Indias ad spending growth the highest in Asia-Pacific region

Television and print media ad spending rose 28% in April-June,09 in India, says the report Mumbai: Advertising spending in the Asia-Pacific, including India, increased in the second quarter of calendar 2009, signalling a turnaround for broadcasters and print publishers that had been hard hit by the regional economic downturn. According to Nielsen Co., a research agency, advertising spending in the Asia-Pacific rose 11% in April-June from a year earlier to an estimated $29.96 billion (Rs1.4 trillion), with India leading the way. Spending on television and print media advertising rose 28% in April-June in India, according to the report. Other regional markets that recorded growth in advertising during the quarter included China (17%), Indonesia (8%) and the Philippines (9%). In India and China, both of which saw sharp cutbacks in advertising activity in the first quarter, advertising bounced back strongly with double digit growth over the same quarter in 2008, said Richard Basil-Jones, Asia-Pacific managing director at Nielsen. Advertisers had cut back on spending during the economic downturn, hurting the revenues of broadcasters and print publishers in the Asia-Pacific. Regional economies, including India, have since rebounded. To be sure, the bounceback in ad spending isnt region-wide. Seven countries recorded declines in the second quarter, including South Korea (-17%) and Taiwan (-16%). In India, though, some advertisers and experts say that theres been an increase in advertising in some categories. According to a beverage industry expert, who didnt want to be named, theres been a spurt in ad volumes this year. The soft drinks industry spent around Rs350 crore on advertising in 2008, and its budget increased in excess of 20% this year. Big-budget automobile industry launches have seen auto and bike makers splurge on advertising. Sanjeev Shukla, general manager at Ford India Pvt. Ltd, said industry prospects had improved with the new launches, but said he wasnt too convinced about Nielsens 28% figure for growth in advertising spending. Even broadcasters such as Star India Pvt. Ltd are sceptical. Says Uday Shankar, chief executive, Star India, I think that there is a definite growth in ad spending for TV, but I am not sure whether the numbers are as rosy as whats been released by AC Nielsen.According to TAM Media Research Pvt. Ltd, there has been an increase in television and print ad volumes for the

August-September period from a year earlier. TV ad volumes were up by 42% and print ad volumes by 13%. R. Gowthaman, head of the Mindshare unit at GroupM India Pvt. Ltd, said big budget television properties and launches such as mobile phone service provider Tata Docomo had perked up ad spending in India. His agency had predicted a 4.7% growth rate in ad spending in 2009 over 2008 in its report released in June. I wouldnt be surprised if that growth rate has now increased to 8%, because of festive spends and huge TV properties, he said. But a 28% growth over last year is too ambitious. The economic decline has affected most parts of the world, but some have been hit harder than others. One region that seems to be holding its own is Asia Pacific (APAC). Although consumer confidence in APAC has declined in recent months, those declines have generally not been as steep as in Europe or North America. Eight of the twelve markets for which Nielsen tracks ad spending posted growth in 2008 over 2007. That said, most of the markets were registering declines by the fourth quarter. Main media, defined by Nielsen as free to air TV, newspapers and magazines, increased 13 percent in 2008, while all other media (radio, outdoor, pay TV, cinema and other) posted an 8 percent increase for the year. In 2008, three markets recorded declines in ad spend versus 2007, while another posted no growth:

Taiwan (-11%) South Korea (-8%) Thailand (-4%) New Zealand (0%)

Meanwhile, five countries showed solid double-digit growth:

India (29%) Indonesia (19%) China (17%) Malaysia (12%) Philippines (11%)

Other key findings from Nielsens research:

A total of US$115.2 billion was spent on advertising in the twelve markets monitored. A total of US$108.4 billion was spent on Main Media advertising, with television comprising 70 percent of expenditures.

