WARC, 2 April 2014
NEW DELHI: Brands across India are set to take advantage of
the upcoming national elections, redirecting adspend to news channels whose audiences
are forecast to increase by up to 30% over a six-week period.
With the new government likely to have a major impact on
people's lives there is a high level of interest in the outcome, with 60% of
television viewers expected to be watching a news channel on May 16 when the
votes are counted. Estimates from media buyers suggest there could be Rs. 250
crore spike in advertising expenditure on these channels during April and July.
"Everybody is looking at the elections as a media
opportunity," Sanjay Dua, chief executive officer at Network18 News Media,
told Livemint. "It is sort of like a festival of democracy."
The extent of that opportunity was highlighted by his claim
that one of the channel's sponsors had locked in half its annual marketing budget
for the election, although he declined to name the brand or amount involved.
But the station has signed deals with motorcycle
manufacturer Hero MotoCorp, oral care brand Sensodyne, and consumer durable
maker Panasonic.
Another news channel, New Delhi Television (NDTV), also
revealed deals with Hero MotoCorp, among others, and said ad rates had
increased as much as 15 times normal.
"Election-related brand advertising is not new but
there is definitely a spurt this year compared to previous elections,"
said C.V.L. Srinivas, CEO (South Asia) for media buying agency GroupM.
He added that 200 million citizens on digital media were
"talking, sharing, listening and posting comments every minute. All this
adds up to elections becoming a high impact platform for brands to
leverage".
ZenithOptimedia CEO Satyajit Sen was more specific,
describing elections as a "tactical opportunity" for
"male-centric and mass-market brands".
But normally at this time of year male-oriented brands would
be looking to advertise on sports channels as the India Premier League cricket
tournament gets under way. Some split is inevitable, with brands' choice of
channel depending on their target audience.
Data sourced from Livemint; additional content by Warc staff
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