Clients have often asked me as to where they should advertise. It seems like a very simple and naive question, but in today?s India, the media muddle being what it is, just being on a particular channel or a particular newspaper is not enough. Just like brands exist in an environment which enables consumer engagement and, therefore, consumer preference, advertising, too, needs to nestle in a space that will allow for the brand to gain both share of voice and, even more critically, retention of brand image.
How silly would it be for a cream like Fair & Lovely to be advertised alongside a programme, which actually talks of women?s rights or the emancipation of women? Or, for that matter, equally atrocious would be for a newspaper (which largely should be a serious business) to be advertised along side a Bollywood show or, for that matter, a kid?s product to be advertised just before the many crime programmes that hog our television airwaves today.
The science of media management and, therefore, media placement cannot be dictated by how many people are watching the programme or reading the newspaper. It must be guided and driven by who is watching and reading, respectively. It seems a non-sequitor, but ask any advertising professional and he will tell you that ultimately it is the eyeballs that matter, and this is where I need to disagree.
The business of eyeballs is long over. Across the world, brand marketers are increasingly looking at non-confrontational media environments. Many American brands took off their advertising along war-based news programmes simply because there was a dichotomy to spending for a lifestyle and sacrificing one?s life in the service of the nation. There was a time when it was anathema for medical care brands to advertise since a lot of people believed that the business of health was indeed the business of charity. But all that has changed and the template that medical care brands have adopted (and rightly so) is one of imparting information leading to better preventive health or providing options for curative health. Both of which are essential in today?s hurried world.
I believe the introspection that advertisers and agencies must invest in needs to stem from an understanding of consumer sentiment and not just the basic template of target segmentation that seems to consume our very being. This definition of consumer moods and sentiment must be the guiding principle for any kind of media selection. For example, trust brands needs to advertise in media options that are, in fact, known for their credibility and their uprightness. There is no point, by the same logic, for a trust brand or, for that matter, an automotive brand (where safety and reliability are still key planks) to be advertised in the tabloid kind of television programme or a rag of a newspaper. These create the kind of consumer dissonance, which may not have short-term impact but one which will certainly impair the brand in the long-term.
The reality is that while we in the business may think in boxes (rather than out of them), the consumer?s mind is a kind of wanderlust. It travels within a media environment which is borderless, making it even more difficult for brands to create little clusters in which they can reside and foster recall. It is this that brands need to seek from their media partners. And very few media planners are focusing on that, for the simple reason that consumer research conducted either by the advertising agency or the client is rarely shared with the media agency or has even an element of media habit probing. Which is why the research has a category component (for example, the category of toothpastes) but seldom a media index. This is what will need to change as the Indian media market evolves.
I have often been asked whether the Great Indian Media Market can sustain the amount of news channels we have or, for that matter, the amount of entertainment programming that there is. The answer is a bit of yes and a bit of no. Even though very few television channels or newspapers are investing in positioning, the consumer is happily positioning them and in the process attaching image values or image negatives to the brands that advertise in those vehicles. It is this paradox that needs mind engagement, or else brands will swim in their own vacuum!
The battle may be in the domain of TRPs, but the war will be won by those brands who can go beyond the world of circulation and reach and look at the deeper instinct that drives the ultimate viewing or reading habit!
The writer is CEO, Equus Redcell