Television ad spend grew 15 percent. Only three countries recorded declines in TV ad spend, while five countries posted solid double-digit growth in this category. Although Americans are being deluged with stories of newspapers closing, cutting back and filing for bankruptcy, the medium recorded 9 percent growth, with declines in four countries. Magazine ad spends, while still comparatively small, increased 10 percent, with India leading the way. Radio dominated all other media with a 47 percent share of spend and a 12 percent increase for the year.

Over the next few days, Nielsen Wire will dig deeper into the numbers for Australia and New Zealand, East Asia, Southeast Asia and India.

Indias most-watched ads: Maximum eyeballs

Did you see the ad on TV? The marketing guy in the crowd misses a heartbeat as he perks up his ears to catch your conversation. Bingo! Its his product. As TV viewers, we absorb those short clips in different ways sometimes falling for a lovestruck Vidya Balan or Aamir Khan as an irritated Sikh. For marketers, however, what you watch, how long and when, are existential questions. And theres a way to measure it: Gross Rating Points (GRPs), the sum of all ratings for all programmes in a schedule, by one definition. Marketers invest huge sums of money and time in making us take the first stepsee the ad. Whether we, as consumers, will take the next stepbuy the productis another matter. Sure, there are many debates around the creativity of an ad, but we, at Business Today, present a ranking of the Most-watched Ads based on the GRPs (April 2008-May 2009). The attempt is not to tell you that these were the most creative ads or that these were the most effective ones. These were the most-watched ads across all cable and satellite homes (C&S) by viewers upwards of four-year oldsoh, yes, they wield a huge influence. This way, we rule out arguments of different and unique target groups (TGs) of consumers and the confusion arising from considering only a certain geographic, psychographic and What is GRP? It is a shorthand demographic universe. Also, the duration of the ad has measure of the total exposure an been normalised to a common time (30 seconds). This advertiser buys from TV networks. will be followed by a monthly update of the mostWhat is reach? It is the percentage watched ads in the alternate issues of Business Today. of the target audience who saw the But whats a list without a healthy debate! For all its commercial at least once during a apparent simplicity, GRP is a complex issue that creates given campaign period. deep rifts among media planners and advertisers alike. What is frequency? It is the ratio of Some scorn it, some swear by it. But they are the people GRP over reach. It is a measure of repetition.

who are busy searching for the Holy Grail in marketing in attempting to nail effectiveness, efficiency, return on investments (ROI) and everything else in between. GrrrRP Talk Says Shashank Srivastava, Chief General Manager, Maruti Suzuki: GRP is a good, simple measure. But like with all metrics of measurement, there are many qualifiers to it. Indeed, none of his brand finds any mention in our most-watched ad list. There is an explanation: Auto as a category is loaded in favour of print; only 32 per cent of our spends are for TV, he says. But his own GRP analysis reveals an efficient spend: Out of the total 85,000 GRPs between April 2008 and March 2009, we had 22 per cent GRPs with spends of 17 per cent on TV, while our competitor Hyundai had 29 per cent GRP with spends of 25 per cent. It shows there can be an intelligent way of planning and spending on GRPs, he says. Many media experts believe that while GRPs are an indicator of intensity of exposures, as a stand-alone number, it does not indicate anything. It has to be looked at in conjunction with the overall clutter within a genre/channel/time slot and competitive pressures, offers N.P. Sathyamurthy, President & COO, Lintas Media Group. Mona Jain, India Head (Strategic Investments), India Media Exchange, points out that most brands on the Most-watched list fall in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) category, which targets mainly women, who are seen as intensive viewers. The TRPs (television rating points) are highest amongst them but that does not mean that these brands have the highest recall, says Jain. In fact, there are many dynamics at play that account for the absence of high spenders such as cola brands, durables and even the much-discussed Zoozoo campaign from Vodafone, among others in the list. According to Jain, these categories often apportion nearly half their spends to print. The high-decibel Zoozoos was launched only in April this year and may take time to accumulate GRPs, whereas this list represents GRP accumulation over a year. Most agree that GRP is a good entry point to the debate, but it is not the only point determining an outcome. For instance, Lizol 3-in-1 (11,68,200 seconds) with almost the same duration as Lifebuoy Total (11,26,020) delivers lower GRPs by 20 per cent. This could be the result of a different media plan where one has probably placed money on niche, frequency channels, while the other has chosen to spend on an FMCG plan, which is a mix of all day parts on the channels that offer a high GRP on relatively lower investments. Yet, Fact is The GRP argument shifts depending on who one is speaking to. For instance, it changes when a client is talking business with a channel: GRP is a surrogate for the money we invest. To calculate our return on investments, we certainly look at GRPs and the cost per rating point (CPRP). We look at various brand health scores to evaluate our communication and media

