When advertisers, ad agencies and media planners pick a medium for an ad, they frequently ask: does it all add up?
Any medium is many things, but do these many things add up to one thing – credibility. Credibility of a medium is crucial for ads because it’s the best guarantor of audience engagement.
Little wonder then that ad flows to India’s print media, the country’s most credible medium as per popular and pundit assessment, are expected to remain brisk this year – 7% growth y-o-y, crossing Rs 20,000 crore and breaching pre-pandemic levels.
Top marketing executives of India Inc’s blue chips know the value of print’s credibility: Shashank Srivastava of Maruti India says, “From an advertiser point of view, print enjoys several unique advantages – the most important being its credibility over online publications. This leads to consumer trust and engagement, which is so essential for brand impact. And higher tangibility, longevity and immersivity of print media leads to better information retention. This is crucial for brands…that’s why print is and will continue to be an essential part of Maruti’s media plan, especially tactical brand communication”.
That projected growth rates of print media advertising and India’s near-term GDP are similar – around 7% – is more than just a statistical curiosity. Similar factors are driving both – strong business growth and economic multiplier effects from coming general elections.
But 2024 is no flash in the pan for print ad spends, it had a healthy 20% share of domestic advertising in 2023, a year when companies, still feeling bruised by the pandemic, were cautious on spending.
Admen know this. Print’s ad share in India is “phenomenal”, says Sam Balsara, Madison World chairman. “India is a standout among major markets. Global share of print (in ad spend) is 4%…”, he says, adding print ad growth in 2024 will be higher than in 2023.
Per Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2024, India is world champion when it comes to share of print in total ad market- 20% vis-a-vis near zero in China and under 5% in US and UK. India, along with Brazil, is also the fastest-growing ad market globally.
Madison’s report says print ad revenue has grown from Rs 16,595 crore in 2021 to Rs 18,470 crore in 2022 to Rs 19,250 crore in 2023.
“Print continues to be a strong evergreen medium for advertisers looking to build trust and credibility for their brands. We continue to bring innovation to print advertising and increase the impact for our advertisers. In many ways, newspapers are the only medium in India to re-main insulated from challenges of Big Tech,” says Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd CEO (Publishing) Sivakumar Sundaram.
Big print media advertisers are in sectors driving big, positive changes in India’s business and consumer spend – auto, BFSI, real estate, retail, consumer durables and FMCG.
Print isn’t just credible, it’s also a pleasant, vital ritual and, for advertisers, a medium that offers multiple options. As a spokesperson for FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever says: “Starting your morning with a cup of tea or coffee along with a newspaper is a deeply rooted consumer habit. Newspapers allow a marketer to build immediate reach and impact…to reach consumers in specific markets or geographies with customised creatives, making ads even more personal for consumers”.
Madison’s report points to another print advantage. Publishers are pricing their medium appropriately to attract advertisers and help them get a good return on investment on their print ad spend.
Dabur India CEO Mohit Malhotra says his company’s trust in print didn’t waver even during the pandemic. “Print continues to be a key medium for advertisers. In these attention-deficit times, where it’s hard to target millennials, Gen Z, and high net worth individuals, print comes to the rescue of advertisers. General elections, IPL, T20 World Cup, and the festive season will only add to advertising opportunities for print this year,” he says.
Ultimately, it comes down to credibility. “Print, in the eyes of the common man, has credibility. That is the reason print will continue to prosper – Indians still trust the written word,” says Sandeep Goyal, chairman of Rediffusion.
BCCL’s Sundaram says print media is building on that. “We continue to have deep reach, benefiting from affordable subscription and morning home delivery. We continue to shape public opinion…we have disproportionate influence due to our affinity with affluent consumers, influencers, and decision-makers. Print, especially after Covid, has firmly established itself as the most trusted source of news and opinion, in a media world filled with fake news and biased opinions.”
Print will attract record ad spend in 2024 – because in print, it all adds up.
(With inputs from Pankaj Doval)
