SBI adspend on TV rockets

State Bank of India's (SBI), the country's largest bank, brand-building drive saw its spending on advertising on television in the first half of 2004 rise to 8.72 times the spending in the whole of 2003.

As per advertising industry estimates, SBI spent Rs 1.58 crore in the first half of 2004 against Rs 16.28 lakh in calendar 2003 and against Rs 11.94 lakh in first half of 2003. SBI's spending in January-June 2004 accounted for over 76 per cent of state-run banks' aggregate spending of Rs 2.05 crore during the period, a 324% YOY rise.

An analysis of eight state-run banks' ad spend for corporate image since 2000 by AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research, shows SBI preferred news bulletins for corporate image advertising.

Bank of Baroda also preferred news bulletins, whereas Punjab National Bank opted for different magazines genre. The other banks covered are Allahabad Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India and Indian Bank.

The choice of news bulletin genre for advertising was to target the discerning prospective customers as the general perception is that the public sector banks lag behind private sector banks in terms of services, an SBI official said.

He said the effort was also aimed at protecting SBI's turf. AdEx estimates say SBI spent Rs 42.56 lakh on corporate image advertising on television in 2000, Rs 45.31 lakh in 2001, Rs 5.18 lakh in 2002 and Rs 16.28 lakh in 2003.

PNB was the biggest spender on television advertising in 2003 at Rs 47.05 lakh. PNB spent an estimated Rs 5.28 lakh in first half of 2004 and Rs 28.85 in 2002. The New Delhi-based bank was a negligible advertiser on television in 2000 and 2001.

Bank of Baroda has been a consistent, though, small advertiser on television. Its estimated spending in the first half of 2004 at Rs 40.94 lakh has been the highest. Its television ad spends were Rs 11.34 lakh in 2000, Rs 1.58 lakh in 2001, Rs 6.14 lakh in 2002 and Rs 18,000 in 2003.