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Tag: Havas Media

  • KBC 12 and the sponsorship puzzle

    KBC 12 and the sponsorship puzzle

    MUMBAI: Sony TV’s Kaun Banega Crorepati is one show which has stood the test of time. In its twentieth season in India, the game show is still popular and appreciated by people of all ages. KBC has always been synonymous with knowledge; it is a platform where contestants’ brains have got them big winnings year-on-year. And, of course there is the iconic host of the show upon whom India dotes, the thespian Amitabh Bachchan. SET has already released the promo for this year.

    However, this year, KBC is going to be different. To start with, the contestant selection process has gone digital owing to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in the country. Interestingly, SET shared the first glimpse of the KBC’s newly constructed set where the shoot starts from today. It has been reported that there will no audiences during the shoot, but only one member with the participant will be allowed to be present in the seating area.

    The broadcaster has already signed two premium co-presenting partners for the game show – Tata Salt and Vedantu. The race for lining up other sponsors is on; however no new names have been released by the broadcasting team, until the filing of this report.

    Media planners and buyers opine that Sony is currently charging Rs four lakh for a 10-second spot, which would be aired on the standard definition and high definition feeds. The industry view – in the best case scenario – is that KBC being a flagship property, will see those rates holding and, in the worst case, getting shaved by five to 10 per cent on the upper side.

    “All big properties have opened at similar to last year’s rates,” says Shripad Kulkarni & Associates principal Shripad Kulkarni. “Nobody is expecting overall ad spends to be more than 80 per cent of the last festive season. Moreover, IPL will suck away a big chunk of the budget, so all the big properties are staring at a 15-20 per cent lower yield. Other television genres would see a bigger hit in net yields,” mentions Kulkarni.

    Media Ant founder Samir Chaudhary also echoes a similar sentiment and suggests that the rate card for KBC is similar to what it was last year. “In the usual scenario the channel would have booked 80 per cent of the inventory in advance and only 10 percent would be left for spot selling. The situation has changed now due to festivities and the IPL. Since all of these are getting bunched up in terms of timing, the spends will get distributed,” he avers.

    Chauudhary adds that the network does not have too much time before the show comes on air, so it might have to do both sponsorship and spot sales simultaneously, unlike prior years when it first got the sponsors in and then sold FCT at a premium.

    KBC has always been a premium property that has attracted brands from across the categories. In 2019, Vivo V11 pro and Mahindra Marazzo were the co-powered sponsors along with additional associate sponsors. The game show has the ability to cut across all ages and the brand equity of the legendary actor Bachchan has helped it make a grand success over the years.

    Havas Media buying national head R. Venkatasubramanian believes that KBC will finally get support from advertisers and sponsors even though that looks like a challenging task currently. Says he: “This is a high investment property and clients will choose a vehicle on which they are getting ROI and KBC does offer that.”

    According to ex- Madison Media chief operating officer Anita Bose, as agencies and clients are not meeting, one can see a big difference between closing a deal face to face versus doing it online. She notes that even if KBC is a successful property with a great track record, clients are not willing to spend that kind of money that’s being asked. It is one of the reasons why KBC got postponed, she shares, adding “starting a reality show will be challenging because of the pandemic, the client portfolio will also be different now. They are being very cautious.”

    The pessimists and naysayers are of the view that due to the fact that cases of Covid2019 are continuing to rise and the IPL is coinciding with the festive season, television is not finding the going easy. Their view is that IPL may end up eating 40 per cent of viewership, which could lead to a drop in GEC viewership, with the movie and news genres continuing to hold strong. Red lights may start blinking for the entire TV sector if the festive season doesn’t live up to its promise and expectation, setting TV channels back for the rest of the year.

    Bose further reveals that due to the economic slowdown, clients are hesitant to spend. As far as discounts or incentive plans are concerned, she thinks there will be no cash price offs from channels. “I think there will be other value offers which will make sense to clients. The channel will not reduce the price, as it is a matter of prestige but what makers can do is to give more value addition on the network and that is how the selling will happen. Also, depending upon the client’s requirement they can tailor it accordingly.”

    She adds that since KBC is a format which follows the original, there are lots of dos and don’ts which advertisers have to adhere to, unlike other shows where the flexibility is more.

