Second take (Mumbai)
(27 December 2002)

Inside Dope spoke to some advertisers and media planners in Mumbai. Here are some juicy titbits:

* A senior media director claimed that everyone was playing a 'wait-n-watch' game till 15 January 2003.

* On 24 December, the DD-Nimbus combine had claimed to have booked 91 per cent of its total inventory.

* Post- Christmas, MAX officials claimed that they had touched the 50 per cent mark and were confident of exhausting their entire inventory by mid-January 2003.

* A media planner also added an interesting titbit about the fact that DD managed to get 20 percent of the pie (Rs 2.2 billion) in the last World Cup. He deduced that the total World Cup spend is slated to increase to Rs 3.7 billion in 2003.

* Another media planner in a medium-sized agency wrote to Inside Dope stating that certain mass entertainment channels were offering heavy discounts. These channels were trying to pre-empt the advertisers by making a pitch for the existing budgets in advance.

* The reasoning being that the budgets for the next quarter were being finalised sometime now. It was estimated that it would be difficult for clients to source additional budgets closer to the World Cup.

*A certain channel was willing to discount up to Rs 100,000 on its card rates for a highly popular soap. Another channel had offered bonuses for early booking commitments.

* A media director informed Inside Dope that a certain general entertainment channel was oblivious to the World Cup onslaught. The channel had announced a slew of new programmes starting January; just like in the previous years.

* Another media planner in a top agency claimed that the TRPs of the soaps will fall by around 18.6 percent during the World Cup.

* An aggressive media buyer from a medium-sized agency claimed that a rate of Rs 95,000 for DD and Rs 80,000 for MAX would be a good buying rate for the World Cup.

* A cola company has created a new record in ad spend budgets during the World Cup.

* A company manufacturing and selling gutka products is planning to spend heavily during the World Cup on MAX.

* A two-wheeler company has bought the fall of wickets property on MAX.

* A company manufacturing suitcases has also taken some properties on MAX.

* The only Indian car-manufacturer has decided to stay off the World Cup.

* The media fraternity has expressed serious doubts about the forecasts and optimistic views expressed by Nimbus about getting 60 percent of the total ad spend.

* A public sector lubricant company has bought 120 second spots on MAX.

* A two-wheeler company has bought 150 seconds spots on MAX.

* A public-sector owned insurance company has brought about 60 seconds of air time on MAX for the World Cup.

* A large private sector bank has brought 90 second of air time on MAX for the World Cup.

* Some media planners have pointed out that a senior media buyer who was supposed to be strongly advocating the DD-Nimbus cause has actually gone on record earlier the year stating that C&S homes and DD audiences are mutually exclusive.

* Other media buyers claim that C&S homes are currently hogging more than 80 percent of the total ad spends. They feel that status quo wil be maintained during the World Cup 2003 ad spends.

* Inside Dope has heard that a senior Sony official met some financial analysts and made presentations; claiming that MAX will bag Rs 2.6 billion during the World Cup 2003.

* The Sony official, it seems, also claimed that the channel will charge a 30 percent premium on the rate given to advertisers during the Champions Trophy; offering an effective rate of US $6000 per 30 seconds.

* Many financial analysts also feel that advertisers, who have been belatedly bitten by the World Cup bug, are likely to increase their budgets by a maximum of 10 percent in order to jump on to the bandwagon.

* A media planner justified a slightly lower than usual poor offtake by stating that caution is the buzz word now. The World Cup has come around the end of the financial year for lot of companies.

* Another savvy media buyer agrees and claims that most of the advertising & marketing budgets have been either exhausted or committed. The returns in terms of immediate offtakes or sales will be hard to judge for the World Cup event since the advertising would build brand equity/preference in the long run.

* A certain planner added that the short term results of advertising during the World Cup can be measured for only those campaigns which are either promo; contest driven; or if a brand drives footfalls thru the advertising and communications.

* It is expected that consumer durables companies will use the World Cup to drive the summer sales of ACs and refrigerators. It is believed that the World Cup could be an ideal vehicle to showcase their latest models, features etc...

* A certain media buyer added that the bigger spenders will wait and watch for the rates to fall. It is believed that the CPRPs have to be comparable, if not better than some mass entertainment programmes.

* The above mentioned fact is particularly true of those clients' whose association with cricket only remains at the viewership levels. As long as the event delivers in their target group (in terms of ratings) they will be happy to ride the wagon.

* However, brands which have intrinsic tie-ups or associations with cricket will want to strengthen the relationship through sponsorship. For most other brands it is a game of utilizing a property which will deliver maximum ratings at that point of time.

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