partners. But the efficiency of a TV channel is driven by its ability to deliver the GRP for which we have invested the money, says Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan, Head (Brand & Media), Bharti Airtel. This is validated by R. Gowthaman, Leader, Mindshare (South Asia): Most of the clients make their investment decisions based on GRPs or competitive GRPs. Thats the reason why most channels first try to build a genre and then attempt to cut through it. For instance, a kids channel will eventually try and offer TRPs that match general entertainment channels (GECs): But most marketers, who are on TV, in my understanding, are investing in reach. It follows naturally that reach platforms (GECs) would be the first on the shopping list. Niche channels are typically used to add frequency and/or association with genres and audiences that have a brand fit (MTV as a youth platform, for e.g), says Rajesh Kamat, CEO, Colors. So, is GRP a good metric to judge a channel? For salience, yes. For impact, sometimes yes and sometimes no. GRP is the currency in which we buy and sell, so it is the obvious currency in which were measured as well. But it is by no means a measure of advertising effectiveness. Media effectiveness, at best, yes, he says.

Ad agency Ogilvy & Mather tops charts seven times in a row

16 Dec 2009, 0453 hrs IST, ET Bureau MUMBAI: Its easily the most-awaited power list in the advertising and marketing fraternity. The Brand Equity Agency Reckoner 2009 has given ad

agency Ogilvy & Mather two or is it seven? reasons to celebrate. The agency manages to hold on to its position as Indias top ad agency for the seventh consecutive time. Its chairman, the gifted Piyush Pandey, is Indias most influential advertising personality in the pecking order of creative and media persons. Perhaps its only befitting that Ogilvys client Vodafone was the countrys most admired marketer in the survey results unveiled by Brand Equity last month. Closing the gap on Ogilvy is JWT as a close No. 2 and Lowe Lintas, Mudra and McCann Erickson following at the 3rd, 4th and 5th positions, respectively. Among media agencies, Mindshare yet again proves that its number one in market share as well the agency retains its No. 1 slot, followed closely by Lintas Media Group. However, among media personalities, its Madison Groups chairman Sam Balsara who was media Moghul No. 1, followed by the iron lady Lynn de Souza and the low-profile Vikram Sakhuja. Mudra Maxs Pratap Bose and Mindshares R Gowthaman edged their way above Shashi Sinha and Ambika Srivastava to take the No. 4 and 5 spots, respectively. Among hotshot creative directors, Piyush Pandey adds another feather to his No. 1 hat, with Prasoon Joshi of McCann Erickson and R Balki of Lowe Lintas cementing their positions as the hottest creative men. Perhaps the fact that these men are also the top three most influential advertising personalities seals the long standing argument of whos the real Paa in the advertising hierarchy client servicing suits, media Moguls or creative wizards. Among film production houses, Nirvana Films benefits from the popularity of the Zoozoos by regaining its top slot after a huge fall last year. That production houses run by young blood is giving the old ones a run for their money was evident from the fact that Prahlad Kakkars Genesis Films left Abhinay Deo and Rajiv Menon on the chart of ad production houses at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Prasoon Pandeys Corcoise Films is still among the Top 3 ad production houses. Prasoon Joshi sits tight in his No. 2 spot on the hottest creative directors list, while Leo Burnetts Pops has made a comeback at No. 6. Josy Paul has slipped to No. 8, which could be the result of his switching agencies; however, please welcome Anuja Chauhan and Senthil Kumar, who make their comeback among the Top 10 creative directors. The introduction of three new verticals Top Digital Agencies, Top Design Agencies and Top Brand Promotion Companies last year has given insomnia to some more of the ad world folks. So while the Top 3 design and digital agencies remain unchanged, the cut-throat world of

