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<ul><li>The campaign talks about ETW Approach (E- Easy to invest, T - a taxing saving investment, W – helps in long term wealth creation).</li><li>It has been conceptualized and creatively led by Mirum India.</li></ul><keyword id="112970" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="axis-mutual-fund" source="Orion">Axis Mutual Fund</keyword>, one of the country’s leading <keyword id="6354820" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mutual-fund" source="Orion">mutual fund</keyword> houses, unveiled its new campaign for the upcoming tax season called #ELSSHaiNa. The investor education campaign aims to reiterate the importance of investing in ELSS (Equity Linked Savings Schemes that offer tax benefits under section 80C of the Income Tax Act) as a preferred and hassle-free option to save on tax. One of the most crucial mistakes that most investors make is that they leave tax planning for the last minute. Towards the end of the year, people realise that they need to invest in the right financial instruments to save tax but aren’t able to choose the right one. One can often hear the phrase “Tax ka kya socha hai?” and conversations around it gain momentum as investors rush to understand how can they save tax or how much time is left to make the right investment or even what are the right instruments to invest in! Chandresh Nigam, MD &amp; CEO, Axis AMC said, “At Axis AMC, we have always upheld the importance of Responsible Investing. As money managers, it is our duty to not only educate investors about the significance of investing in quality assets over the long term but also help them grow wealth while saving on tax in an efficient manner. ELSS is an option that is known to all investors. But without having spent the adequate time to optimize the right tax planning solution, investors often make hasty decisions and miss out on the most logical and easy option.” The new campaign by Axis Mutual Fund builds on the insight that the tax season can be anxiety-inducing, only if you have not planned well in advance. Through a series of three films, #ELSSHaiNa aims to make investors realise that at any given point in their lives, investing in ELSS for tax saving should be a ‘no-brainer’ option. The films use humour as a tool to highlight how planning for tax via ELSS is simple and hassle free. In the first film, the protagonist is aware that he needs to plan for the tax saving season. He has taken the advice of several people around him but has still reached no desirable solution. <div type="Youtube" id="JwaLZz_U0QU" title="Tax savings ke liye sochna kya hai, #ELSSHaiNa!" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JwaLZz_U0QU/mqdefault.jpg"></div> In the second film, a newly married couple is can’t seem to decide on their honeymoon destination despite the multiple suggestions by their family members. <div type="Youtube" id="Qp9H3uQ-V-g" title="Iss tax season sochna kya hai, #ELSSHaiNa!" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qp9H3uQ-V-g/mqdefault.jpg"></div> On the other hand, in the third film, the key character is confused over what to gift an extended cousin for their wedding. <div type="Youtube" id="XR8764psAN8" title="When it's about tax-saving, tab sochna kya hai, #ELSSHaiNa!" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XR8764psAN8/mqdefault.jpg"></div> All three films tie back to the proposition that all these aforementioned decisions seem worrying at best. But, when it comes to tax planning, “Sochna Kya Hai?”, because “#ELSSHaiNa”. Raghav Iyengar, Chief Business Officer, Axis AMC asserted, “Thanks to the continued efforts by MF industry, ELSS has started to gain widespread acceptance amongst the investor community. However, tax planning is still viewed as a strenuous and chaotic task. We need more awareness initiatives and campaigns such as ours, will be instrumental in connecting with the wider masses. The three distinct narratives of #ELSSHaiNa focus on capturing investment sentiment across age categories, genders, geographies. Furthermore, Axis Mutual Fund’s 360-degree approach for the campaign will leverage the power of digital, TV, radio, and the print medium to resonate and engage with the target audience.”

