- While festivals will still be celebrated virtually or in small groups this year, consumer sentiment has already shown early signs of improvement due to Ganesh Chaturthi’s recent finding.
- With a steady monsoon, a bountiful harvest so far and the return of the IPL,
advertising industry hope the prosecutionholiday season will bring joy and serve as a respite from the slumber associated with the pandemic. This will help the advertising world get back to normal.
India is the land of festivals and every festival is celebrated with great pomp and joy in this country. While the recently concluded Ganesh Chaturthi festival, which is otherwise known for its fanfare and grand celebration, has been affected due to the pandemic, it has led to a rapid improvement in consumer sentiment. According to the Axis My India report, 42% of families said they would buy more or as much as last year. This gives an indication that there is a sense of cautious optimism and that the pent-up demand or degree of revenge buying that occurred last year may not be the same this year. This expected increase in spending is higher among employees in private and government services. The increase in spending on essentials like personal and household care is 47%, an increase of 4 percentage points from last month.
Consumers are spending a little extra money to beautify their homes now to welcome Maa Durga and then prepare for India’s biggest festival, Diwali. Thus, brands are pinning a lot of hope on the end-of-year celebrations this year to help them bounce back. They began working on their burgeoning ad campaigns to regain consumer trust and help shape market sentiment.
Advances in the advertising industry have always been in tandem with consumer sentiment and around 40-45% of annual advertising spending in India takes place between Raksha Bandhan and New Year. In many ways, advertising is a behind and ahead indicator for our country — if the country’s GDP grows by 8%, advertising grows by 12%. If GDP falls, ad revenue falls even lower. In 2020, while advertising revenues had reached -60% in April, many hopes are pinned on the holiday season this year for the overall revival of the industry.
Mohit Joshi, CEO of Havas Media Group India, said, “With the increase in the number of vaccines and positive market sentiment, the holiday season is poised for a stronger and better recovery from 2020. It is estimated that the holiday season will generate upward publicity. of INR 7,000 crore, about 12-15% higher than last year’s festive season and is expected to provide significant support to the growing economy.
This Indian festive season is associated with IPL, which is a gigantic festival in itself that generates revenue for the advertising industry and holds the power to alter market sentiment. Joshi said the return of IPL 2021 and a host of high-impact properties like the ICC T20 World Cup coupled with reality shows like KBC 13, Bigg Boss 15, Dance+6 and multiple OTT mega releases will make it a festive windfall for all involved. Hari Krishnan, CEO of Mullen Lintas, is also optimistic about a better recovery than in 2020. He said: “Last year was cautious optimism. This time around there seems to be a lot more confidence after the vaccination and the optimism seems to be a lot more reassured. That aside, there are two big cricket events and it’s sure to bring a lot of eyeballs to TV. It’s a wide-reaching platform and something brands would be eager to be a part of. Chances are this holiday season will see a lot of pent-up purchases that different categories could benefit from.
Experts said digital would lead the game as advertisers shifted their money from traditional platforms to virtual ones.
Sahil Shah, Managing Partner, WATConsult said, “I think it will be a 60-70% jump in some categories which will become even more aggressive. And compared to pre-covid levels, overall spending is expected to be 15-20% higher. I think digital will invariably see the maximum percentage growth, followed by TV, then other media. From a marketing perspective, data-driven communication will grow in importance, as will e-commerce investments. Additionally, marketers are experimenting with new ways to reach the consumer through innovative content and experiences, an area in which all
Digital media in the lead, followed by television and print media
Rishabh Mahendru, AVP, Customer Service, AdLift expects to see advertising revenue increase by 10% to 15% this year. Although digital is likely to get the biggest slice of the pie, he said Facebook (Instagram), OTT and YouTube will lead in this sector. He also said that if there was another lockdown, e-commerce would continue to thrive.
“The weather was more uncertain last year, yet the e-commerce industry saw over 50% growth in festive orders. This year, we should see the same or better results,” Mahendru said.