    Venkatasubramanian highlights that the show will also get support from mobile, consumer durables, automobiles, and tyre categories that are more than willing to pick up a slot on the 12-strong KBC sponsor rack. He believes that “ecommerce brands will probably go in for spot buy deals with edtuech companies stepping on to the podium.”

    We can only wait and watch and see if his predictions will come true.

  • Digital advertising saw 24 per cent growth in 2019 : FICCI-EY report

    Digital advertising saw 24 per cent growth in 2019 : FICCI-EY report

    MUMBAI: Despite headwinds, India’s importance in global advertising increased in 2019. The forecasted 2020 growth rate of 11 per cent for India is more than twice the average rate of the top ten countries, according to FICCI-EY 2020 report. As per GroupM, India became the eighth largest ad market in the world in 2019, up from tenth largest in 2018. It contributed the third most to incremental ad spends in 2019 after the USA and the UK.

    Dentsu Aegis Network CEO APAC and chairman India Ashish Bhasin said, “India will be the fastest growing major market in the advertising world over the next five to 10 years. We are in a unique situation in India where all media will grow, albeit at very different rates, over the next five years, with digital leading the charge and print continuing to grow relatively slow. The pace of change, the omnipresence of mobile and the preponderance of voice, video and vernacular will dominate the Indian advertising scenario for the next five years.”

    While overall advertising spends grew, there was a marked slowdown during the latter half of 2019 due to fears of economic slowdown. With advertising and events reaching Rs 878 billion in 2019, it was a considerably tough year for traditional advertising.  Growth rate of traditional advertising (television, print, OOH, radio) fell because of print and radio, where both saw over five per cent degrowth for the first time.

    However, digital saw a growth of 24 per cent, the highest among all.

    Marketer ad spend sentiment saw a dip in 2019 with only 47 per cent of marketers increasing their marketing spends in 2019 as compared to 66 per cent in 2018. However, 17 per cent of marketers kept the spending constant or reduced them.

    The dip in the ad spend in 2019 can largely be attributed to the New Tariff Order and resultant revision in ad rates, coupled with a sluggish auto-sector and a slowing economy in the second half of the year.

    Although marketers’ future outlook seems more optimistic, 39 per cent of the respondents feel positive about the economy. They believe that the ad spends will grow in 2020. This appears to be corroborated by initial signs witnessed in January 2020, which indicated an expansion in both manufacturing and services sectors, with services activity hitting a seven-year high and manufacturing PMI at an eight-year high.

    However, supply chain disruptions due to the novel coronavirus could again dampen ad spends.

    Havas Media CEO India and South East Asia Anita Nayyar says, “More than the NTO or any other factor, it is COVID-19 that is impacting the ad spends. There is a lot of caution on ad spends in the market. The current fiasco in the banking sector is just adding fuel to fire. Advertisers are waiting and only undertaking crucial spends.”

    Digital advertising continues to be the fastest growing platform in the country. As per the report marketers will continue to grow their digital advertising budgets.

    37 per cent of marketers allocated five to 10 per cent of their ad spends on digital advertising. Meanwhile 50 per cent of the marketers had begun spending over 10 per cent of their total spends on digital advertising.

    Out of the total marketers surveyed 82 per cent are expected to grow spends on digital by over 10 per cent during the next two years.

    The top priorities for Indian marketers’ in 2020 include direct-to-consumer (D2C) market. More than one in five respondents in the US plans to make 40 per cent or more of their purchases from D2C companies.

    As per the survey, India is not far behind D2C interaction being a leading priority, right after improved RoI on spends. According to an estimation, 100 D2C brands have already launched in India.

    Amidst the growth witnessed in the digital ad industry, continuous incidents of fraud are a matter of concern. However, the worry of ad fraud seems to have reduced in 2019 with 30 percent as compared to 34 per cent in 2018. The report states that despite the risk of ad fraud in digital industry 56 percent of the respondents in 2019 increased their spending as compared to from 45 per cent in 2018.

    The FICCI EY report suggests that the budget for influencer marketing in India is going to increase. Over 72 per cent of Indian firms are planning to increase their spending on social media influencers, big and small, in 2020. However, the report mentions that it hasn’t taken into account the impact of Covid-19 so the estimate is pre-Covid era.