Axis Mutual Fund’s investor awareness campaign aims to reiterate the importance of investing in ELSS

<ul><li>The first half of 2020 was so unusual and unprecedented that the ad industry took a nosedive to as low as -60%.</li><li>Businesses of all kinds and sizes suffered and put their advertising activities on hold to give their consumers space to process the unprecedented times.</li><li>So, after a year and a half of lull, brands and advertisers went all out with their marketing activities during the festive season this year. Consumers were extra excited to step out, shop zealously and as most research studies reflected, Diwali exceeded expectations and broke previous records.</li><li>So, we speak to media experts and digital agencies to find out if the advertising industry has managed to bounce back this year, discuss the industry’s spending so far and their expectations from the last festival of the season, Christmas.</li></ul>After a year and a half of celebrating festivals virtually, Indian consumers were excited to have some sense of normalcy back this year during the festive season. Advertisers and brands also went all out to leverage on this uptick in consumer sentiment, starting from Raksha Bandhan to Diwali. Experts were also hopeful that the festive season will bring in cheer and serve as a respite from the pandemic-associated slumber. According to Redseer Consulting, 2021 saw India witness its biggest ever Festive Sales with brands clocking a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of $9.2 billion through online channels over this period. Online Festive Sales in India continued to grow at a blistering pace and saw a 23% YoY growth in GMV. On the other hand, the categories that witnessed subdued growth this year included the likes of home furnishings, home decor, furnishings and other electronics. Looking back at 2020, Eeshita Ghosh, General Manager and Office Head, Motivator Bangalore said, “The festival of 2021 is definitely better than 2020 and as high if not more than 2019. The ad volume started picking up from Q3 of 2021 and with more than 20% growth over 2019 Q3. The festival months saw multiple new advertisers getting active, approximately 2000+ new advertisers are active in media. The inventory was full, and the market sentiments were very positive. With festival and IPL, media was very active with multiple new categories.” A lot of hopes were banking on the festive season for the industry's overall revival, however, unlike Ghosh, Neena Dasgupta, CEO &amp; Director, Zirca Digital Solutions was a little disappointed; not with the numbers but with overall creativity. Explaining why, Dasgupta said, “Honestly, the performance fell short of expectations. Not only in terms of volume but also the kind of activities. I felt our methods possibly regressed a bit to remain cautious and conservative. Innovative ideas were few and yet each of them benefited. The consumer is now more aware and it’s time we took their psychometric into consideration. And at times where media dollars need to be more efficient and effective, we have to embrace tech that allows us to capture the consumer mindset and then deploy media buys across mediums.” Sharing how the festive season has panned out so far for the advertising industry, Dasgupta added, “It’s been an interesting festive season. There was exuberance in the consumer spirit and it reflected in some categories. And yet the exuberance didn’t necessarily translate into communication to the same scale. This was possibly a combination of inflation, economic imbalance at consumer levels and some category constraints that impacted sales. What was interesting g though was the growth in rural activities at the consumer end and advertising end too. Every medium had its share. And fintech growth made some aspirations real for this segment. We now have a fascinating growth story for Bharat.” With a steady monsoon and plump harvest so far, it was a cheerful year for rural India as well. They spent their harvest festivals with more enthusiasm and happiness to share with their loved ones. Brands also left no stone unturned to expand their marketing activities beyond metro and Tier I cities this year. In fact, this year, Tier II and III had the lion’s share in e-commerce spends. Will we return to 2019’s ad spends? After June, the advertising industry’s performance picked up by leaps and bounds. Raksha Bandhan, Ganesh Chaturthi and ace festival Diwali, improved consumer sentiment and helped the advertising industry to bounce back. But have we returned to 2019’s levels? “The ADEX numbers for October and November are yet to come, but as we observed from our billing, we are positive that it has bounced back to 2019 levels,” said Ghosh. Dasgupta told Advertising and Media Insider that regional and rural markets exceeded 2019’s performance but some markets are yet to reach there. Decoding media dispersion this festive season While there was buoyancy across the board, television got the most attention from advertisers yet again, followed by digital. Talking about medium dispersion, Monaz Todywalla, CEO at PHD Media India said, “In terms of mediums, television and digital continue to drive impact and lead from the front, with digital playing a vital role in ensuring last-mile connectivity and driving sales across multiple touchpoints. Raman Mittal, CMO and Co-Founder, TO THE NEW was delighted to see digital getting a bigger piece of pie than 2020. He said, "COVID revolutionized the way people shop. We saw businesses go all out on digital channels this Diwali season to communicate with potential clients. Companies have adjusted their attention on digital marketing to stay up with new shopping channels and get the biggest piece of the pie as a result of continual digital transformation." "Interaction and Influencers were the two themes that peaked this festive season," Raman continued. "Giveaways, contests, and online polls were used to promote interactive content. In addition, the top celebrities were enlisted to help brands stand out amid the crowd. These tendencies, we believe, will last well into Christmas and New Year." Within digital, video got the most attention and while traditional advertisers continued to spend heavily, they were matched and at times exceeded by online services/startups. Mihir Karkare, Cofounder and EVP of Mirum India said, "The videos ruled the roost this festive season. Online video platforms were in great demand – YouTube and OTT were the preferred choices for brands. Apart from Diwali, all the cricketing action also contributed heavily towards increased advertising spends. From a 'growth of share' standpoint, Influencer marketing as come of age." Hopes rest on Christmas Christmas is the last festival of the year. Will it give an additional impetus and help the advertising industry exceed 2019’s performance? “Christmas is a bit low, but we have seen many advertisers continuing with the momentum built during the Q3 period. I expect Q4 to be like Q2 and will be higher than Q4 of 2020 and close to 2019 Q4,” answered Ghosh. PHD Media’s Todywalla is optimistic that the momentum will continue and brands will keep up with their marketing blitzkrieg. “With consumers showing an increased propensity to spend, pent-up demand from brands translating into a bouquet of launches - complimented by high-decibel marketing campaigns, and an overall increase in consumption and sales from all corners of the media and entertainment ecosystem, the festivities have ushered in a season that's peppered with a healthy dose of optimism. We believe this wave of hope and optimism is expected to be carried forth into the coming year too," said Todywalla. With a huge push from key festivals such as Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi and Raksha Bandhan, cautious optimism continues to thrive in the advertising industry.

