Fast moving consumer goods brands continue to dominate the television advertising space with the country’s biggest FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) retaining the top slot among advertisers on the small screen. According to data released by TAM AdEx (the division of TAM Media Research which monitors advertising expenditure on television, radio and print), Hindustan Unilever with 8% share (same as in 2010) is number one in the list of top ten advertisers for 2011 (January to December), in the television advertising category.
The year-on-year growth for TV advertising for 2011 (over 2010) is 14%. Other than HUL, the top ten advertisers in the TV category are Reckitt Benckiser India (3% share), Cadbury India (2%), ITC (2%) Proctor & Gamble India (2%), Pond’s India (1%), Coca-Cola India (1%), Colgate Palmolive India (1%), Smithkline Beecham (1%) and Bharti Airtel (1%). Bharti Airtel is the only telecom services advertiser in the list. Interestingly, rival telecom company Vodafone India does not feature in the top advertisers list but is the most advertised brand of 2011. Other major telecom service providers such as Idea Cellular and Reliance are also missing. Coca-Cola’s closest rival Pepsi did not advertise a lot this year and thus, is not a part of the list too.
All the analysis is based on ad volumes (For TV: Duration in seconds and for print: Column Centimeters).
Social advertisements has been a popular category in 2011 for all the three mediums – TV, print and radio. ?The number of advertisers under the social advertisements category will be far higher than any other category. The collective aggregated spends of these advertisers make it a highly advertised category,? says Rajendra Dwivedi, vice-president, Starcom Worldwide, Mumbai. ?Predominant amongst these advertisers will be government bodies advertising various government initiatives like Aadhar, polio vaccination, etc. This would have been critical last year as a build up to state elections this year and will only continue to grow this year.?
The top ten brands that were advertised on TV in 2011 include Vodafone Cellular phone service on the top, which came back with another season of its Zoozoo campaign during the Indian Premier League . This is followed by Colgate dental cream, Airtel cellular phone service ( which launched the new campaign ‘Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai, this year), ITC’s Vivel Active Fair, Complan, HUL’s Fair & Lovely multivitamin cream, National Integration, Sprite, Dettol toilet soaps and Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate.
In terms of categories, social advertisements ruled the roost in 2011 with 4% share. This is followed by toilet soaps (3%), cellular phone services (3%), shampoos (3%), cars/jeeps (2%), toothpastes (2%), cellular phones (2%), milk beverages (2%), fairness creams (2%) and corporate/brand image (2%).
In case of print advertising, it is a different story with FMCG not finding a place in the top ten categories advertising in the print medium. The maximum number of print advertisers are from the auto sector and consumer durables companies. In the past one year, there has been a spurt in e-commerce websites and their marketing activities. They have now become a part of the top ten categories list in print and of top ten advertisers and brands as well. The top ten advertisers include Tata Motors (2%), e-commerce website naaptol.com (1%), Gitanjali Gems (1%), General Motors India (1%), Samsung India Electronics (1%), Maruti Udyog (1%), Pantaloons Retail India (1% share; the only retail company in the list), Mahindra & Mahindra (0.4%), LG Electronics India (0.4%) and Videocon Industries (0.4%). The year-on-year growth for print advertising for 2011 (over 2010) is 17%.
?Women are the target audience for a large section of advertised FMCG products. Given that the cost of reaching the female audience on TV is low, TV has far higher reach than print for females and that FMCG requires longevity of presence, TV becomes the dominant medium to disseminate the message Thus FMCG has dominated the TV medium and not so active in print,? says Dwivedi.
The top ten brands advertising in the print medium is dominated by various ministries (mainly tourism ads) and auto companies. Naaptol.com leads the top ten brands list in print. This is followed by Tata Nano, government of Uttar Pradesh, MBA institute IIPM, department of income tax, Maruti with its various car brands, ministry of information and broadcasting, Chevrolet with its various cars, Tata with Nano and other sub-brands and government of Gujarat.
Not surprisingly, educational institutes lead the the top ten categories list in the print medium, with 8% share. Education sector has always used the print medium strongly. Social advertisements lead with the same share too (8%). This is followed by properties/real estates (4%), cars/jeeps (4%), independent retailers (4%), hospita l/clinics (3%), corporate/brand image (2%), B2C and online shopping portals (2%), jewellery (2%) and coaching centres (2%).
The top ten advertisers in the radio category is an interesting mix. The list includes Tata Teleservices (2%), Bharti Airtel (1%), Pantaloons Retail India (1%), ministry of health and family welfare (1%), Maruti Udyog (1%), Nokia (1%), Life Insurance Corporation of India (1%), Hindustan Unilever (1%), Tata Motors (1%) and Coca Cola India (1%). The year-on-year growth for radio advertising for 2011 (over 2010) is14%.
The telecom sector has been highly audible on radio. The top ten brands include ministry of health and family welfare, Airtel cellular phone service, Vodafone cellular phone service, ICICI Lombard Motor Insurance, Big Bazaar, Manappuram Loan against Gold, Blackberry Smartphones, Maruti Genuine Parts, Tata Indicom Cell Phone Service and Hero Motocorp.
The top ten categories that advertise on radio include properties/ real estates (7%), social advertisements (6%), independent retailers (6%), cellular phone services (5%), educational institutes (3%), jewellery (3%), cars/jeeps (3%), cellular phones (2%), general internet service providers (2%) and life insurance (2%).