    Digital platform has opened new avenues for content creators. Consumers will look for content and ads that take up less time. According to a recent survey by Vuclip, 85 per cent viewers preferred short-form video content (i.e., short films/ videos of 10 minutes) on smartphones. The report predicts that the demand for short-form content will increase several times in 2020.
     

  • Indian sports viewership rides on expensive cricketing properties

    Indian sports viewership rides on expensive cricketing properties

    MUMBAI: In the media industry, the saying goes that if there is viewership, there are advertisements. However, this doesn't seem to be the case for the sports genre, if one were to go by BARC India's 2019 annual report. It mentions that sports as a segment has grown nearly 90 per cent in viewership in the last four years, but advertisement volumes are stagnant at one per cent during the same period. 

    Experts say cricket being the only most-watched sport in India along with expensive cricketing properties such as the Indian Premier League is the reason for the fewer ad volumes.

    Digitalkites senior vice-president Amit Lall says, “Unlike cricket and non-cricket sports category, India’s biggest domestic sporting event – Indian Premier League – has changed the whole ball game of the target audience. Sports which was seen as a male-target-audience-genre has now included a person of different age, gender, and class as their viewers due to the increasing popularity of IPL. Majority of brands are investing in cricket, especially in IPL. However, due to the massive viewership, the costing in IPL has gone up and brands with deep pockets are looking to leverage the other non-cricketing sports properties."

    A recent BARC report also mentioned that the female viewership in the sports genre has seen an 8 per cent rise, eating out of the forte of  Hindi GEC. As per an earlier BARC India data, sports genre's women viewership had 17.6 billion impressions in 2018 while the viewership grew by eight per cent to 19.1 in 2019.

    Despite all the data, cricket still leads. Lall says, “The co-sponsorship title of IPL which earlier could be bought for Rs 5 crore, is now sold for Rs 40-50 crore. However, the same co-sponsorship title in non-cricket property could be bought at just one-fourth the rate of IPL. The eyeballs on this property could be less but it will have maximum visibility if the target audience is bang-on.”

    Dentsu Aegis Network India chief executive officer Anand Bhadkamkar agrees that Indian sports is run mainly because of the popularity of cricket. "Advertisers are comfortable with cricket as there is sure-shot reach and returns. Naturally, spends done on cricket is high as compared to non-cricket properties due to its massive viewership.”  

    All said and done, the IPL has a lot working in its favour. Havas Media’s chief executive officer Anita Nayyar says: “Acquisition cost is higher in cricket, especially in IPL, as the tournament garners maximum eyeballs. IPL eats up 60-70 per cent sports ad spends of a brand. The cost that was Rs 5-6 lakh per 10 seconds in IPL has gone up to the Rs 8-10 lakh per 10 seconds, just because of the viewership rise of the tournament.”

    Judging by what the channel said, IPL 2019 saw a total reach of over 462 million across the Star network.

    However, despite an increase in viewership, sports other than cricket have hurdles. Nayyar adds, “Unlike cricket, which is watched pan-India, the other sports properties that are getting traction eventually are more regional in nature. Such as kabaddi is more of the north, football has keen enthusiasts in Kerala, West Bengal, and the Northeast region. These properties see the participation of regional advertisers and are reasonable as compared to pan-India-watched sports.”

    “A sports property like IPL is most-watched but has high costing, whereas a non-cricket sports property with meagre viewership has reasonable price and could be one of the reasons for the stagnant ad volumes in sports that BARC has mentioned in its 2019 report,” explains Nayyar.

    Bhadkamkar adds that apart from viewership on television, non-cricketing brands are indulging in non-traditional methods for promotion such as on-ground initiative, activations, etc. Moreover, apart from traditional sports, e-sports has become the talk of the town and brands do want to leverage it, too. Pro Kabaddi League is one of the non-cricketing sports that has been leveraging on-ground activations over traditional modes. 

    Unlike event-specific genres such as sports, the top three genres such as news, GECs and movies continue to account for over three-fourth of the total ad volumes in 2019, says the BARC 2019 viewership report.

