FMCG firms of India continues to be the biggest advertisers. Wipro, LIC, and GSK among the top advertisers’ list – Nielsen Barc Report.
The world is going through an unprecedented time due to the outbreak of Covid-19 that sent shockwaves for businesses and brands with a decrease in revenue. The factories are closed, marketing investments kept on hold, and supply chains disrupted as the government needs people to focus on their health and safety at its best above everything else. People forced to stay indoors are now stepping out to buy only the essentials and many have even switched to complete online shopping. The crisis had also affected the advertising spend of several companies in the country. But the FMCG firms of India continues to be the biggest advertisers.
HUL, Reckitt Benckiser, Amul, P&G, Colgate, and Amazon are some of the listed top advertisers in the consumer space during Covid-19. According to the report of Nielsen-Barc, by mid of May Wipro, LIC and GSK are in the list among the top advertisers. Some companies like Reliance, Airtel, PepsiCo, Asian Paints have increased their advertising spends in mid of May. The companies that sell summer-specific products like soft drinks, air coolers saw a spike in their advertising.
But compared to the pre-Covid-19 period, the advertising volume is lower by 23 percent, even though there was an increase of 16 percent in the first two weeks of May. This proves the fact that companies are spending on necessary due to the tight ships.
There is an explosive growth in digital consumption especially on Social Media and OTT and an increase in the TV viewership, which is a boon for the advertisers. From the result of Nielsen Barc research, the total TV viewership had hit a one trillion viewing minutes in mid-May and is 15 percent higher than the pre-Covid-19 period. The advertisements for health, hygiene, and essentials are mostly streamed on media while non-essentials find their space for advertisements digitally. Prioritizing the brand building, right communication, long-term strategic planning in terms of spend, effectiveness, and capabilities can help brands and businesses to deal with the current situation.
