Corona impact on Media & Advertising

Corona impact on Media & Advertising

The sudden spike in news channel viewing has brought in new viewers. Advertisers are queuing up to get the required GRPs (Gross Rating Point ) in the shortest possible duration. The interesting thing to watch out for is the decline in the GECs (General Entertainment Channel) advertising revenue. This is not because of the increased news viewing, also emerging from the fact that the actual shoots of a lot of soaps have come to a grinding halt a week back. The channels at best can pull on with their existing stock till may be mid – April.

The GECs will have 2 options in front of them:

1.    To run old Soaps / game shows as a re-run

2.    Switch to their stock of movies

·       STAR Vijay already has a second channel VIJAY SUPER that runs old programmes and movies.

·       SUN has KTV to run movies all 24 hrs.

·       Zee has launched Vellithirai for movies

While I was watching KTV yesterday, I could notice a considerable decrease in advertising but at the same time the spots have increased in the newschannels, with numerous ad breaks.

What are the categories that are advertising?

(I really don’t have a reason for their advertising.)

Paints : Jenson & Nicholson, Berger, Nippon

Tiles : Anuj Tiles

Polycab : Wires

Hospitals : SRM

Insurance : LIC

Flipkart : after they have announced that they will not deliver

Online education : Byju’s

Luxury Cars : Mahindra, Jaguar, MG

Lifebuoy : Handwashing (social messaging)

*More from TN Market and its channels

From the above list one brand “Lifebuoy” would be my pick, as you feel good that the brand is emphathising with you in the current season.

Why on earth will I think about a “Jaguar” when my basic existence is being questioned.

What Brands can do now?

·       Brands like J&J can advertise hygiene tips for babies

·       P&G can revive their “Share the Load” campaign

·       Whisper (from P&G) can talk about personal hygiene at times like these for women

·       Milk brands can talk about immunity

·       Lizol, Harpic, Sabeena, Dettol can preach a little bit more on the cleanliness part

·       Colgate, ORAL B can highlight on the need for brushing twice a day

·       Banks, Financial Institutions should come out and stress on the fact that their hard earned money will be safe and they should also try and provide some benefits  to its customers like : Provision buying through credit cards on EMI, Loan interests to be down etc.,

·       Netflix, Amazon, Hotstar should discourage people from watching more ( this will mark a new beginning in their brand building path. More like Cigarrette smoking is injurious to health, Investments in Mutual funds is a subject matter of risk)

·       Amazon Kindle should encourage people to read

·       High potential for Green Tea / Health products

·       Yoga is a big opportunity for brands

I am sure Brand Managers must be having a tough time in recovering revenues, but this is the time for investment as there is a big boom awaiting. There are sectors that will see a slow growth such as Banks, Tourism, Airlines, Luxury, 4 wheelers, High End Real estate, Hotels, Jewellery, Events. But the rise will certainly be on FMCG, Online education, Online delivery, Health, Consumer Durables – Home making, in the coming years.

Banks and Advertising

There was a time when banks hardly advertised except for the change in interest rates and balance sheets. The emergence of private players and co-operatives  opened up this sector into a lot of communication. The memorable ones are:

1.  Surprisingly SBI : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZNVErGV2x4

2.  ICICI Bank : Amitabh was roped in as the brand ambassador way back in 2001. ICICI has been doing some consistent communication, though may not be highly creative.

“Hum Hain Naa” and “Khayal Aapka” were certainly memorable ones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV_Lt-WOhy4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42V8YBUjNto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6j7Xz4-DKs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr1iAheGppY

3.  Axis Bank:  When UTI became AXIS, the communication that rolled out was really engaging. Especially the twins campaign. Later they moved on to a Brand Ambassador : Deepika Padukone for the campaign

 “ Badhti ka naam Zindagi”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7vOj5tX3mg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho7_11kOyb0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdLmZ4P40f8

4.  Kotak Bank (earlier Bank of Madura)

The campaign thought of “subbu sab jaanta hai” and sharing the banks pluses through a celebrity, named Subbu. In addition, we cant forget their “Kona Kona Kotak”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzSG8lMHRQU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QnhBKF-1LY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_qnX0Z5l9w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZXp_7kvYvs

5.  Canara Bank : Brought in a new identity and the launch of that was some memorable one, touching on the old values and modern technology. Pretty cliché but executed well.

6.  Global Trust Bank did a lot of communication and later was taken over by Oriental Bank of Commerce

7.  We witnessed some communication from ANZ Grindlay’s, Bank of America, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank (Used Sania Mirza for the launch), IDBI Bank

8.  Citibank’s “Citi never Sleeps” was a classic line

9.   In regional level we had some interesting work done by TNSC Bank, Tamilnadu Mercantile Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank and Karur Vysya Bank

The larger question to be answered is where is the trust

A Big Branding Opportunity Lost : Athi Varadhar

When brands are looking for the smallest of the excuse to advertise and promote, referring to World Ocean Day, Beer Day, Brother’s day, Milk day etc., an unexpected event came across and the entire marketing  community missed to capitalise on it.
Athi Varadhar, of Kanchipuram got a terrible miss by brands.
Let’s recollect those days when Vodafone use to have specific drives focussing on Sabarimala , Durga Puja, Janmashtami etc., There were specific packs being created for “Sabarimala” during those 2 months. Tiruvanamalai Giri Valam even now has a big draw with advertisers, for branding on the “Giri Valam” stretch.
No Hindu festival is missed by any brand these days. Sri Krishna, Grand Sweets, Ghee Brands, Oil brands, Agarbathis, Gulabjamoon mixes, Jewellers, Clothing, Real estate, etc., really get hyper active during festival season. The Aadi month that is running now is known for its Offers across categories especially in Tamilnadu.
We cannot forget  Hindustan Lever’s Maha Khumbh Promo on Hand Wash using the Rotis as a branding medium. Brands have not missed Khumbh mela, Mahamagam, Pushkarams, but surprisingly the once in a 40 year tradition of Athi Varadhar coming out of the tank was missed.
• Tamilnadu Tourism failed to anticipate and did not promote this event. They should have taken this as a big opportunity and should have gone ahead with a national campaign on this “once in a 40 year event”.
• Ola, Uber, Fastrack, Oyo, Airbnb, makemytrip etc., operators should have grabbed this occasion and must have come up with interesting packages.

• Airlines should have gone to town with special prices during this 45 day period.
• Restaurants should have geared up to serve packed meals and special meals during darshan. (Swiggy / Uber eats should have opened special services in Kanchipuram)
• Special Ringtones / wall papers should have been launched by Mobile operators
• Newspapers / Magazines should have brought special supplement on the day of the idol being brought out
• Large Brands that are keen at projecting a socially responsible message could have volunteered to manage crowd, create info apps, serve drinking water, set up mobile clinics etc., ( Goldwinner, ITC, Cycle etc., who are in the spiritual space certainly missed the ball)

If brands had anticipated, we would have had far more regulation on crowds, awareness, safety, comfort etc., The Govt. too might have stepped up its efforts in managing crowds and providing facilities. We would have seen a lot more partnerships in managing this 45 day event more peacefully. According to current estimates over 35 lakh people have already visited and with the change in posture of Athi Varadar the crowds may swell further.