Agencies try new tricks as ad spends plummet

Media agencies are pointing to a 20 to 25 per cent dip in advertising expenditure after a flat growth in November and December 2008, with high profile service sectors like finance, airlines and hospitality leading the downward bound. Telecom and consumer goods firms are said to be advertising almost as usual.

“Advertisers are looking at smarter ways of deploying investment. So monies have been reduced not through reduction in media, but more through cutting the flab,” N.P . Sathyamurthy joint president, , Lintas Media Group, told Hindustan Times.

For example, an advertising campaign that was planned to run over six-seven weeks is now to run for four-five weeks, with intermittent gaps. And full-page ads have been replaced by smaller half-page ads.

Shashi Sinha, CEO of media-buying agency Lodestar Universal points to the ongoing ING Bank campaign, saying that where there is a need to be present, advertisers are not pulling back.

Contrary to general guesses, advertisers are not quickly swapping conventional media for online alternatives, but the segment is certainly getting its chance. Below-the-line media also has limited scope.

“It’s more of experimenting on the part of clients who were earlier hesitant about online. Going forward, online media will see more advertising investment as more advertisers see its effectiveness,” Sathyamurthy said.

_________Article written by Anita Sharan, www.shine.com  link to article: http://info.shine.com/Article/Industry-Buzz/Agencies-try-new-tricks-as-ad-spends-plummet/1985/cid45.aspx