It was a new addition to the programme at IIJS Signature, which for the first time hosted a Business Knowledge Forum organised by the GJEPC and powered by Economictimes.com. The first edition of this platform indeed lived up to its promise of providing valuable insights into the emerging new technologies in the digital world, both in manufacturing and marketing, and how jewellers could use these to their advantage. 

Presentations by a number of prominent speakers in their fields, followed by thought-provoking panel discussions ensured that themes were covered in depth, along with some focus on how they could possibly be applied to the gems and jewellery industry.

Introducing the first ever series of this platform, GJEPC Chairman Pramod Kumar Agrawal said that the central government had already initiated a number of steps to promote the move to a “Digital India” and the Council too was focused on taking the industry in a similar direction. “We have already shifted many of our processes at the Council to the digital world,” Agrawal said, citing the example of stall booking and visitor registration at the current show, adding, “simultaneously we are also encouraging the trade to adopt them too.”

The first part of the day long session took the audience on an exciting trip into the world of cutting edge technological advancements in business processes, which are ‘disrupting’ manufacturing, management, marketing, and many other parts of the business eco-systems across industry. The speakers, all prominent players in their fields covered themes ranging from Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, covering some of their applications in different fields.

Ragunath Subramanian of UI Path, kicked off the session with a comprehensive insight into the world of robotic process automation (RPA) which he described as the latest in a series of technological disruptions that have continuously altered the parameters of the digital space. “Mainframes were replaced by the PC, then came the Graphic User Interface, the Internet, followed by Mobile technologies and then the Cloud. And now RPA is creating new patterns of work, automating anything that can be automated and leading to 24-hour workcycles, zero defect manufacturing, vastly improved supply chain management and immense jumps in the levels of customer satisfaction.”

Taking the theme forward, Animesh Samuel of NLP Bots, introduced the equally pathbreaking changes that machine learning and artificial intelligence was bringing in. “We will have to literally Reimagine Everything,” he pointed out as the computer moves from merely executing repetitive tasks with unimagined speed, to “actually thinking for itself” and “taking decisions”.  

“The new age AI machines are self learning, and don’t need to be guided by pre-programmed data bases and formulae,” he explained. “With the imminent advent of 5G as a universal communications technology, computational power will expand enormously, bringing together entities across geographies and across industries in a single eco-system.”

He continued, “Not just that, we will soon see the next wave of such cognitive technologies being applied even to unstructured text like social media, mobile chats and so on and entire processes and conversations across enterprises may even move to being automated. Already in some cases of HR hiring, bots screen CVs of potential applicants for a job, even conduct a second round of screening based on AI guided interviews, and only the final selection has a human element, he explained.

They were followed by Vednarayanan Vedantham, a director at Razor Pay and a visiting faculty member at IIM Bangalore. After initially introducing the “end to end Money Movement Solutions” that his company was offering, which included the ability to automate receivables, payables and also working capital management as well as inputs to the credit providers, he then gave a comprehensive presentation on how traditional non-digital businesses could embrace the current technologies, sprinkled with a fair number of brief cases studies, or caselets.

Ved threw up some interesting insights into the Indian digital consumer, including pointing out that 93% of Indian internet users do so through their mobile devices, and that mobile apps rather than traditional Search engines are the primary entry points used to navigate and find information that consumers need. Further, he pointed out that TV was no longer the medium we know it – now programming can be personalised, and ad-free versions viewed at any time of the day.

What does this imply for marketing and brand communication, he asked and went on to outline possible new approaches that companies were taking by combining social media, apps, artificial intelligence tools and various other new applications that were available in the digital space. His caselets covered a range of products – from mass produced, lower value items to very high end customised ones, and also included one from the gems and jewellery industry – Helzberg Diamonds.

In an interlude that wrapped up the earlier sessions and set the stage for the subsequent discussions, the three speakers were joined by Abhishek Sand of Savio Jewellery in a panel discussion moderated by Aditya Bhat of Jio Studios. The discussion sought to focus the earlier presentations on the gems and jewellery industry and how it could adopt and adapt to the changes that were taking place in the larger world.

Much like the last speaker of the earlier session, Sowmya Iyer of Dvio Digital took a ‘rapid-fire” tour through the immense possibilities that Social Media had opened out for businesses, particularly in marketing and communications. She too presented an overview – covering the Digital Trends for 2020 – of the changes in the digital space, highlighting the increasing use of Private Engagement of brands with consumers on social media, the rise of Voice Search, the need for O2O (online to offline) diversity, the use of Augmented Reality and Personalisation through AI, etc.

According to her, these changes represented opportunities that could be tapped in a relatively cost-effective manner and called on the industry to utilise them effectively. “Today’s consumer wants a good product and an even better experience; she is now wired through hardware that is vastly different from the traditional computers, uses different channels and so requires new content and in a new form.”

Iyer suggested that marketing should now be based on three principles: “Design for Action”, “Content for Conversation” and “Technology for Experience”.

“Choose the correct strategy and the appropriate media for amplification of your brand message, and realise that today the ‘social’ networks are also there for ‘commerce’,” she advised, elaborating, with examples, on some of the steps that brands needed to take to retain their relevance in the contemporary world.

Captivating the audience with some challenging and even provocative ideas interspersed with a series of actual examples of their execution, Aditya Bhat, Head, Jio Studios presented a masterclass on modern day brand building and marketing communication.

Stressing that brand building is best done through storytelling, he said, “Use Stories of Purpose that touch a chord; make sure they are told in less than 10 seconds; weave in technology as much as possible as they will fascinate the viewer,” adding that research showed that messages delivered in such formats are 22 times more effective in today’s world than those based only on hard fact. He cited the role that he and his company had played in creating and delivering messaging during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election campaign last year.

Bhat then went on to discuss new ways of integrating the brand message. “Your communication needs to be embedded in the medium as seamlessly as possible and in a way that is both emotional and appealing. Reach out to the audience through films, TV, fashion events and even through non-fiction content in this manner,” he advised, briefly touching on a few ways in which the gems and jewellery industry could implement these learnings.

Bhat’s mantra was brief and simple – “Make it Relevant, Make it Topical, Make Sure it Stands Out in the Clutter.”

The final session saw Bhat engaging two social media influencers in a conversation on the role they play in boosting a brand and helping it reach out to consumers. These were Dr Aditi Govitrikar and Tridha Choudhury, the former a doctor and veteran of the modelling world turned actor and influencer, and the latter a relatively younger entrant to the world of TV and films.

Some fascinating insights emerged on the changing parameters of marketing and influencing, with both the panellists explaining their views and narrating their experiences in response to questions from Bhat. What was clearly apparent is that brand endorsement, for most professionals in the field, goes far beyond a mere monetary transaction – it would entail knowing about the brand and its attributes, deciding whether to work with it or not, participating pro-actively in defining the content that one would endorse and possibly even feeding into the process and carrying on continuous due diligence to ensure that every action resonates with the overall image and personality of the influencer.

“Influencers are more than just faces and brand ambassadors. We should maintain integrity, focus on quality rather than numbers, yet also realise that we cannot guarantee all future outcomes of the brand,” was their core conclusion.

Videos of all the sessions would be made available shortly on the GJEPC YouTube channel, the organisers have announced.

Pic caption: (From l) Aditya Bhat in conversation with Dr Aditi Govitrikar and Tridha Choudhury in the concluding session of the Business Knowledge Forum that was held alongside IIJS Signature