The government emerged as an aggressive advertiser in 2008 as far as the print media is concerned. Not only have four ministries and one government-owned bank grabbed five of the top 10-brand position of 2008 in terms of maximum ad-volumes in the print, four out of the top 10 new brands that have emerged in 2008 belong to the government, according to TAM data.
While the State Bank of India has been ranked at third position among the top 10 brands on the basis of the ad space that brands have acquired, department of income tax, ministry of information and broadcasting, ministry of health and family welfare and ministry of consumer affairs have been placed at the fourth, seventh, ninth and tenth position respectively.
The scene has changed remarkably since a decade back (1999), when not a single ministry figured in the list of top 10 brands compiled by TAM that employed the same methodology. Also among the new entrants that have made it to the top 10 new brands advertised in print during 2008, ministry of steel and Bharat Nirman have been ranked at the second and third position, while ministry of new and renewal energy and central board of excise custom have grabbed seventh and tenth positions respectively.
The significant change that brands in the ad space have witnessed is that the government arms have replaced the automobile and consumer durable sectors in becoming the top brands consuming maximum ad volumes. In 1999, four top advertisers? slots went to consumer durable sector and three to the automobile sector.
The total number of brands advertised in print during 2008 stand at 1,085, almost a ten times jump since 1999 when the total number of brands advertising in print media stood at just about 100. It meant a growth of around 10% since the year before (2007-987).
While the top 100 brands contributed for 30% of ad-space in 1999, the contribution of the same has decreased to 1% in 2008. As the number of brands advertising in print increased with every passing year, the share of ad space accounted for by the top 100 brands continued to decline. From 2002 onwards, the share of ad space claimed by top 100 brands have remained equal to or less than 5% of total ad volumes. The print media has witnessed a 3.6 times rise in the average number of ads appearing per day in newspapers during 2008 over 1999.