Advertising volumes for the mutual fund industry saw a sharp slide in the financial year 2012 over the year-ago period as volatile equities, lack of new fund offers (NFOs) and a tight budget compelled fund houses to go easy on marketing spends.

For the fiscal year ended March 2012, television ad volumes dipped 12%, print volumes slumped 47% and ad volumes for radio fell 1% over the year-ago period, data collated by Tam AdEx, a division of Tam media research, shows. The number of advertisers declined to 5 from 15 for radio and to 33 from 38 for print in the same period.

?The tough business environment has forced AMCs to slash their marketing spends and cut down on above-the-line activities,? said the chief marketing officer of a large fund house, who did not want to be quoted.

According to industry participants, the drastic fall in print advertising was because of the dearth of new fund offers launched in FY12.

?The number of new fund offers has fallen substantially over the past year. Even the ones that are being launched are being done on a shoestring budget,? said Dhirendra Kumar, CEO, Value Research. There were 17 equity NFOs launched in FY12. TV ad volumes declined despite Amfi?s estimated splurge of R8 crore on its television ad campaign last year to raise awareness about investing in mutual funds.

Historically, print has cornered a lion?s share of the MF advertising budget, with around 50% of ad spends directed towards the medium, according to industry estimates.

The print medium is generally looked upon as a tool to validate data and underscore a fund?s performance whereas the television medium is typically used for the purpose of brand building.

The focus has shifted to the more cost-effective below-the-line advertising in the past year, believe industry observers. Fund houses have tried to reach out to investors through seminars, mailers, investor education programmes and marketing collateral.

Digital advertising ? be it through social networking sites such as Facebook, web banners on financial portals or search engines ? has also drawn the attention of top fund houses.

A substantial portion of the marketing communication efforts last year was directed at getting investors to invest through systematic investment plans.