  • A blessing in disguise for broadcasters

    A blessing in disguise for broadcasters

    MUMBAI: The Coronavirus pandemic and the consequent decision to suspend shoots from 19-31 March have proved to be a blessing in disguise for broadcasters. With major shut down of malls, theatres, schools, colleges etc., people are restricting themselves within the narrow confines of their homes, spending more time watching television or exploring OTT platforms. In such a situation, advertisers looking for building brand salience would definitely like to explore the opportunity with better SOV. And broadcasters, needless to say, should have their smart programming strategies in place for the next two to three weeks.

    Omnicom Media Group India Investment & Enterprise national head Yatin Balyan says: “We need to analyse this from a shorter-time frame perspective. Logistics have got hit, travel is restricted, people are not venturing out and I believe the scenario would continue for a week/two or more based on the situation. This will eventually have an adverse impact on business. Yes, certain categories will have more impact than others. Advertisers in specific categories may consider postponing media activities. But I see business getting impacted for a couple of months and once normalcy in attained business will recover very quickly.”

    Joel Multimedia founder and CEO Varghese Thomas says, “Well when I look at the coming quarters, there will be a slow phase across the board. It’s not only for the film, serial or content industry but it’s affecting all industries.  So, there is a slow down we are seeing across.  This would have a direct impact on the performance of these production houses in terms of making new contents and their bottom lines if the date gets extended beyond 31st March. This will also have an impact on the lives of people who work on these production sets.”

    He informs, “As far as broadcasters are concerned, they are dependent on their production team to deliver fresh content every day or on a weekly basis for telecast.   This cycle may get disturbed due to the embargo and it can create a shortage of fresh content.  The programming team may have to re-work their FPCs to fix the short coming and to find solutions to feed the audience with interesting content from their libraries.  This is applicable for all the platforms whether it’s a movie theatre, tv channels or an OTT platform.  There would be a drop in viewership in case these channels are not able to telecast new episodes of their fictions or reality shows.  They could fill the slots with repeat telecasts of their old popular shows and movies.  Movies particularly have decent ratings even for repeat telecasts hence that could be an option for many tv channels if the issue persists.”

    Balyan adds: “From a broadcasters’ perspective, they will have enough content bank to be able to sustain 2-3 weeks without disrupting the on-air programming. With smart programme scheduling they can easily sustain for 3-4 weeks. Also, one perspective to be observed is that the audience will consume more content leading to better viewership. Hence advertisers looking to build brand salience would like to explore this phase with better SOV.”

    He expects advertisers in certain categories to push out or delay media activity. He says, “Also at the same time, certain categories like e-com may continue to invest as people are not looking for offline purchases. For a shorter time period channels may have to manage inventory. Also, I see some rationalisation of media mix to navigate the current challenges.”

    “Planners and agencies are looking to evaluate impact on client’s business and would provide recommendations accordingly. As I said recommendation would be very category-specific,” he opines.

    “As for advertisers and media planners, it would be advisable to evaluate if there is any drop in numbers in terms of viewership and work out their media plans accordingly,” says Thomas.

    Havas Media Group CEO India and South East Asia Anita Nayyar says: “This will certainly affect everyone, be it companies, broadcasters, advertisers, ad agencies as it almost is a lockdown situation. Many organisations have announced work-from-home as well. The situation is scary and worrisome, for, if the consumer is contained everything related to him gets contained. Many have postponed important decisions on purchases which will lead to drop in sales leading to drop in advertising, which in turn will cause drop in spends and business for ad agencies, and hence for publishers and broadcasters.”

    “Media planners need to look at more efficient and effective ways—digital and OTT being one of them. This will also lead to an increase in viewership at home given home is the new work destination,” said Nayyar.

    On 15 March, in a joint meeting of Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA)- Western India Film Producers' Association (WIPFA)- Indian Film and Television Producers Council (IFTPC)-Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA)- Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) have taken a decision to stop shooting various Indian association bodies of television, directors and producers of films, TV serials and web series from 19 March 2020 till 31 March 2020.

    Appreciating the move by the associations Thomas says, “I personally feel that it’s a great move by these associations and governing bodies to take a break from shootings where a lot of people’s lives could be at risk due to the widely spreading epidemic.  As we all know our lives are more important than anything else right?  So, it’s a fantastic initiative and a great endeavor to break-the-chain.”

