Campaign India Team
Jul 30, 2018

'TV is an under-leveraged medium': Shashi Sinha

Sinha was part of a panel discussion featuring Partho Dasgupta (BARC), Sanjay Behl (Raymond) and Pratyusha Agarwal (ZEEL) prior to the IAA Leadership Awards

'TV is an under-leveraged medium': Shashi Sinha
In a session preceding the IAA Leadership Awards BARC's CEO Partho Dasgupta, Sanjay Behl, CEO, Raymond, Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands and Pratyusha Agarwal, CMO, ZEEL, discussed the power of television and how they believed that it remains the most effective and important medium for marketers. 
 
BARC's Dasgupta set the tone by speaking about the reach of the medium. "We as Indian are still TV fanatics. Dancing uncle became a sensation on the internet and garnered a total of 2.8 million views. But on television, he got a total of 15 million views. He was the second biggest celebrity on the news after our Prime Minister. He made it to reality shows too and was seen dancing with Govinda. The reach of TV is now 835 million people. It's double of what it was 10 years ago. The average consumption of TV per day is three hours and 44 minutes."
 
He went on to give numbers of viewers for each category per week.
  • Hindi GECs - 510 million
  • Hindi movies-  505 million
  • Sports- 423 million   
He added, "The recent Rahul Gandhi-Narendra Modi hug got 280 million views on television. TV dominates media spends at approximately Rs 26,000 crore. It is here to grow and get even bigger." 
 
Behl echoed Dasgupta's views on the medium. He said, "The numbers are indisputable. The viewership on TV is bigger than the size of  most European countries. TV and other mediums need to be contextualised. People are taking a short cut and looking for immediate actions instead of the role of building one. It’s only strong brands that are looking at long term. The ones looking at short term hit digital and social media. When we look at media, we first look at reach. Then it’s about how quick you want to build the reach. Product life cycles are getting shorter. Speed is imperative and TV gives you the eyeballs your brand requires. There’s a passive engagement with the ad even if they don't want to see it. In digital you disengage after one view."
 
He also quoted a global study by Accenture which claimed that TV gets marketers the second highest ROI after paid search. 
 
Sinha's plea to marketers was to look at gross numbers. He said, "We must look at gross impressions and that’s when the comparisons happen. TV still has a long way to go. It’s an under leveraged medium. The cost per television impression is cheapest in this country. India still has a long way to go and the growth will only come from SMEs." 
 
Agarwal surmised, "It’s not about TV or digital. It’s about providing the best option for advertisers. TV has stayed relevant, been relevant and will be relevant. It is growing in rural. It’s about talking to the consumer in their language. It provides the connect and reach. I believe the next stage of growth will come through these regional pockets. We are in a glorious time with all the media available." 
 
Source:
Campaign India

Related Articles

Just Published

2 days ago

Indian singles prioritise compatibility over ...

Only about 11% of women regard financial stability as a critical partner selection criterion, according to a study by Jeevansathi.

2 days ago

Indians among the least satisfied with their love ...

South Korea and Japan are the only two other countries with satisfaction scores lower than that of India, finds Love Life Satisfaction Survey by Ipsos.

2 days ago

50,000 businesses, one goal: Gallabox looks at ...

As traditional channels lose steam, brands are rethinking customer conversations and the SaaS company is helping businesses turn WhatsApp into a sales and marketing powerhouse.

2 days ago

Unilever increases marketing spend by almost $1 billion

The FMCG giant's turnover rose to over $65 billion USD in 2024.