Newspaper advertising
-strengths & effectiveness
‘Old is gold’- I feel this adage holds true for newspapers, when we list and compare tools for media and communication even in today’s e-world. To evaluate the strength of newspapers as information and communication vehicle for advertisers Smita Dwivedi (SD) brings a gist
of her conversation with cross-section of industry professionals.
Newspapers have survived innumerable challenges from new and emerging media like radio, television, internet, etc. And with their increasing popularity, newspapers face declining readership and market penetration. A growing number of readers now skip the print version of newspaper and instead read the online version of the publication. Still newspapers in India are flourishing and are considered as most effective medium of mass communication.
To be amongst frontrunners, newspapers have become more competitive than ever before. They are bringing new trends and positive changes to increase readership. This in turn, has triggered huge increase in the advertising budgets of the private sector. The print medium is still the dominant medium for advertising with over 50 percent of the total advertising spend.
SD: How do you see newspaper as an advertising vehicle?
Monika: Newspaper is still an important vehicle especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities where morning starts with reading newspaper.
Shahla: Newspaper is a strong media platform to make brand awareness instantly, overnight. Reading newspaper is a universal culture; hence it helps in reaching TGs.
Suchana: I find newspapers as one of the best medium of advertising as it reaches out to vast number of people directly and indirectly.
Atul: It is the most interactive advertising medium.
SD: When planning a launch campaign for any client…what percentage of media budget do newspapers generally get?
Monika: We generally spend 20-30 percent of our total advertising budget on newspapers.
Shahla: We follow a six step process for any media campaign: business requirement analysis; media market analysis; strategy/ planning & creation; negotiation/ contracting; pre & post evaluation; continuous improvement…and so we spend nearly 60 percent of our budget in print media.
Suchana: We spend around 50 percent on newspaper advertising. And if planning a launch in new city, we double the budget.
Atul: Generally about 30-40 percent depending upon the clients’ requirement and the target group.
SD: How important are vernacular newspapers for advertising?
Monika: Certainly very important, vernaculars are rather 60-70 percent of the media plan; keeping target group in mind as they would most of the time be reading the vernacular papers.
Shahla: Yes, they are very important, but advertising in them totally depends upon the brand category, TG and market analysis.
Suchana: When we plan to launch any product in rural market, our first preference is vernacular newspapers…nothing can beat them.
Atul: Depends on the need of client…generally they are not much important.
SD: Before choosing a newspaper for ad release, what all things you keep in mind besides readership?
Monika: Thanks to technology, now we can find all details about newspapers. And while releasing our ads we can see if the imagery of the newspaper suits our product and complements its image. And most of the time we have to decrease the size or cut down on national papers to ensure ad is going in specific vernaculars.
Shahla: Its reach, comparison with its existing counterpart for that particular state/area, market reputation, their existing consistency since last 3-5 years and most importantly the cost.
Suchana: Sometimes rates do affect our media plan but if advertiser’s budget allows then we prefer taking popular and best reached news dailies as per the TGs and selective states. Here production quality hardly matters.
Atul: We generally focus on two main things – ad rates and popularity. Besides each client has different requirement, thus different approach. We have to keep budget, TG, product placement etc. in mind before freezing in on a newspaper.
SD: What is the impact of increasing online readership on media planning?
Monika: Yes it does, but it depends on many other things as well. If the TG is 30 years onwards and from small cities, than one can’t rule out the importance of print version.
Shahala: Input cost for print publishing has gone up over the years. And as we deal with an intellectual product, I don’t think that this marginal increase is going to impact the reading habit of readers in any way. People are clicking online to search for news or info but they are not switching over from newspaper to online editions.
Suchana: No, because newspapers have a great bond with morning tea in India and it is affordable to every class of people. The most important thing is the trust factor as people are well connected with this medium from quite a long time.
Atul: Even with the emergence of online media, we haven’t witnessed any decline in newspaper readership. In all, it has gone up in the recent years. So, there’s no impact as such.
SD: List 10 different newspapers which are always there on your plan?
Monika: The list depends upon the region, for east - The Telegraph, Homar Khobar, Pioneer, TOI (The Times of India); south – The Hindu and Malayala Manorama; west – Dainik Bhaskar, Rajasthan Patrika, and Navbharat Times; north – HT (Hindustan Times), TOI, Amar Ujala, Dainik Bhaskar, Punjab Kesari, and The Tribune.
Shahla: The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Economic Times, Delhi Times, HT City, ABP, Rajasthan Patrika, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Daily Thanthi, Gujarat Samachar, DNA, etc.
Suchana: TOI, The Hindu, The Economic Times, NIE, HBL, Eenadu, Sakshi, Andhra Prabha, Andhra Jyothi, and Munshif.
Atul: HT, TOI, Indian Express, The Hindu, Telegraph, Mail Today, Asian Age, Hindustan, Navbharat Times, Amar Ujala.
SD: Let’s hear pros and cons now!
Monika: Pros: Shelf life and reach, which is actually much more than just the circulation as it changes many hands. Cons: Non-interactive media.
Shahla: Positive aspect: In our country, where rural population is 70 percent and cable/satellite connections are forbidden in some part of India, newspaper advertising is always successful. Whether we end up watching news channels at night, but in the morning we always start our day with a newspaper. For example if we watched in a news channel India’s victory over World Cup at night, still we would love to see the same news with a winning pose on the front page of a newspaper.... hence in my view newspaper advertising never faces a challenge from other sources like electronic, radio, online etc.
Suchana: It is a must for brand awareness and offer-based advertisement, especially the ones where you want the target audience to react immediately. The only negative is the attention span of the reader, which is much lesser than outdoor or TV advertisement and other advertising opportunities.
Atul: Positive is its readership and reach. In online advertising we just click and get detail about the product and its competitors that help in making quick decision on buying a product. This cannot be possible in print ads.
SD: “Today’s newspaper advertising” – comment?
Monika: Lots more needs to be done to catch up with the upcoming trends and technologies in the print media.
Shahla: It remains one powerful and effective means for advertisers to reach their audience.
Suchana: It is impressive and interactive.
Atul: It is there to stay without being threatened by online or any other contemporary prevailing media.
