The impact of demonetization across all sectors continues to be felt. Even the ad industry has seen a hit with many brands choosing to postpone their media spends due to the fallen revenues. While some media reports suggest a dent of Rs 1,200-1,500 crore to the ad revenues in Q3, others suggest that number could be as high as Rs 2,000 crore.
However, there are brands which have been spending huge especially on TV. Contrary to the belief that digital wallet companies like Paytm and MobiKwik would take the opportunity to advertise heavily on TV, it is the traditional advertisers such as fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and telecom companies that continue to be big spenders on TV post demonetization. While FMCG was one of the hardest hit sectors in India as wholesale and retail trade remains heavily dependent on cash, these firms continued to spend despite the harsh environment and low revenues coming in.
FMCG brand Hindustan Unilever Limited was the top advertiser on TV in the last week of 2016 with 86,817 insertions, according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India’s ratings. It was followed by Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurveda.
Not just in the last week, HUL, Airtel and Reckitt Benckiser have been the top advertising spenders on TV since November 9. In the week starting from November 5, 2016, Rickitt Benckiser was the top advertiser and HUL with its Surf Excel campaign was in the top 10 brands list.
Airtel remained in the list almost throughout the year end. Apart from these names, Gionee, Vodafone, Jasper Infotech, Idea Cellular, Sahara and Mondelez dominated the ad and media spends space.
Source: dnaindia.com