Ad business up for grabs

ADVERTISING: 2007-08 saw a new set of advertisers for the Commonwealth Games and Indian Premier League.

A large number of new advertisers joined the fray in 2007-08 but the churn in accounts came down during the year. According to industry estimates, advertising business worth Rs 3,400 crore representing about 280 companies went up for grabs in 2007-08, down from Rs 4,700 crore from 500 companies in 2006-07.

Also, 2007-08 witnessed a new set of advertisers compared to the previous fiscal. These include ad-business for the 2010 Commonwealth Games (Rs 300 crore), Indian Premier League (in excess of Rs 50 crore), Bharti DTH (Rs 80 crore), Virgin Mobile (Rs 80 crore) and travel portals, media companies, networking websites, regional real estate players, among others.

Prominent advertising accounts of more than Rs 100 crore changing hands included LG Electronics (Rs 150 crore), Samsung (Rs 120 crore), Jet Airways (Rs 100 crore) and the government's Incredible India campaign (Rs 140 crore) among others.

Explaining the reasons for the advertising industry's stability in account movements, a senior executive from Dentsu Communications, a leading ad agency, said: "With a boom in product and brand categories, clients are realising the need to retain their creative and media agencies for better results, which is evident in lesser number of account movements in 2007-08."

While Starcom gained nearly 70 per cent of its business by picking up the businesses of Jet Airways and Samsung, Crayons, ZenithOptimedia and Ashok Creatives won the Incredible India campaign in a multi-agency pitch. JWT won Bharti's DTH business worth over Rs 80 crore while Virgin Mobile awarded its media duties to Mindshare in December.

Virgin Mobile has started its advertising campaign for mobile handsets and other accessories through its joint venture with Tata Teleservices.

Meanwhile, leading ad agency JWT has lost the creative duties for Baskin Robbins, Century Plywood, Hero Honda Achiever and 7UP. But at the same time, it managed to gain accounts like Commonwealth Games, Hero Honda Splendor's new version, GE Money Wizard, and Bharti's DTH venture, among a host of smaller but important advertisers.

Prominent names in 2007-08 with annual advertising budget of over Rs 5 crore include Nok Air, JetLite, MDLR airlines, AOL, Makaan.com, Big Flicks, Guruji.com, Mantri Developers, INX media, DNA newspaper, among others.