brand promotions has seen Encompass Events emerge on top this year. Candid Marketing and Solutions Digitas have both slipped a spot each to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

HUL, Airtel, Maruti, Tata Motors & Nokia top advertisers in 2008
Tuesday - Jan 27, 2009 Rahul Kapoor - Televisionpoint.com | New Delhi India's top five advertisers in 2008 include only one FMCG player, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), while two telecom companies, Nokia and Airtel, also figured in the list, says a new report by a leading media buying house. In 2007, the list included two FMCG majors and just one telecom player, shows the report, compiled by one of the country's top four media buying houses, who did not wish to be named for reasons of client sensitivity. The other two top ad spenders of 2008 were Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors. The rankings are based on total annual spends on television and print, and do not include spends on other smaller media such as outdoor, digital and radio. Reflecting the boom in the telecom sector, the study shows that Airtel's rivals, such as Vodafone and BSNL, too moved up several notches in the rankings. Bharti Airtel, which signed on a slew of celebrities for endorsements, including Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Madhavan and Vidya Balan, upped its ranking to second in 2008 against sixth the previous year. Vodafone moved up to the eighth slot last year from 18th in 2007, with a spend of around Rs 170 crore. Though Vodafone did not bank on celebrities, it used its 'happy to help' tag line to full impact. Nokia, another big spender, more or less maintained its ranking. Soft drink companies, traditionally one of the top advertisers, were stingy in 2008 thanks to the focus on profitability and reduction in marketing expenditure. Ad spends of PepsiCo and CocaCola slipped by six and four slots, respectively. PepsiCo spent close to Rs 145 crore last year on advertising and rival Coca-Cola followed with a spend of close to Rs 130 crore.

HUL and Maruti, in fact, were the only ones to retain their rankings as the largest and the thirdlargest advertisers in 2008, similar to the previous year. HUL spent close to Rs 650 crore in the year on TV and print advertising while Bharti Airtel spent about Rs 240 crore. Maruti followed with a spend of roughly Rs 195 crore, and Tata Motors and Nokia were almost neck and neck with spends of roughly Rs 180 crore. For traditional FMCG companies, the rankings saw huge variations. This, experts say, is because companies are splitting spends more judiciously between conventional print and TV advertising and below-the-line activity to address growing rural demand. Core categories, such as hair oils, toothpaste, shampoos, skin creams and lotions, are growing faster in rural markets than urban, and overall rural demand among FMCGs is estimated at 20% against 17-18% in urban markets. Reckitt Benckiser, which was the second largest advertiser in 2007, slipped to the seventh slot last year, with a spend of roughly Rs 172 crore. In contrast, FMCG companies that rose in the rankings were P&G and ITC. P&G, marketer of Vicks, Ariel and Whisper, was the sixth-largest advertiser in 2008. The company did not figure in the top ten list last year. ITC jumped to number nine from number 16 in 2007. The cigarettes, hotels and FMCG company spend about Rs 169 crore on TV and print advertising last year. Colgate Palmolive, by and large, maintained its ranking with a spend of roughly Rs 150 crore.