    Keeping in mind the health and safety of all concerned, ZEE will stop all shoots in the timelines stipulated in the directive. “In times where social distancing is the need of the hour to curb the outbreak of COVID-19 and people are spending more time indoors, the idea is to provide audiences with the most engaging entertainment for the entire family. Talks are still on to arrive at a strategy that ensures viewers have the best content to look forward to in the said period,” informed the broadcaster.

  • Havas Media bags integrated media duties of ACC Cement

    Havas Media bags integrated media duties of ACC Cement

    MUMBAI: Havas Media has bagged the integrated media mandate of ACC Limited. ACC Limited is one of the largest producers of cement and ready mixed concrete in India. Headquartered in Mumbai ACC has set a benchmark in cement and concrete technology and has earned the country's trust and goodwill through its valued product portfolio, ethical business practices, and governance and focus on sustainability. 

    ACC Limited CMO and head new products and services Ashish Prasad said: “We are happy to have Havas Media as a partner in our journey to live by our pioneering and innovation spirit. We are confident that with the very dynamic and fast-changing media scenario, Havas Media with their global experience and expertise will be able to develop a robust strategy for our brand and add impetus to all our marketing initiatives.”

    Havas Group India CEO Rana Barua CEO said: “ACC Cement is synonymous for cement and enjoys high equity in the Indian market. From anticipating customers’ needs to being able to serve them with innovative and differentiated products and solutions, ACC has always been a front-runner. Havas Group’s multi-faceted, integrated, meaningful approach makes us a strong force to reckon with. We are glad to be partnering with such an iconic brand and look forward to a meaningful association.”

    Havas Media Group India managing director Mohit Joshi said: “We are excited to be appointed as a brand partner for a legacy brand like ACC Cement. At play will be Havas Media Group's integrated media skills centered on digital and our 'Meaningful Brands' framework which will together map the brand chart for ACC Cement. We look forward to carving a meaningful brand strategy and taking the brand to greater heights.”

  • Corona impact on IPL: Brands take a wait-and-watch approach

    Corona impact on IPL: Brands take a wait-and-watch approach

    MUMBAI: Three weeks into India’s biggest cricketing event, Indian Premier League, brands and sponsors are re-looking their strategy amid the outbreak of coronavirus.

    The virus that first appeared in the Wuhan city of China has spread to over 46 countries and entered India earlier this month. Around 50 positive cases have been confirmed in India as of Tuesday, as per the union health ministry.

    Amid the pandemic, the global trade has taken a toll and affected countries have shut their borders. “From a brand perspective, the market has slowed down a bit. Everybody is putting things on hold and is on wait-and-watch mode”, says Havas Media’s chief executive officer Anita Nayyar.

    She believes that as the League approaches, everybody will take a call on the impact of the virus on IPL. “Since money is involved in this event, the virus scare will absolutely impact the overall business. The impact will be there, but to what extent? It’s something we will get to know as we approach the sporting event,” says Nayyar.

    Nayyar adds, “Change in on-ground viewership will open up the box of re-negotiation amid the virus outbreak. Except for broadcasters, events, stadia-ads, event-ticketing will get impacted as on-ground viewership leads to different hue and add tinge to the entertainment-sporting event.”  

    Sharing the same view, Madison Media’s senior general manager Chirag Shah believes there will be a deep impact on on-ground revenue as the turnaround on stadiums could be lower, especially in regions like Delhi and Kerala where the virus spread is huge.

    “Though the co-sponsors and title sponsors may have been sold as the event nears there are inventories and spot-buys to be sold that will be impacted. Brands are somehow reluctant and discussions are happening within them and they definitely have doubts about it,” says Shah.

    Explaining as to why spot-buys will see an impact, Shah says, “Consumer durables are the major advertisers that buy inventories during IPL and are heavily dependent on the south-eastern countries like China, Japan and South Korea for the components or parts. And, as these countries are majorly being hit by the virus, there’s an impact on supply, and eventually, ad spends on such expensive property will be re-looked.”

    The virus being most contagious and its spread phenomenal, chances are that the stadium may see less number of turnout as people are worried about their lives.

    Trust Research Advisory CEO and brand expert N Chandramouli says, “Such sporting events draw the attention of large crowd gathering. Amid the virus outbreak, the crowd coming together is a big no-no. IPL not being that sacrosanct as Olympics can be held later. There would be viewership challenge if there’s no stadium crowd as they are the one who add drama, excitement, and passion to the tournament.”

