10+2 ad cap could give fillip to brand placement in content Market sources suggest that the 10+2 ad cap may encourage or compel broadcasters to get into other ‘innovative’ avenues to cater to advertisers. Innovative here implies that apart from typical advertising slots, channels might try to subsidise content or insert advertising within content. Of late, some channels have resorted to this practice of placing a contextual brand with respect to the content. In a movie, which was aired on a leading GEC, an advertisement of a locker brand was placed between the scenes when a thief could not barge into a house because of a robust lock system. A leading nice channel showcased a brand advertisement at the end of the caste sequence. Another channel recently placed an advertisement of a glucose biscuit brand below the screen when during a fiction show, a child was shown too tired to go out and play with his friends. Such practices might transform into a trend. What media planners say? The innovative trend though is not new. Advertisers and broadcasters across the globe have resorted to the practice of mixing content with advertising since a long time. But industry experts have cautioned that a safe line should always be drawn to subvert the intrusion factor for the benefit of the consumer. Pratap Bose, COO, Mudra Max said, “These techniques are frugal ways to reach people. We call it ‘juggad’ in the Indian context. Sooner or later such practices will clamp down. A regulation is a regulation and channels will have to come under the ambit. Having said this, I would say that these ideas are brilliant and having such topical advertising in place would benefit the advertisers as well as the broadcasters.” He further added, “This technique can be applied for awards, media innovation and contextual reference. But channels cannot evade the 10+2 ad cap that is now in place. They would have to justify innovation – be it GECs, news, music, sports or niche.” What advertisers say? Leading advertisers are of the opinion that as far as the advertising is contextual and topical, they do not have any problem in going ahead with the subsidised content. But they are precautious than before. Shireesh Joshi, Director – Marketing, Godrej said, “Subsidised content has been in existence since a long time across the globe. As far as the consumer is concerned, he always has an option of switching and broadcasters should only take contextual advertising into consideration. It should be done in a way that it does not annoy the consumer. There are DTH platforms which are completely ad free. There are HD feeds and there are regular feeds. All this is a clear reflection of consumer choice.” Arshad Nizam, Director, Alliance Advertising, who handled Kent RO for RR franchise during IPL, said, “If broadcasters put advertisement for the sake of revenue, then this would be a disaster. Subsidised content ads should be placed very intelligently and taking topicality of the product into consideration.” What broadcasters say? Some broadcasters have started using old techniques repackaged in a new fashion for inserting ads between the content – be it in the form of flash below the screen, pop-ups, ticker, etc. Some of the techniques have been used earlier as well, but the question being pertinently asked is whether this placing would be counted as ad-duration or content duration? NP Singh, COO, MSM Networks said, “I would not comment on what other channels are doing but there are fair guidelines which have been highlighted by TRAI and all of us would follow it. In the interest of our viewers, we would do whatever is required in terms of innovation, but confining ourselves to the TRAI mandate. This should be a standard norm.” Vishal Shekhar, Independent Media Analyst said, “If broadcasters are using this as a trend, then they have to be clear and accountable on this front. The regulator is not blind that such a trend will go unnoticed. Sooner or later, this will be judged. Innovation should not be the equal to evasion. This is not a tax system that one might look for loopholes to evade or avoid giving taxes. This is a regulation and broadcasters have to abide by it, no matter what.” Major broadcasters have hiked their inventory ad rates post the 10+2 ad cap. What would be interesting to see is how innovative would channels get in order to augment their revenue through content subsidisation and whether TRAI would treats this short-term trend as innovation or violation. source: e4m news
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 07:14:39 +0000
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