enterprises belong to. Packages also vary widely based on seniority, relevant experience, qualifications and other factors.

According to Verma, "Individual packages range from Rs 1.1 crore all the way up to Rs 4 crore-plus on the other end. These numbers are not necessarily thumb rules or fixed references, and a lot of packages do exist at both the low and high end of the range."

Keerti Singh, co-founder and vice president of marketing at HitWicket, which owns the eponymous online game, agreed that compensation is aligned with the responsibilities and delivery.

"When I was at Amazon, my salary was higher than some of my male counterparts in the same role, but it was due to the output and results I delivered," Singh added.

Several women marketing executives also mentioned some innate strengths that have helped them excel in their careers.

Nisha Khatri, head of marketing at ethnic wear firm Libas, said, "Over time, I have come to appreciate the value-add empathy brings as a skillset. As Bill Gates said ‘Empathy is the biggest skill we are all yet to acquire,’ but with women leaders, the conversation becomes much easier. They are more mindful of both personal and professional growth of their team members."

"Our innate resilience to challenges really helps us to get through the ebbs and flows of life, especially in a country like India," Dash of Jajabor said.

Women in marketing roles have come far, but still have a long way to go

CleverTap launched the eCommerce edition of its Art of Emoji Report, with a view to demonstrate which emojis are the most common, which ones work best, and which to avoid. Since inception in 1998, emojis have been a very effective medium of communicating tone, subtext, irony, among other things plain text cannot. According to the Emojipedia Annual Report 2023, there was a remarkable 77% YoY surge in emoji usage.    

Today, brands have discovered the immense value in emojis, with 60% of global push notifications containing them. The CleverTap Art of Emoji report found that notifications containing emojis drive a staggering 12% higher click-through rate compared to those without. Therefore, brands see them as a persuasive and accessible tool to build more meaningful connections with their customers.  

CleverTap analyzed 10 billion data points across 40 million push notifications sent by eCommerce platforms globally, to understand customer preferences, the impact of emojis, and how marketers are using them. It found that regardless of region, eCommerce brands incorporate only 20% of the best-performing emojis in their messages; while in some regions, up to 30% of the most used emojis are underperformers.  

 
To help marketers better engage customers via emojis, the report breaks down the performance of various emojis by region—outlining the most commonly used ones, the best-performing ones, and the ones to avoid. Below are a few examples from within the report:

From a quirky novelty to a mainstay on any device, emojis have come such a long way. They have ingrained themselves into the fabric of modern communication and helped us convey so much more than if we were only limited to text.

“Emojis are a potent tool at the disposal of any marketer that, when used well, can instantly make a message feel alive. But, just like personal communications, using it anywhere and everywhere would disorient the recipient.” said Jacob Joseph, VP – Data Science, CleverTap. “Marketers must experiment with various emojis, see what works best for their target audience, but use it only when it’s contextually relevant. Else it may lose its potency. Remember, you want to keep things fresh, relatable and most importantly, culturally sensitive when it comes to deploying such a persuasive tool within your marketing toolbox.”

 Speaking on the future of emojis in customer engagement, Jacob added, “With advancements within MarTech, brands will be able to hyper-personalize this experience by honing in on which emojis work best with individual users. Eventually, emojis will be dynamically adjustable based on the sentiment and context of the conversation, thus enhancing the emotional depth of communication. Alongside, more ubiquitous integrations of emojis with AR/VR (such as Apple Animojis) will allow customers to express themselves more vividly within immersive environments. It could redefine the way customers interact with products and services, enhancing their overall shopping experiences.”   

 

eCommerce marketers in India use only 20 percent of best performing emojis: Report

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 has led to a strong increase in booking demand for homestays with more travellers exploring alternate accommodations, as per reports.

With higher demand, the supply for this segment has also increased especially during the period when the cricket tournament is being held from October to November 19 in India.

Homestays, traditionally favored in leisure destinations, are currently enjoying strong interest across all cities hosting (World Cup) matches, said Rajesh Magow, Co-founder and Group CEO, of MakeMyTrip, as per reports.

"Cricket fans are booking varied alternate accommodation options as seen by the booking contribution pie. In the alternate accommodation segment, hostels have emerged most popular for World Cup stay bookings, followed by apartments, and homestays. Unique stays and villas have a smaller contribution so far," he said.

He added that the advance purchase window for homestays has increased in cities hosting matches. "Previously, only 13 percent of bookings were made in advance (over 30 days prior to check-in), as compared to 22 percent for the cricket tournament. Also, October check-in bookings are demonstrating longer average lengths of stay, particularly in hostels and homestays, with hostels increasing from 1.6 to 2.3 nights and homestays from 2.1 to 2.4 nights," he added.

The travel firm added that the significant surge in search of homestay properties for October and November in select cities across the country is a good sign and indicates that cricket fans are more willing than ever to explore homestays as an accommodation option.


According to Airbnb,  the surge in searches for stays in India during the (World Cup) tournament days, has made the country as the go to destination for cricket fans from all over the world. "Leading the pack are fans from the United Kingdom, followed by supporters from Australia and New Zealand," the hospitality firm said.

The influx of international travellers offers a significant economic boost to the local Hosts, said Amanpreet Singh Bajaj, Airbnb’s General Manager, India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. "It’s heartening to see that the spirit of cricket, combined with the warmth of Indian hospitality, is resonating with the fans globally. As hosts from various parts of India open doors to their home, they aren’t just offering a play to stay but an immersive experience, enabling them to truly live the World Cup fever,” he said.