    Says Chandramouli, “The virus’ impact is huge on the economy and all the other sectors. Similarly, don’t believe that IPL will be spared. The only thing is people are not sure about the intensity of that impact.”

    “Brands are re-looking their strategy very closely”, says Mouli, echoing Nayyar’s view. “Even brands themselves should pull back from the event and urge government for the postponement.” According to him, down the line if the situation worsens, the union government may step in and probably come up with the alternative of postponement or time cancellation of the event.

    On the other hand, Dentsu Aegis Network India’s chief executive officer Anand Bhadkamkar says, “At this point, nobody knows what will happen and postponement of the event won’t impact the brand value; however, there definitely will be a loss of viewership, and eventually revenue.” IPL during summer vacations garners maximum eyeballs.

    Adding further, the DAN India CEO says, “Every brand is going back to their drawing board and re-looking the strategy planned for the IPL. They are evaluating the options and scenarios considering a lot of money, manpower involved in the process.” How long this will go on? That is something we need to see, he adds.

    He says, “Anything that is changed or moved from the original format will certainly have ramifications; the only difference is that we are unaware of the impact and too early to predict loss. But the impact of the virus outspread will definitely be seen.”  

    Is the virus scare hyped?

    All the four industry experts are of the view that there is no hype regarding the outbreak, but people, of course, are overcautious and don’t wish to take risk as the virus is pandemic.

    Amid the concerns, the Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope had said the state government is thinking of postponing the 13 edition of IPL. The Board of Cricket Council of India president Sourav Ganguly has said the game will happen as planned and that the board will take as many precautions and measures as possible.

  • Industry hopes pinned on a better 2020 for mainline advertising

    Industry hopes pinned on a better 2020 for mainline advertising

    DELHI: 2019 was a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges for the advertising industry. Television primarily witnessed a great drop in its growth with an ambiguous first quarter because of the new tariff order and a slow final quarter because of the economic slowdown. While the second quarter gave some hope with IPL, cricket world cup and general elections holding the trends up, the overall performance of the industry was disappointing. The growth, as shared by GroupM in its report, was in single digit numbers, at 9.4 per cent, less than half of what it recorded in 2018 and much lesser than the estimates of 12-14 per cent predicted during the beginning of the year.

    Madison Media Ultra CEO and head investments Amol Dighe shared, “As we all know, categories like FMCG, Telecom, Ecommerce, BFSI, Auto, etc. have a significant share in all Mainline Mediums. Most of these categories were affected by the economic slowdown resulting in the slowdown of advertising spends as well. We had to revise the Madison Pitch estimates in terms of growth across mediums. The growth forecast for leading mediums like TV was revised downward.”

    However, mainline agencies are positive that the growth trends will change for positive in 2020, as they are pinning their hopes towards seeing a revival in the economy.

    Havas Media Group managing director Mohit Joshi said that the wrapping year was a bit challenging for the industry and firm and he is expecting it to improve in 2020. “2019 was a tough year but we managed to reach our aggressive targets. Economic slowdown did have an impact on the advertising spends especially on our auto and white good clients. For 2020, I see a slow Q1, however, I am hopeful that it will balance out in the next three quarters,” he shared with his fingers crossed.

    Dighe is expecting more product launches with a revival in the economy in 2020. He said, “We are all hoping for a better 2020. We expect that consumer demand will pick up in 2020 as the government is taking steps to revive the economy, which will lead to higher spends on advertising. 2020 might see more product launches which were postponed due to the weak consumer demand in 2019.”

    GroupM has predicted the growth for television to be 11.1 per cent in 2020, stating that the global economy will remain soft during the year. It has predicted that India will remain the world leader in advertising across media and ad spends will continue to grow at 12-13 per cent each year from 2020 to 2024.

    The industry seems quite positive about the growth in the sector however economic uncertainty within the country and the ongoing situation of unrest will surely impact the overall performance, which will be interesting to see through the year. 

