The print industry is gradually shaking off the post-Covid lull, showing a significant boost in ad volumes during the first half of 2023 (January to June), amid subdued performance by the TV sector.
According to the latest report from TAM, ad space per publication in print saw a 43 percent growth compared to the first half of 2021 and a 5 percent increase over the same period in 2022.
Experts suggest that advertisers are boosting their festive ad budgets for print by up to 15 per cent.
TAM’s report also highlights a striking trend in the advertising landscape. Between January and June 2023, a total of 51,000 advertisers with 67,000 brands exclusively advertised in print as compared to the corresponding period last year.
According to Sujata Dwibedy, chief investment and trading officer, Amplifi, the supply-side management platform of dentsu, with no readership survey for print, it is difficult to prove numbers. However, trends in the usual sectors remained steady, she said.
“For instance, the first quarter does see BFSI and Auto in addition to CPG (consumer packaged goods) and e-commerce which are the lead spend categories, growing,” Dwibedy added.
While World Cup and other big-ticket events will be a spending booster for H2, it is primarily the festive season that will add significantly to AdEx, said Dwibedy.
According to her, the festive season leads to a lot of activations in print and large-format ads for announcements and promos. “Some of the clients advertise only around the festivals! Even without the larger properties, the ad expenditure sees a higher share of spends in the second half,” she said.
Advertiser and brand breakdown
As per TAM numbers for the first half of the year, the top sectors dominating the print advertising landscape in the first half of 2023 came from diverse interests. The education sector claimed the lead with a substantial 19 percent share, emphasising its commitment to reaching a wide audience. Following closely, services and auto industries secured the second and third positions with 16 percent and 11 percent stakes, respectively.
Meanwhile, retail and banking/finance/investment sectors held strong at 8 percent each. The rest in the top 10 included personal accessories at 6 percent, personal healthcare at 5 percent, and food & beverages, as well as durables each claiming a 4 percent share and personal care/personal hygiene contributing 2 percent.
In terms of leading advertisers, the top 10 advertisers contributed 13 percent share of ad space in print. Maruti Suzuki India secured the lead with a strong presence, followed by SBS Biotech, Reliance Retail, LIC of India, and Hero Motocorp, each making noteworthy contributions. Think & Learn, Titan Company, MG Motor India, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India and Allen Career Institute also made their mark. Allen Career Institute held its position among the leading advertisers, reflecting the dynamic landscape of print advertising’s key players.
What worked for advertisers?
Maruti Suzuki India which topped the advertisers list is equally excited about the second half of the year to leverage the medium’s reach and create recall.
Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director-marketing and sales, Maruti Suzuki India, explained how print works for the brand.
“Our print advertising strategy encompasses four primary categories. Firstly, we announce new launches; secondly, we take up sustenance advertising for existing brands, thirdly, we engage in tactical advertising, often tied to seasonal themes. Lastly, we conduct corporate branding efforts,” he said.
“In the first half of this year, we went heavy with advertising related to new launches because we had three major launches which included the Fronx, Invicto and Jimny. These campaigns print extensive ads for maximum reach. Moving forward, our advertising budget in the second half will remain consistent but a larger portion will be allocated to festive tactical advertising. Our focus will be on creating engaging conversations and amplifying recall across all regional markets,” Srivastava said.
Chirag Shah, vice president, Madison Media Sigma, a media planning and buying firm, also highlighted how the regional markets performed well in the first quarter.
According to him, regional genres, specifically Maharashtra and West Bengal, saw significant growth in ad volumes in H1 2023 over the same period last year.
His expectation is that advertising and consumer promotion expenditure will see a significant surge in the second half of 2023. “It will be spurred by factors such as inflationary pressure cooling off, marquee cricketing events like Asia Cup and ICC World Cup coming up in H2,” he said.
The print publisher’s take
Satyajit Sengupta, chief corporate sales and marketing officer, DB Corp Ltd, said the first half of the year has been encouraging for the brand with double-digit growth in advertising revenue.
“Almost all verticals have shown strong growth. Education, real estate, jewellery, health sector, automobiles and BFSI, all strong print categories have been growing over the last year. We are already talking to our advertisers regarding festive plans and budgets are going to be up in most cases to the tune of 10-15 percent,” Sengupta said.
Like most marketers, Sengupta also believes this year’s robust cricket calendar with the Asia Cup and One Day World Cup would fuel advertising.
“We also have state elections in the large states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. So we have got our hands full. We can see that advertisers are increasingly gravitating back towards print,” he added.