Country roads, take my ads home, to the place where they belong
A road trip through the country’s national highways unfolds all the facets of Indian advertising, and most importantly, the strange repertoire of regional advertising. Colourful words in translated hotch potch, the roadside billboards, temple sidewalls, etc., all convey a very significant story – the coming of age of regional advertising.
A road trip through the country’s national highways perhaps unfolds all the facets of Indian advertising, and most importantly, the strange repertoire of regional advertising. Starting from the emoting faces of local TV stars to known Bollywood faces endorsing tractors and steel pipes, from ice cream licking RJs to colourful words in translated hotch potch, the roadside billboards, temple sidewalls, roof top water tanks, boundary walls of sugar factories, all convey a very significant story of Indian advertising – that is, the coming of age of regional advertising.
There has been much talk about the growing revenue shares of regional markets, as a result of which a lot of international and national media players have begun to target these markets to increase their ad revenues. The Tier II and III cities have become the apple of the marketer’s eye, and local interests and languages have started to get their due importance. exchange4media spoke to a few ad makers located far from the Mecca of Indian advertising and the one point that merged prominently was that Indian ads need to go regional in a big way.
Regional markets go big
With markets in the metros getting saturated, the regional markets have gained in importance, and when the markets become important, it calls for increased promotion and advertising.
According to Vijay Jacob Parakkal, VP & General Manager, Bates 141, Chennai, “With increasing competition, brands will be trying to get a closer connect to the consumer, and going regional will definitely form part of that effort.”
GV Vijaya Kumar, Associate Vice-President, Lintas Media Group, Chennai, pointed out, “Already, a number of advertisers have shifted their focus to regional ads. This should only increase as more advertisers see the advantages of speaking in a common context with the consumer rather than just a common language. However, this will vary on a case-to-case basis, depending on the category and the product.”
P Subramanian, Branch Manager, Interface, Chennai, agreed with the certainty of the growing regionalisation in advertising, and said, “The more disposable agri income is driving the boom in the rural economy, and it will continue to do so. In addition, when markets such as Mumbai and Delhi look saturated, gradually people are coming down South.”
Accepting the visible trend of growing regionalisation in advertising, Ramanujam Sridhar, CEO, Brand-comm, said, “As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, there is a great realisation that the language, custom and people are quite different here. Companies have to balance this growing importance of the regional market with the cost of making separate ads for each region.”
Sounding optimistic about the pan-India image, Abhishek D Shah of be positive 24, said, “India is becoming a more homogenised place with a more unified culture. There is a huge migration of north Indians to South and the vice-versa. So, going regional with ads perhaps doesn’t count for the cities, but if the Sec B and Sec C population is one’s important target group, then regional ads count a lot.”
Lost in translation
A lot of media observers have pointed out – and so have the consumers – the ridiculous commercials that are aired after dubbing the Hindi ads into local languages. Whether the purpose of the ads gets served or whether the distorted meaning – and thereby the controversial or humour quotient of the ad makes it tick – is a question that needs to be looked into.
According to Vijaya Kumar of Lintas, “In regionally strong markets, ads that are mainly for a Hindi speaking audience dubbed badly into the regional language do not go down well. In some cases, ads seem to be specifically created for the Delhi/ Mumbai market, and the dubbed commercial comes off as an afterthought. Needless to say, a consumer is hardly going to develop an empathy with a brand in this case.”
Subramanian added, “Most of the time, dubbed versions do not connect with the consumer and become a laughing stock. All of us know about this.”
However, Vijay Jacob observed, “The connect depends on the idea. There is always the scope to get that close to the consumer.”
Time to experiment with the regional connect
According to Sridhar, “If the growing flavour of the regional market is not captured, then that is surely a problem area. Cable penetration has already given us a huge scope to reach the masses, and we have to make the best use of it. A market like Chennai definitely needs region-specific ads.”
Vijay Jacob stressed, “Experimenting with the regional markets is not an option anymore.”
While there are issues like the dearth of talent capable of ideating in vernacular languages and the cost of making region-specific ads on the one hand, on the other hand, there is growing competitive regional market for the advertisers. The popularity of regional channels and their penetration across different sections of the population is offering not just increasing options, but improved options for advertisers to reach their target groups.
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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ShareSwapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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