Festive season to bring cheer to media houses as ad spends set to revive

This year, the festive season is likely to see nothing less than 20-25% year-on-year growth

The festive quarter this year – stretching from October to December – is likely to bring cheer to media houses after a lull of two years. While the 2016 festive period was shorter in duration and characterised by the surprise demonetisation move by the government, last year saw brands and broadcasters grappling with the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST).

This year, the festive season is likely to see nothing less than 20-25 per cent year-on-year growth, broadcasters and media agencies Business Standard spoke to said. This has been led by advertising deals locked during the Dussehra-Diwali period.

“The October-December period typically accounts for 28-30 per cent of annual advertising spend. But the last couple of years saw muted demand from advertisers,” said Sameer Singh, chief executive officer, GroupM, the country’s largest media agency. “While share of the last quarter’s ad spend to annual ad spend was restored in 2017, the absolute demand (from advertisers) was below par. This year, we expect a bounce back on that front,” Singh said. The January-August 2018 period, according to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), India, which monitors advertising and viewership on television, saw a 16 per cent year-on-year growth in terms of spend. This was led by mobile phones, telecom operators, over-the-top platforms, as well as auto, e-commerce and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies. These categories will continue advertising in the festive period, it said, with traditional seasonal spenders such as durables, retail and travel and tourism also joining the pack.

A recent report by consulting firm KPMG projected TV advertising in 2018-19 at Rs 255 billion. By this estimate, the October-December quarter of this fiscal could fetch nothing less than Rs 76.5 billion in advertising money, it said, which is 30 per cent of the overall number. The increase in ad spend is expected to show mainly on Hindi general entertainment and movie channels, which will dominate advertisers’ choice when it comes to investing in genres for festive advertising, said experts. Other genres that are likely to gain steam in the next one month will include kids and regional channels, the experts added.

“We are using general entertainment, free-to-air news and regional channels to advertise during the festive season. We are confident that these platforms will give us the desired reach. This year, we have also identified the kids’ genre and have started investing in it,” said Ajay Motwani, head, marketing, Adani Wilmar.

This year, sports will also feature heavily on the TV calendar with India’s tour of Australia next month, the Pro Kabaddi league, which is currently on, and the Hero India Super League, also visible on television at the moment.

“Sports will continue to be strong, but we don’t think it will be much different from last year since general entertainment-led impact shows (such as Bigg Boss and Indian Idol) are running in parallel and doing well. Also, last year, we had the India-South Africa series. This year, we have the India-West Indies and India-Australia series. Though the India-Australia tournament will be high in anticipation, but owing to the telecast time, its viewership may be less, except for weekend matches,” said Vineet Sodhani, chief executive officer, Spatial Access, a media audit firm. Though FMCG companies are expected to park their money in general entertainment channels, auto may also be a big spender on sports, the experts said.