AD SPEND TO GROW

RETAILERS IN THE COUNTRY ARE SPENDING HEAVILY ON ADVERTISING

With a booming Indian retail sector, organised retailers are doing everything to attract as many footfalls as possible by advertising heavily in every form of media. According to data collected by AdEx India, advertising by retail industry reported a 12 per cent increase on television during January-May 2007 compared to the same period last year.

As many as 255 new advertisers from the retail sector made their debut on TV advertising during this period, the AdEx study said, but added that contribution by the sector to the overall ad industry remained at 1 per cent.

Retailers are not only expanding their physical presence, but are also increasingly making their presence felt on television airtime through advertisements.

The top five retailers, who accounted for 33 per cent of ads in January-May 2007, include Subiksha, Saravana Stores, Pantaloons Retail India, Kala Zone Silk Mills and Jayachandran Textiles and Gold.

The period from JanuaryMay 2007 saw nearly 700 ads by retailers per day out of 45,000 telecast on television per day during the said period. Nearly half the advertising volumes were accounted for by general entertainment channels (GECs). Apart from GECs and news channels, independent retailers also advertised on music channels.

Interestingly, south India based channels benefited more from the loosening of purse string by retailers with almost 60 per cent of big retailers preferring them, whereas east zone channels accounted for the maximum advertising volumes by small players.

Amongst the new entrants, the top three slots were secured by Home Town (a home solutions store chain of the Future Group) followed by Great Eastern Technocity (an electronic departmental store by Great Eastern Appliances) and The Mobile Store (a mobile retail outlet by Essar Telecom Retail). Seasonality played a role in advertising trends on TV during 2006 with October being the month in which retailers spent heavily on advertisements.

Courtesy: ET, dtd: 27th Oct. 2007