The advertising industry, like many other businesses, has been adversely impacted amidst the Covid-19 induced lockdown. “It’s not going to be business as usual, it will be a negative growth year. At the beginning of the year, the industry was projected to grow at 10%-12%. We will probably end the year at around negative 15%. That almost translates to a loss of nearly Rs 22,000 crore,” Ashish Bhasin, CEO, APAC, and chairman, India, Dentsu Aegis Network said. According to him, there will not be a V-shaped recovery and the industry will see a slow movement until Diwali, when things may normalise.
To drive growth, industry stakeholders will need to up their skill sets and offerings. “Going ahead, there will be a lot more push on efficiency, and automation will play a much bigger role, as the clients will want more for less,” Bhasin observed, adding that the relationship between brands and agencies has become more transactional today and that’s also evident in the fact that the duration of relationships is shortening. Meanwhile, digital as a medium will continue to grow, hence, agencies will need to integrate it into their core offerings.
Bhasin, who will be demitting the post as the president of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), also pointed out the need for Government’s support in rebuilding the advertising industry. “The Government needs to and can do more to help the advertising industry and that has to be an ongoing effort,” he stated. Infact, he had also sent recommendations on behalf of the members of AAAI, to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar, highlighting the importance of the advertising industry for the accelerated revival of the economy.
He also noted that one of the biggest challenges has been the inability to attract top-class talent. “We have to make our industry more attractive to the younger generation. It’s important to ensure that advertising continues to be a profession of choice and therefore, we must find ways to grow the overall talent pool,” Bhasin elaborated.
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