Despite the second wave of COVID-19 and a marginal dip from April 2021, advertising volumes in May 2021 have witnessed a significant growth of 64 percent compared to the same month last year, according to BARC India’s latest THINK report. The report said Ad volumes have remained at par with 2018 and 2019.

Television attracted more than 63 percent new advertisers, of the total volumes, in May, indicating that advertisers continue to bank on the medium.

“With lockdown easing up and upcoming big events, we expect TV advertising to remain strong this year,” said Aaditya Pathak, head – client partnership & revenue function, BARC India.

As per the report, advertising on GEC (general entertainment channels) and movies genre continued to grow. Ad Volumes on both the genres outperformed in the same period for the previous three years. GEC and movies genre have registered a growth of 74 percent and 76 percent, respectively, in May this year as compared to the same period last year.

Owing to the increasing consumption of regional content, advertising on South Indian language GECs registered a staggering growth of 103 percent, while the rest of the regional GECs witnessed a 53 percent growth in May 2021 year-on-year. South movies and regional movies channels witnessed 85 percent and 129 percent growth, respectively, for the same period.

TV as a medium attracted a large number of new advertisers. Out 2,142 advertisers in May 2021, 1,347 (63%) were new advertisers on the medium.

FMCG category continued to dominate Ad volumes with 72 percent share, followed by e-commerce with 10 percent share in May 2021. While over 70 percent of advertising was dominated by the top 50 advertisers in May 2021, top 10 advertisers had the highest share since 2018 with 54 percent. Advertising by the top 10 advertisers continued to see steady growth.

The growth observed in Ad volumes in the first quarter of 2021 has seeped into the ongoing second quarter of the year, despite state-wide partial lockdowns being implemented in various parts of the country.

First Published:Jun 17, 2021 7:10 PM IST