AD Agencies
Lower e-commerce spending slows down TV ad growth: Madison
MUMBAI: H1 2016 has not been a good time for the advertising industry – TV specially – according to leading Indian ad agency Madison Media.
Against the projected 20 per cent TV ad growth for the full year, only 11 per cent growth has been achieved in H1 2016. This compares poorly with the gee-whiz 35 per cent growth rate achieved in H1 2015 over H1 2014 on the back of a substantial increase in e-commerce spends and the ICC World Cup.
The drop in the TV ad growth rate is also the main reason why the total ad market growth in H1 2016 has only been 12.9 per cent, says Madison Media. This has led to a downgrade of the earlier projected growth rate for 2016 from 16.8 per cent to 13.2 per cent. The drop in value of advertising growth has been accompanied by a reduction in the volumes of adverts on most TV programming genres, with the exception of Hindi movie and Kannada channels.
The Madison-Pitch report says that the TV industry attracted around Rs 10,198 crore in ad spending in H1 2016 as compared to Rs 9186 crore in H12015. FMCG advertisers splurged 16 per cent more in H1 2016 at Rs 5,346 crore (Rs 4,622 crore in H1 2015) but contributed 72 per cent to the growth rate of the industry. E-commerce as a category shaved spending by 37 per cent as it fell from Rs 629 crore in H1 2015 to Rs 394 crore in H1 2016.
“The drop in growth rates in TV is led by a lower contribution of e-commerce which is a category known to pick and choose high priced inventory / impact programmes and substituted by FMCG users who resort to everyday advertising and seek high value for money,” explained Madison Media & OOH CEO Mr Vikram Sakhuja.
Clothing fashion and jewelry ad spending also slipped into the negative zone with a 22 per cent plunge from Rs 308 crore in H1 2015 to Rs 241 crore in H1 2016.
The telco internet and DTH segment, however, maintained its growth of last year with spends of Rs Rs 1198 crore (Rs 1068 crore in H1 2015),
In a release sent out last week, Madison Media said it expects this trend to continue and if it does, the overall ad industry should be on course to hit a spend of Rs 50,000 crore by end 2016. However, the agency says it is culling down its TV growth rate number from 20 per cent to 11 per cent.
Which Madison World chairman Sam Balsara says is not good news at all. “The drop in growth rate of TV advertising does not augur well for the economy as generally a spurt in ad spends leads to higher GDP growth.”
AD Agencies
Publicis CCI probe: Delhi HC rejects plea to halt investigation
HC urges parties to raise objections before the competition regulator
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has declined to interfere with an ongoing investigation by the Competition Commission of India into alleged anti-competitive conduct involving Publicis Groupe, holding that no cause of action had arisen for the petitioner at this stage.
A bench led by Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav dismissed a writ petition filed by TLG India Private Limited, the Indian arm of Publicis Groupe, after noting that no formal notice had been issued to the company by the regulator.
TLG India had challenged summons and investigative steps issued in the name of “Publicis Groupe”, arguing that the reference was to a brand rather than a legally identifiable enterprise under the Competition Act. The petitioner contended that while summons were addressed to its office and employees, it was not itself named as the entity under investigation.
Appearing for TLG India, senior counsel Ritin Rai argued that investigations must be directed at a defined juristic person and sought quashing of the summons. The court, however, asked whether any notice had been issued directly to TLG India as a legal entity: an assertion the petitioner conceded had not occurred.
The CCI, represented by senior advocate Jayant Mehta, opposed the plea on grounds of maintainability, stating that notice had been issued to Publicis Groupe SA and that TLG India lacked locus to challenge proceedings in which it was not a named party.
The bench reiterated that courts are reluctant to intervene in ongoing proceedings before statutory authorities. It observed that any legal consequences arising from notices issued to an allegedly non-existent entity would have to be examined by the CCI itself. With no notice issued to the petitioner, the writ was disposed of, leaving parties free to raise their objections before the regulator.
The investigation, initiated in March 2025, relates to allegations of price-fixing and collusion among major advertising agencies and industry bodies operating in India.
