FMCGs eye regional channels for reach

Hindustan Lever (HLL), the country's biggest advertiser, is reworking its advertising strategy with a greater focus on regional language channels.

The Rs 12,103 crore (net sales in CY06) fast moving consumer goods major, which reportedly spends over Rs 150 crore annually on general entertainment channels such as Sony Entertainment Television, Zee TV and Star Plus, has gradually shifted 10-15 per cent of its television advertising budget to regional channels.

HLL, which spent Rs 1,272.88 crore on advertising and promotions in 2006, is not the only one looking for more bang for the buck. Its peers in the industry such as Dabur India, Reckitt Benckiser, Godrej, L'Oreal and Marico have also seen similar shifts in their media allocations.

Sunil Duggal, CEO, Dabur India, said over the past two years, the share of regional channels had gone up from 15 per cent to 20 per cent for the company.

"We have been increasingly advertising on Bengali and now southern channels as it enables us to focus our advertising on select geographies," he said.

The company spends about Rs 150 crore or almost 80 per cent of its total ad budget on television. Godrej Consumer, meanwhile, was among the earlier companies to make this shift, and today has an almost equal share of advertising across the GEC and regional channels.

Explaining the rationale behind the increased spending on regional channels, R Gowthaman, managing director, Mindshare, a media buying agency, said that regional channels provided advertisers focused audience segmentation.

"While general channels provide national reach, specific regional channels help reach out to specific demographics," Gowthaman points out.

Joy Chakraborty, network sales head, Zee Network, which operates six regional channels, said, "Having regional channels in our bouquet has helped the Zee network retain advertisers.

Most companies are now looking for a complete package of both general channels and regional channels." Consequently, HLL's advertising spends and volumes across the Zee network have increased by 15-20 per cent in the last three months.

According to industry sources, the company is believed to be advertising on 1,000 seconds per channel (across Zee's bouquet) on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, broadcasters too are realising the importance of having regional channels to complement the general channels in their portfolio.

Paritosh Joshi, president, ad sales and distribution, Star India, said "We do sense a gap in our profile and we do realise that we need to fill these gaps."

Last week, the Star group announced a joint venture with Balaji Telefilms to launch regional language entertainment channels in Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

Media buyers say that among the regional channels, the Marathi and the Bengali channels are seeing the maximum increase in ad spends. Further, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam channels, it is believed, will be the next set of channels that marketers will explore.