Companies’ digital ad spend soars
Digital ad is an easier way to connect with consumers as number of hits can be tracked and it has a significantly lower cost of operations compared with traditional advertisements
Sharleen D’Souza
Companies have increased spendings on digital advertisements from 2% of their total advertising budget five years ago to 8-10% currently. Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook are the most used mediums for digital advertising by most companies.
Digital advertisement is an easier way to connect with consumers with advantages like tracking number of hits and a significantly lower cost of operation compared with traditional advertisements. The cost of digital advertising is 40% lower compared with television, say analysts.
According to Unny Radhakrishnan, digital head at Maxus, the overall digital spends of the industry (not just FMCG companies) are around Rs 4,500 crore and is growing over 35% y-o-y. Digital medium is seen as an apt medium to target youngsters.
“Return on investment depends on the objective of the campaign. Apart from the fact that digital has become mass media on its own because of its increased reach, many platforms are also offering segmented targeting and the ability to have multiple messaging tailored to the audience. This is making digital advertising more attractive to brands,” Radhakrishnan of Maxus said.
“Digital medium as a form of advertising has been on the rise with many brands as the target audience and cities where you can feature can be controlled. Also, the number of hits can be monitored, so you know how much traction the particular campaign or ad has generated,” said Prasanth Mohanachandran, founder and Ceo of AgencyDigi.
Hindustan Unilever is also betting heavily on digital. According to HUL spokesperson, “Digital is definitely the fastest-growing advertising medium for HUL. HUL has been leading the charge on Digital for the last few years. In less than two years, the consumer footprint on digital platform has almost doubled. Increasing penetration of mobile connectivity has made Internet access possible for a wider set of consumers leading to a higher consumption of digital content. Industry estimates put the total Digital audience universe in the country at 279 million; and growing. If we were to include mobile telephony audience within the gamut of digital, the penetration of medium is higher than even TV.”
