Amid downturn, advertisers think big, make front-page splash
Experts say media houses are offering better rates and freebies for big, or high-impact, ads GOURI SHAH

Mumbai: The last few weeks have seen brands such as Kingfisher Airlines, Air India, Hero Honda, SBI, Easy Bill India and Identiti—the nameplate brand from Pampered Home Pvt. Ltd—running full-page ads, front-page flaps and cover jackets in newspapers and magazines.

Maximum mileage: Advertisers are now timing their ads, cutting the frequency and duration of campaigns. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint This big bang approach in media planning and buying seemingly goes against the trend of advertisers opting for smaller or more concise ads during an economic downturn, but is actually driven by smart budgeting and marketing logic. In a twist of selective scheduling, some advertisers are looking at cutting down on frequency and duration of the ad campaigns and instead running a few big ads during select periods.

S. Sivakumar, CEO designate, Times Private Treaties, a division of Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd, or BCCL, which publishes TheTimes of India, however, says there is no link. “I have been monitoring ads by our treaty clients and there is no spike. There is no pressure on any of our clients to put out ads or use up a certain amount of inventory before the end of the year. Treaty clients have to be more prudent as these ads have to generate sales.” BCCL also publishes The Economic Times and competes with HT Media Ltd, publisher of Mint and Hindustan Times.

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