  • Tamil Nadu viewers glued to TV; digital catching up fast

    Tamil Nadu viewers glued to TV; digital catching up fast

    MUMBAI: The advertising and marketing industry at the first edition of Tele-Wise Tamil urged the industry to look at TV and digital as two wheels rotating around one axis. They emphasised that the growth of television in any market can’t be calculated without considering that though being invented as isolated units, TV and digital have merged into one big medium now, because of technological advancements.

    Lowe Lintas regional creative officer Kapil Mishra said, “Whenever you ask someone to imagine a television, they either think of a box or a flat-screen on a TV unit. But TV is not just the hardware; it is also its software. Technology has separated these two and has liberated the software. Now, television is everywhere; on your phones, laptops, and your tablets.”

    He continued by saying that this segregation of TV software and hardware has greatly impacted the TV-viewing culture in every market. He insisted that now marketers and advertisers have more opportunities to harness this medium to reach their audience.

    Havas Media Group CEO India & Southeast Asia Anita Nayyar shared similar thoughts as she mentioned that one can’t neglect the role of digital in driving the growth of television medium. “When we think of TV, we should think audio-visual. The content is becoming screen-agnostic now.”

    Elaborating more on the potential that the Tamil Nadu market has for digital and TV media, Nayyar noted, “Tamil happens to be the third-largest content language being consumed online. 42 per cent of the population in Tamil Nadu has internet and mobiles. 42 Tamil channels have crossed more than 1 million followers on YouTube. Sun NXT today is talking about 1 crore installs of its app. In fact, Tamil originals are working great on other OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hotstar as well. Mobile definitely is the next most important device in one’s hand for content consumption.”

    Nayyar, however, also insisted that growth of alternate screens won’t perish the TV in its original form in Tamil Nadu or India.

    She highlighted that while the TV viewership in the country grew by 13 per cent in the last year, in Tamil Nadu this number was 14 per cent. She added that in South India, Tamil Nadu noted the second-highest time spent on television at 215 minutes a day vis-a-vis 245 minutes of Andhra Pradesh.

    Shedding some more light on the TV-viewing patterns in the state, Nayyar said, “Tamil Nadu is completely hooked to television. They prefer entertainment over any other genre. At prime time, 73 per cent of viewership is for GECs, which actually falls to an all-day average of 65 per cent. Tamil GEC is at 55.5 per cent in terms of genre preference, and the top shows are recording up to 23.4 TVRs, which are unheard in today’s time. People also prefer to watch movie channels during prime time. News and music viewership is quite low in the night time but they are most preferred in the morning.

    Tele-Wise Tamil was the inaugural edition of Indiantelevision.com’s Tele-Wise series that aims to look into the opportunities that regional markets have for broadcasters, advertisers, marketers, and other related shareholders. The event was concluded in Tamil Nadu recently with a number of industry veterans and experts in presence.

  • Havas Media bags integrated media duties of British Council

    Havas Media bags integrated media duties of British Council

    MUMBAI: Havas Media, India has bagged the integrated media duties of British Council Examinations and English Services India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of British Council, UK, specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities with presence in over 100 countries. 

    The mandate includes media strategy, planning and buying, digital and social duties. The account will be handled out of the agency’s Gurgaon office. 

    Established in 1948, the British Council is recognised across India for its network of eight libraries and cultural centres. It offers a range of specialised projects in arts, education, English language and society to several thousand people across India. It also provides access to English language training and learning for both students and teachers and enables opportunities to study abroad including in the UK. BC Examinations and English Services India Pvt Ltd manages the delivery of IELTS and Digital English language services. 

    Commenting on the partnership, British Council Examinations and English Services India Pvt Ltd CEO Michael King said, “Agility and a consumer-centric mindset from our partners is key to our deliveries, as is reliance on deeper customer insights and data-driven actions. We are confident that Havas Media with its integrated media approach and market expertise will deliver the desired results for the brand. We are excited about this partnership and look forward to working with Havas Media.”

    Havas Media Group, India managing director Mohit Joshi said, “We are delighted to be partnering with British Council, an international organisation that aims to celebrate the modern-day relationship between both countries and build meaningful connections via creativity, collaboration and cultural exchange. Digital is at the core of Havas and we are proud to be associated with a digital-first brand that has created world-leading digital cultural experiences, opening up the worlds of dance, music and theatre to millions of young Indians.”