Role of an Advertising Company in India Advertising is a form of communication that is meant to drive customers to purchase or consume the goods/brand that is being sold. This is an enhanced form of marketing which convinces the customers and public that the brand they are selling are actually better then the others in competition. Every business organization has an Advertising agency or department that caters to the entire public and effectively promotes the benefits and usage of the product. An Advertising Company in India mainly focuses on getting the best business for its clients via

aggressive promotions, targeting the masses and classes alike. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services. The range of an Advertising Agency varies from all shapes and sizes right from small to medium sized agencies, large independents, and multi-national agencies, basically depending on the kind of ventures undertaken and the client reputations. The kind of advertisements that is done also varies as per the need and budget of the product or service to be marketed. It could be in the form of commercial advertisements, Internet /online promotion or classified advertisements in newspapers. Full-service or media-advertising companies basically target the television audience by promoting the product through commercial advertisements. May be they would get in a top celebrity or a famous personality to endorse the product. Online advertising is basically done via the internet and is basically handled by Digital Interactive Marketing firms through their Search Marketing Departments. A development team creates the website of the client, the creative or designing team and then the marketing team promotes it online. Then you have people promoting their advertisements via newspapers. This is considered to be one of the most cost effective ways to promote your business, the reason being this has the largest coverage in terms of reaching out to the masses. Infact if any company is looking to promote a business effectively the suggestion would be, first get your advertisement on paper, then get the commercial advertisement going and then promote it online. The campaign is bound to be highly successful. Like any other organization an Advertising agency works in a Team Format basis. The people who create the actual ads form the core of an advertising agency. Next comes the account management department. Account management is somewhat the sales arm of the advertising agency. They are then responsible for coordinating the creative, media, and production staff behind the campaign. Next comes in the creative services team or the production team. This department consists of those employees who are responsible for coordinating the creative, media, and production staff behind the campaign. An often forgotten, but still very important, department within an advertising agency is traffic. The traffic department regulates the flow of work in the agency. It is typically headed by a traffic manager (or system administrator). Traffic increases an agency's efficiency and profitability through the reduction of false job starts, inappropriate job initiation, incomplete information sharing, over-and under-cost estimation, and the need for media extensions. Some of the Biggest Commercial advertising companies in India include Mudra Communication, Pressman India, Thomson Associates, Lintas, and Percept Holdings. They have the best of clients with excellent reputation attached to them.

Entertainment industry biggest ad spender, best paymaster: Study

25 May 2009, 1436 hrs IST, Sanjeev Sinha, ECONOMICTIMES.COM NEW DELHI: Fuelled by a top-line growth rate of 39 per cent in the last three years, Indias Rs 12,530-crore entertainment industry has become the

biggest ad spender and also the best paymaster, according to an Assocham Financial Pulse study. The study titled India Entertainment Sector A Financial Stock-Taking says the industrys phenomenal growth rate has not only surpassed the average growth rate of the services sector (17 per cent), but has also appeared amongst the fastest-growing sectors. And with equally-lucrative growth prospects, the entertainment companies have become the highest spenders on advertising in the last two years. Also, while for the overall industry the employee compensation rose by an average 25 per cent during the last two years, wages in the entertainment industry have risen by as much as 40 per cent, says Assocham president Sajjan Jindal. The recreation companies, in fact, spend 4.1 per cent of their total expenses on advertising during the FY 2007-08, the highest amongst the services as well as manufacturing companies. The average ratio of advertising expenses to the total cost for the service sector, on the other hand, was 0.9 per cent, and 0.5 per cent for the manufacturing sector. Compare this with the ad spends of 2005-06, when the entertainment industry was the third highest advertiser with the maximum expenditure on advertising being done by consumer durables (3.3 per cent) and liquor companies (2.9 per cent). However, with a 38 per cent rise in the advertising expenses, the entertainment sector rose to the top advertisers position in 200607, and since then there is no looking back. According to the study, the recreation sector is in its growth phase in India though the market is still not fully explored. Still the overall macroeconomic and sectoral trend indicates towards the industrys healthy growth prospects, as a result of which the recreation sector is expected to remain a high growth sector for the next five years, with its share in services set to rise further.