Rise in demand for homestays during Cricket World Cup

Whether you’re an athlete yourself or a fan of sports, follow an individual team or a player, or just casually watch from time to time, sports will bring out your team spirit and provide inspiration or hope in untold ways.

Sport brands have a very powerful role in their fans’ lives, which means that they need to think about how they operate their business, how they engage fans and what kind of messages they deliver to society. The concept of creating a shared value between sports teams, local communities and fan communities is stronger now than ever. Though it’s hard to know what’s coming, keep reading to see what’s trending in the world of sports marketing as I see it.

1. Experience it: Sports marketing is increasingly about giving customers the feeling that they are a part of something good, something that contributes to their life in a meaningful way. As we slowly crawl out of the coronavirus pandemic, we are all eager to experience life in its full glory and participating or attending sporting events, live events, is at the top of the list. Brands will continue to drive authentic engagement through experiential marketing activities on ground by delivering experiences that matter. At Hyperice, we take great pride in recovering athletes at the finish line.

2. Healthify it: Having access to the latest in health tech will become a competitive advantage. It is now evident that better fitness levels, better physical and mental health, have a positive impact on athlete’s performance. Athletes and sport/fitness facilities will continue to invest in health tech &amp; recovery technology.

3. Track it: Among emerging opportunities, wearables and internet services for tracking physical exercise which incorporates social network features will continue to thrive amid increased focus on individual activities such as running and cycling. Brands will continue to create, engage and inspire these communities. Example, the advent of Strava challenges by brands like Trek bikes is one of my favorite.

4. Invest in it: Despite the constraints of the pandemic, be it training in a limited setting, or not being on the field playing in front of thousands as they normally would, athletes saw this as an opportunity to focus on other things including their businesses and investments. Most of the investments made by athletes have been driven by personal experience with the products they have used and come to love; or products that fuel their passion. Athletes will continue to turn investors in relevant start-ups and business as we go along. Example, Virat Kohli became the first Indian Hyperice athlete-investor to join the growing list of athlete-investors such as Naomi Osaka, Earling Haaland, Amanda Nunes, Daniel Riccardo, Rory McIlroy, Ja Morant, and many more.

5. Merchandise it: Majority of the products are purchased for emotional reasons and a smaller percent for functional reasons. We are all collectors at heart, and we like to pronounce our support for our choice of sport, team or a player. And if you attend a sporting event in person, you want to celebrate and commemorate the experience. Licensed merchandise is the trend that will continue to foster under sports marketing - If you have a strong sport brand, it’s time to think about brand licensing, gain from additional retail visibility and promotion, plus rake in the royalties.

6. Post it: Brands leverage their athletes, and the available fan base to further drive a narrative through authentic content on social media. We will see continued rise in athlete voices on social media as they inspire their audience on staying active, being fit and to start taking care of their overall wellbeing. We will see more content collaboration with athletes ,especially with Instagram’s new collabs feature that allows brands to continue to leverage the athlete’s fanbase and vice versa. Brands and consumers are placing high importance on authenticity and relatability, which translates to greater engagement even with athletes seen as influencers or brand advocates who have smaller followings but who are aligned with brand values. Brands will continue to nurture innovative partnerships that deliver high engagement and authenticity through UGC content for social media.

7. Digitize it: Digital content is more important today than ever. Younger fans continue to consume differently than older generations—so short-form, unique content, surrounding events/athletes is going to be a huge emphasis. Not to mention the importance of second-screen content. Of course, there is a sizeable audience for live matches, but the audience for ancillary content on the second screen is equally appreciated. We are already seeing increased original content from both professional and amateur athletes. Sports marketers will draw more emphasis to unique, platform specific ancillary and non-live content through new and emerging content distribution channels.

8. Globalize it: Catering to international fanbases is challenging – one such challenge is that live broadcast cannot be at a convenient time to many fan bases internationally. Here digital will be huge not only for highlights and content, but also for other creative ways to enjoy the sport’s momentum apart from normally watching it on TV. This will give a boost to opportunities like multi-viewing Or, working with local influencers or athletes to create content around the experience in a locally relevant way for a particular market.

9. Esports: Video games are becoming increasingly popular especially after the pandemic, and more and more gamers are finding their way into the world of eSports. There will be more focus on both casual/amateur and professional player development too as we go along. There is an emerging trend of esports players now taking their fitness and recovery seriously to have longevity in their career. We will also see more brands wanting to be a part of the game play by being featured in the games in an interactive way, and we will see more livestream integrations with the e-sports athletes too.

10. Women in sport: For decades, the sports business was a male domain. Thanks to the changes in society, the sports industry is also being strongly mixed up. With this we will see more support from brands towards women in sports and the sports for women. This is also since women are an increasing financially strong group of buyers too.

Note to readers: Storyboard18’s new Month In Focus initiative spotlights themes and topics that are pushing marketers to reshape and rethink how brands interact with today’s customers. Our first theme is Just Sports, a special spotlight on sports marketing presented by Sports18. We bring to you stories of how marketers are harnessing the power of technology, innovation and creativity in sports to create powerful storytelling in campaigns that increase affinity and loyalty with audiences. From traditional sports platforms around cricket to emerging games and the rise of esports, we get leading voices from the marketing and sports worlds to give us sharp and fast insights into future-facing marketing practices. Also, tune in for analyses which will surface ideas and strategies that are helping brands to level up experiences and storytelling with authentic collaborations. So watch this space for Just Sports.

Trends to watch for in sports marketing for a modern marketer

MARKETING TRENDS