Rob Bradley and Abhijeet Dhar in exchange4media

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Rob Bradley and Abhijeet Dhar speak to top Indian trade media

Bradley and Dhar sit down with exchange4media to highlight the consumer insights and data CNNIC provide to clients

May 5th, 2021

In conversation with exchange4media Group, Rob Bradley, SVP, and Abhijeet Dhar, Director of Sales, highlight how CNNIC has worked as a consultant to clients over the past year by providing them insights and data to understand the mindset of consumers and curate content that targets the relevant audience and enhance business.

Read edited excerpts below.

“Clients want to speak to the audience in a safe environment and we help them do that.”

Abhijeet Dhar, Director of Sales, CNN International Commercial

What were the biggest learnings from 2020 for CNN?

Rob: We learnt that people wanted a brand that they can trust and hence fact-based journalism counts, as people tune into CNN to be informed about what's happening globally during a challenging year like 2020. CNN saw record numbers and we had our biggest year ever when it comes to audiences and audience growth.

How has CNN Experience evolved? How are you building an immersive experience when it comes to connecting with the client virtually?

Rob: We recently did a digital version of the CNN Experience in Japan. By doing it virtually, it does open it up as we had several people from agencies, brands, and government clients. We had core themes around sustainability, audience first strategy, technology and creativity. We seamlessly executed it and the same amount of planning went into it, as it would for a physical event. In terms of content, the delivery had to be engaging and the content had to be of value to our users. While we want to get back to having CNN Experience in person, we will see a mix of virtual events and in-person events in the future.

Where do you see India in the digital curve, when compared to other countries?

Abhijeet: Democratization of technology is the key. In India, over the last year, clients have found audience consultations to be far more sacrosanct and important for a brand's growth. That means that any investment in identifying what works and what will work is very important. CNN’s technology, the assurance of brand safety married with our audience capabilities and insights goes into building the entire roadmap for clients and brands. That is relevant today, tomorrow and even in the future and this continuity enables us as partners to take the brand conversation forward.