tv media- searching for it's importance

8/14/2019 TV Media- Searching for It's Importance

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TV Media- Searching for Its Importance

HUL, biggest advertisers in Indian Advertising Space has been going all

out on the concept of complete road block on all channels of one TV

network for a day, showcasing its entire basket. It has done twice in this

month, first on Star TV on 17th September and next on Zee TV on 24th

September, when all the channels of the TV network carried

advertisement of only HUL products spending nearly 18-20 crore a day.

This concept was first initiated in 2007, when Hutch changed to Vodafone.

Idea behind this type of activity is greater consumer engagement and

creating positive impression about any product of the company.

In india, total TV homes are around 140,131,681, which is 65% of total

households in India and subscription TV contributes 64% of the same.

From the early days of its introduction, commercial television has been

the matter of great enthusiasm and heartburn at the same time for the

companies whose brands are advertised on the air and even more on the

part of agencies which write the advertisements. These enthusiasm and

heartburn has even gathered more momentum despite the strange fact

that market research industry was quite unable to measure how television

advertising actually worked to grow sales and build brands. Advertisersseems divided on how they utilize the media mix but TV and digital media

will continue to challenge and erode the print medias number one

position. According to TAMs Adex Service, in the past ten years, there has

been 89% rise in number of advertisers using television, with HUL

maintaining the top spot. What is new thing has emerged in past ten

years that top ten advertising sector contributes 45% of overall revenue

as compared to 76%.TV sustained 40% share of advertisement spend and

it is expected to maintain that level. As per Pitch- Madison survey, print

media pocketed largest ad spend in 2008 with 47.4% of the share,followed by 40.2% of television and digital media, but other media forms

are also making their presence felt like outdoor advertising with 6.8%,

radio with 3.2%, internet with 1.7% and Cinema with 0.6%. A relatively

new concept is emerging out is buying visibility at Supermarket chains.

Big retail chains are having the presence all across the country with high

number of dedicated consumer footfalls, own constructed retail space to

arrange visibility, end place of retail distribution channel, investment by

retail chains to buy products is giving new meaning to advertisement

because cost of acquisition of consumers is very low, results more directand visible.


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While TV media has been holding its premier position, but with the rapidly

changing market scenario, economic profile of the consumers (undergone

a lot of change in past one year), social dynamics, consumer behaviour

(from being adventurous a year back to cautious now) various new

segment has got added in already numerous existing consumersegments. It is now challenging the old advertisement and communication

fundamentals.

Gone are the days of Doordarshan, when there was only one government

owned TV channel with limited television programmes, commercials got

maximum attention, but with nearly 500 TV channels scene has

completely changed today. With the social scenario prevalent in the

country, role of regional media and in particular print media has been

growing continuously. In electronic media, fragmented viewership has led

to various niche channels. Not only have the channels become niche butthe content as well. While the prime time is especially dedicated to

housewives on various entertainment channels, business news channels

are more focussed towards upmarket working professionals. Entry barrier

and cost of advertisement is also high in electronic media as compared to

other media providers. Moreover cost of advertisement on TV depends on

TRP of the television programme, which is ever questionable due to its

method of deciding the popularity of any programme based on their study

of peoplemeter installed in nearly 8000 households.

Further, there are number of technical difficulties in way of measuring

advertising effects, in particular isolating the impact of advertisement

from other sales stimulus like retail distribution network and sales

promotion which is other than product quality, pricing and value for

money. In early 1990s, more simple but realistic research techniques were

developed to track individual households purchasing of identified brands

and also reception of television advertising of the same brands. The

technique called Pure Single Source Research, is conceptually simple but

extremely costly and complicated to carry out. One leading research

organization eventually invested large sum of money and resources and

installed hand held scanners in a large number of households to identify

specific brand purchased in each. They also installed peoplemeter in each

household to identify actual brands advertised in the commercials

entering the homes. The result was pure and uncontaminated measure of

purchasing of a brand in the household that had received advertising for it

during the seven days before they bought it and purchasing of that same

brand by the household that had not received such advertising. The Short

Term Advertising Strength between the two levels were quite startling and

very high as double, but the overall range of STAS effects were variabledepending upon the advertising idea embodied in the campaign.


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Altogether, 30% of the brands generate strong STAS effect, 40% produce

positive but rather small effect and 30% have campaigns has caused

reduction in sales. This is because campaigns in question are too weak to

protect the brand from the creatively stronger campaign for the

competing brands which are run at the same time and consumers buy thelatter, thus depressing the sales of the brand whose STAS is being

measured.

Success of any product depends on various factors and all constituent

factors come at cost; which has anyway to be paid by the consumers

ultimately. With higher level of education and awareness in the Indian

consumers than what it might have been 15-20 years back, and they

hardly makes any buying decision without asking hundreds of question

and satisfying themselves with answers. They dont rush to nearby retail

store after seeing any advertisement on television previous night. Ahousewife does not buy anything unless and until the benefits

communicated to her by any mode of advertisement is actually

measurable in terms of money, takes care of health interest of her

household and matches her social aspiration. Success of private label

brands, albeit at a smaller level, of retail chains are also an example of

challenge being posed to tradition belief of advertisement through

conventional media and more importantly television.

I am not questioning the importance of TV media in communicating the

brand to the target consumers but its cost vis -a- vis impact on sales will

make the advertisers, media buyers, advertising agencies, TV network

owners sit down re-draw their strategy and come out with more realistic

result which can be measurable in terms of money for every stakeholder.

Note- Numbers in the write up is collected from various websites.

tv media- searching for it's importance

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