Online advertsing may log a 10-fold rise

Revenues likely to touch Rs 2,250 crore by 2010

NEW DELHI: The face of Indian advertising is changing. The action has shifted to ‘cyberia’ and advertising firms are reorienting themselves for a toehold on the digital domain.

Industry insiders say the country’s ad landscape will see more “integration and people-oriented niche campaigns” in the digital age.

“This is the age of online communities, messengers, blogs and searches. The growth of the internet, coupled by the logic that 75% of the Indian population is below the age of 35 is bound to change the consumption pattern,” Nirvik Singh, president, South Asia, Grey Worldwide, a global advertising group, said.

Advertising agencies will have to invest in developing core competencies to play an even role in this landscape. The company’s special wing, G2 Direct and Digital, has been working with clients across many of these niche segments. The trick, says the ad whizkid, is to think digital and execute.

“And we at G2 have an edge over other specialised digital outfits because we are able to relate to brands and provide communications solutions,” he says.

The change has been fuelled by the explosion in the growth of the internet since 2006. Predictions by the London-based Zenith Optimedia say ad-spend on the internet will overtake radio, cinema and outdoor advertising in two years.

Internet advertising will be valued at more than Rs 225 crore by the end of 2010, which works out to an almost 10-fold increase. Watchers say classified advertising on the internet will mop up the maximum revenue with an estimated contribution of Rs 900 crore by 2009 followed by search engines contributing Rs 742 crore. Display ads will rake in another estimated Rs 607 crore.

Social networking sites like Facebook and online communities are shaping the way ads are being made. They are being dictated “by the demands of the people or consumers rather than the firms which are making them.

“These sites have changed the way online media planning has been operating. Facebook is a common meeting place and brands will have to reorient themselves to make an impact on this highly opinionated environment. One has to be more relevant and contextual to run social media campaigns. The need is to create specific online tools or widgets which can then connect to the media,” says Singh.

The solutions of the future, says Zubin Driver, network creative head of TV 18’s specialised advertising unit Cell, is one-stop ad shops that provide integrated and value-added services to consumers.
 
“I think the ideas have to be multimedia. It has to have its life on the mobile, web and on the screen. Often, an idea snowballs on the web with consumers forwarding them to each other. Such ideas are more interactive,” Driver said.

Citing an example, he says the Cell created the “Neighbour ki Bajao” ad capsule for the cricketindia.com during the India-Pakistan series.

“It was a powerful idea. We ran a campaign on television and a simultaneous ‘viral campaign’ on the web. The television commercial was different from the campaign on the Internet, people could forward to each other. It was downright funny so that consumers could identify and have a good laugh.

“A new-age advertisement has to be executed in different ways for each medium and “only firms with their own specialised infrastructure can survive the digital race.”

Driver sees a lot of cost rationalisation in advertising as the market is inflated and the entry of more organised players like Cell, which offers almost everything - from creative ad clips, promotional capsules to channel packaging and brand solutions - under one roof. The emphasis, says Driver, will be more on the effectiveness of advertising a product than “pure creativity.”

CD Mitra, president of Optimum Media Solutions, sees a lot of two-way traffic between the online media and the offline segments like television, big screen and print.  “Take an online property and promote it offline,” prescribes Mitra. “There is a lot of quality traffic that offline media is driving to the web. Both of them will have to marry,” said Mitra.

A study by Jupiter Research and search marketing agency iProspect said two-thirds of searchers browse on “a given keyword as a result of offline marketing.”

Mitra feels that the mobile ad segment, which is still untapped, “has the potential to grow into a much bigger space.”