The Indian advertising and television industry has started to feel the heat of the global economic slowdown. With advertisers trimming their ad budgets and postponing launches of products and services, the entire sector is beginning to feel the pinch.
In an interview with Indiantelevision.com's Anushree Bhattacharyya, Havas Media CEO Anita Nayyar speaks about how the Indian television and advertising industry is trying to cope with this financial crisis.
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How much has the global financial crisis affected the Indian advertising industry?
Lots of big launches of products or services have been postponed. Advertisers are waiting till the first quarter of next year to see how the market is going to evolve. It is too early at this stage, thus, to quantify the pace at which the ad industry will grow. |
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Looking at the current economic crisis, how deeply hurt will be the TV sector? Are the Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) headed for further trouble due to the on-going dispute between the TV producers and workers?
FMCG is the category that advertises mostly on GECs. And presently it is one of the least impacted category. Hence advertising will gain momentum once the strike gets over. |
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Will the TV news channels feel the pinch? |
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What about the growth of sports and movie channels? |
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Do you feel you have been able to bring Havas out of Euro RSG's basket?
Havas Media has clients like Reckitt Benckiser, which is our biggest client. It also has Voltas, Bank of Baroda, Air France, ibibo.com and Hindustan Motors as its clients. |
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Interestingly, when you moved out of Starcom you were blamed for taking away both people and accounts?
As for the businesses that I got from Starcom, those moved based on pitches. But this also proves another point - that I share a very good relationship with the clients. |
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Havas Group introduced Havas Sports in India. How has sports marketing picked up in India, especially after IPL?
We at Havas Sports have clients like Good Earth products, A1GP, etc. Havas Sports is also involved in celebrity endorsement. |
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How are your clients reacting to this financial crunch? |
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How is Havas Media tackling the situation, because sooner or later your clients will also reduce their ad budgets? |
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