1. Audience and readership measurement
It has been almost a year since the Indian Readership Survey was last published, forcing media agencies and marketers to buy space virtually blind. Hopefully, the new, improved IRS, which promises to be significantly more robust than the discontinued one, will be available in Q2 2014.
Less than three months ago, major broadcasters decided to withdraw subscription from TAM India (which measures TV audiences), leading to a situation where no measurement would have been available for viewership. Despite a fragile peace being brokered, the Broadcast Audience Research Council decided to find an alternative, universally acceptable system. There is no clarity yet on when this will be rolled out, let alone when usable, actionable data will be available.
The result of these two fiascos? We might be in for a spell of zero measurement, and that is, quite simply, advantage for the advertiser. The fallout? Lower yields in TV and print for all but the top performers. The measurable part of TV, direct-to-home, will be a blessing for broadcasters as, hopefully, they will be able to extrapolate DTH numbers and convince advertisers that similar trends will be seen in non-DTH households.
2. Effective over creative
Marketers will be averse to investing
in edgy, exciting creative ideas, and will stick to the safe and predictable. The question that will be asked when considering a plan will stay at the mundane ‘Will this sell my product or service?’ A pointer is available in the 20 percent increase in the number of entries to this year’s Effie Awards (the Advertising Club’s showcase event for effectiveness in marketing and advertising in India).
3. Digital, mobile growth
FMCG majors have all tasted blood with digital investments. Even makers of high value products are finding e-commerce attractive. As smart phones grow rapidly in non-metro India, communication with this high-growth audience will be most efficient through mobile and digital. Expect content to be tweaked to ensure it can be delivered across devices and platforms. Look out for ads created specifically for handheld devices, and not adapted from TV commercials.
4. 10 + 2 = Trouble for TV
The most important implication of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s 10+2 ad cap restricting TV advertising to 10 minutes an hour: Inventory for the channels shrinks.
This is disaster for channels performing poorly: Despite shrinking inventory, they will not be able to raise yields. Both top- and bottom-lines will be hit.
For the top few in each genre, it’s a mixed bag. When in-demand inventory shrinks, rates will go up, but not enough to make up for the shrinkage of inventory. Top advertisers and broadcasters (and media-buying agencies), will be locked in a tussle to arrive at a magical, mutually acceptable new rate.
Also, small advertisers won’t be able to afford the best channels any more.
5. 10 + 2 = Happy print and web
Some get collateral damage, others, collateral benefit. As high quality TV inventory shrinks, advertisers will maintain and, in some cases, increase spends on leading newspapers and websites. The major upside: Newspapers get a much-wanted boost. For the advertiser, though, it’s bad news: The better, more expensive newspapers will be tough to negotiate with.
6. Less ‘scam’ advertising
Check out our Festive offers upto Rs.1000/- off website prices on subscriptions + Gift card worth Rs 500/- from Eatbetterco.com. Click here to know more.
(This story appears in the 10 January, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
Interesting insights Anant Sir; but most relevant to the B2C domain (which forms the bulk of spends). In the B2B world driven by no authentication of circulation/ readership/ audience measurement, low social media activity and budget pressures; it will be the same question- what do we need to do to get visibility and bank for the buck? With unpredictability likely to prevail till the middle half of the year, it wont be surprising if large agencies will be dumped by clients for smaller ones, longer ads and infomercials on youtube and repeat of existing advertising material happens if the ROI model is applied by many this year.
on Jan 13, 2014Here is what I think will change in 2014 and beyond 1. Purpose driven marketing will go mainstream 2. Smart marketers will stop paying for broadcast 3. Advertising will get engineered 4. Digital will start to merge with physical 5. Brand will increasingly produce more media 6. Real time data will replace surveys for more read this https://medium.com/thoughts-on-digital-marketing/ca19ab002568
on Jan 9, 2014