‘TV still gives you better RoI despite big shift to digital’
1 min read 01 Jun 2023, 11:12 PM ISTOn the sidelines of the Goafest 2023, an annual advertising industry event, Sinha told Mint that TV continues to offer the best returns on investment (ROI) for ad campaigns during the India Premier League.
PremiumBAMBOLIM, GOA : India might have witnessed a significant shift toward digital, but it will never embrace a purely digital landscape fully, Dheeraj Sinha, the chief executive officer of Leo Burnett for South Asia and chairman, BBH India, said. The company is the creative force behind ad campaigns for Airtel, Spotify, and Pepsi, among others.
On the sidelines of the Goafest 2023, an annual advertising industry event, Sinha told Mint that TV continues to offer the best returns on investment (ROI) for ad campaigns during the India Premier League.
“This year, IPL was a little lukewarm for us, and we carried some of our older campaigns instead of coming up with many new ones. The jury is still out on the interaction between TV and digital this year and which of the two delivered better results. Having said that, many of our clients moved money from digital to TV, which has the best ROI. For instance, we did a Spotify campaign on TV last year and we saw the results for the rest of the year," he added.
However, the absence of a third-party measurement system for digital is a handicap, he said. “Yes, there are issues on measurement of actual reach on digital campaigns when it comes to over the top (OTT) services because there is no third-party data to verify their claims. That said, ROI is a good enough measure despite what OTT players claim, be it downloads or through active users." As consumption patterns evolve, and traditional mediums give way to new avenues, it is transforming the advertising landscape with people accessing content everywhere, from Instagram to forwarded content.
“Consumers no longer necessarily sit together and discuss how good ads are, but it is important for companies to be present on digital mediums. Overall, consumer consumption on digital and expenditure by companies on digital is on the rise," he added.
That said, new-age, digital- first brands are also building their presence on TV. “Most of the new age brands we worked with, like Amazon, PhonePe, Healthians and Spotify, have built on TV. India will never be fully digital or fully TV, but a combination of both," he said.
The creative agency’s head said it had 2022 as a growth year in business based on new-age companies, despite some technology companies facing a funding winter and not advertising as much as they did a couple of years ago.
“The technology sector has seen some slowdown, yes. But consumer businesses have picked up well and older traditional companies in categories like infrastructure are getting into newer categories, and that is where the business is coming from," he said.
Sinha said that the company has seen a high double-digit growth last year from its ‘growing’ brands. “Our 2021 was higher than 2019. What worked for us was that we focused a lot on making our current clients move towards more digital platforms. We also developed more relatable, regional content in different local languages, a business that was zero in 2018-19 for us and that has grown over 50%. In India, if a brand wins one state, it’s like winning a country. Each state is so big," he said.
The company only lost about 5% of revenue in the pandemic year of 2020. In the last five years it has grown to under 70% on its top line, 10 basis points on its margins. “It is very profitable growth right now. We also got some new brands on board like Spotify. We have managed Ikea, Boat, and Fastrack, which are our new acquisitions. Spotify etc., also came in the last 3-4 years," he said.