On the other hand, Unmisha Bhatt, Chief Strategy Officer and Director, India and MENA Region at Tonic Worldwide, said brands will explore LinkedIn this year.
She said: “Innovative campaigns will be seen by brands on LinkedIn given the increased engagement of professionals on LinkedIn. High reach/outreach platforms like TV and outdoor will still be part of the integrated pie and will see the same demand as before. However, the platform that will see the most growth in previous years has been digital since its relevance has won.
Sharing a few other trends we might see in digital marketing, Bhatt added, “Video commerce and live shopping is one of the new trends that we will see emerging soon. And do you remember teleshopping? We will soon see the rise of this on digital too! The seamless user journey and features will mimic the retail environment to ensure consumers don’t miss out on retail experiences. This means technology-based experiential marketing with AR/VR and mixed reality to ensure consumer recall, as well as engagement, will also see an increase with experience commerce that enables sales. Conversational commerce will also pick up in the form of chatbots as it leads to faster responses for the impatient consumer.
The pandemic-accelerated digital adoption has dramatically changed the way audiences consume media. It also paved the way for content creators, putting them in the spotlight.
Prachi Bali, National Head Client Partnerships & Business Head (North), FoxyMoron (Zoo Media) said, “In addition to the usual engagement platforms of FB, IG and YT, there is a lot of interest in regional and nano influencers. In addition, regional and smaller content/editing platforms find their way into media plans. Brands want to create a stronger customer connection by making content work harder, multiplied by language and platform, rather than creating standalone traditional content pieces. Consumer facing technologies that drive engagement such as filters, interactive ads, buyable videos are the trends we will see brands adopt as they all encourage social commerce. ”
While brands and advertisers are very cautious this year to commit large sums of money to media after 2020 and will look at the ROI of their media investments, they still want to make hay while the sun shines.
Prasad Shejale, Founder and CEO of Logicserve Digital, said, “Advertisers will tend to focus on all possible mediums and attract more and more audiences. I’m sure they will now scale equally across different mediums and hence all mediums will definitely scale. With such focus, I even anticipate that the bottom of the funnel channels will grow. Looking at consumer behavior and preferences over the past few months or years, I believe the video channel will experience tremendous growth as there is an urgent need to break through the clutter these days. When I say video, it will be video in every way, whether it’s video on demand or on social networks or OTT. That said, while we know advertisers will try to make the most of the holiday season and explore different formats or platforms, many of them are also focusing on the right measurement infrastructure that helps them correctly understand the impact and also provides useful information for planning future activities.
The automotive industry, e-commerce and travel will be the big spenders
According to data from Gipsi (the AI and HI research arm of Tonic), search queries increased 3x in categories such as online shopping, travel, automotive (especially the segment of SUV), fashion and gadgets in 2019.
Experts have also estimated that the automobile will experience a boom as consumers now avoid public transport. Other categories that popped up in our discussion were EduTech, eCommerce, OTT, and Travel.
“People have started to travel, offices are opening up little by little. Traffic resumes on the roads and restaurants fill up little by little. This year, Fashion & Accessories, FMCG, Durable Goods, EdTech, FinTech, and most new e-commerce/online brands are expected to be active. We could also see stocks from the automotive sector,” Krishnan said.
Joshi also shared his optimism about auto industry and e-commerce spending.
He said: “Automotive, gaming, education, beverages, FMCG, cement, tires and consumer durables are some of the categories that will reactivate their marketing plans in the second half of the year. Given the ad clutter during the holiday season, brands will need to increase awareness and stay prioritized throughout the consumer’s buying and consuming journey.”
Apart from these obvious problems, Shejale pointed out that the travel industry, which suffered the most in 2020, has finally started to recover. He said: “Firstly, I am sure travel will resume and has already started to resume. As the travel industry thrives, so will the hotel and hospitality industry. Apart from this, retail (online and offline) will also recover and continue to grow. »
Trends so far have only indicated that consumer sentiment is improving, which is more likely to continue to grow in the current holiday season.