Has 2021’s festive season given India’s advertising industry a big enough push to recover from the 2020 after-effect?

<ul><li>If an industry can flourish during a global pandemic and one of the worst economic crises we had to face, it can survive through any challenges that come in its way.</li><li>Digital media has proven time and again how integral it is to the advertising industry’s survival and growth.</li><li>However, every year brings with it a set of challenges different from the previous one. So, in our second year-ender, we look at digital marketing, its growth trajectory and look at what lies ahead.</li><li>Experts are optimistic that 2022 will be a game-changer that will help them redefine a lot of rules in advertising, with smarter marketing techniques.</li></ul>The digital marketing industry in India not only managed to weather the pandemic’s impact but also flourished gracefully in 2020. It accelerated at an unbelievable speed, exceeding all predictions and expectations. Brands were quick to adapt, pivoting aggressively from traditional mediums to invest in digital. Digital media became one of the most effective mediums to reach out to people locked inside their houses and stuck to their phone and tablet screens. This trend of increased smartphone consumption is only expected to amplify as more people, especially in Tier II and III cities, engage more digitally and make purchase decisions through websites, apps, social media platforms. Apps have undoubtedly become the most popular destination for consumers and marketers are capitalizing on this trend to engage with them. As per GroupM’s TYNY report, global digital advertising should account for 64.4% of total advertising in 2021, up from 60.5% in 2020 and 52.1% in 2019. Zenith also estimates that global adspend will reach $705 billion in 2021, up from $634 billion in 2019, and will rise to $873 billion by 2024. Digital marketing in India is also at the cusp of a massive revolution as brands explore options beyond <keyword id="640850" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-media-marketing" source="Orion">social media marketing</keyword> within the digital ecosystem and look to expand their presence across regional markets. RedSeer predicts that India’s digital ad expenditure will grow 10 times over the next decade and will likely account for 70-85% of the total ad market, which currently stands at 33%. It is expected to touch $25-35 billion by 2030 from $3 billion in 2020. So, without a doubt, digital marketing is the future of advertising and the only way brands can grow is by harnessing various digital tools. From buying medicine to groceries or shopping for a wedding, many consumers who would otherwise prefer to browse and purchase in person, have moved to online shopping due to the limitations that the pandemic threw at them. This quick change in consumer behaviour, accelerated by the pandemic, gave a push to e-commerce, performance marketing, augmented reality, mobile marketing, digital animation, video content, voice search, audio advertising and influencer marketing. In this last year, Instagram has also moved beyond just a discovery platform and influencer-led commerce has arrived earlier than expected. According to WARC, Instagram grew to become the largest social media platform globally in 2021 after overtaking the core Facebook platform for the first time. Instagram is forecast to grow to control over a third of the global social media market in 2023. Apart from social commerce, Instagram’s parent company’s Metaverse was the hot topic and trailblazer of 2021. In 2022, more brands will prepare for the next phase of the internet, include Metaverse in their marketing strategy and experiment with AR and VR. As we enter a new year and it brings a new set of challenges, different from the previous one, we speak to digital marketing experts, discuss the industry’s growth trajectory and look at what lies ahead. Here’s what experts had to say about digital marketing’s future in India: Neena Dasgupta, CEO and Director, Zirca Digital Solutions: The dominant trend that seems imminent and set to grow is the cross media measurement. The customer connect is critical given the significant shift in consumption patterns. Understanding the impact of the mediums and planning connect basis that is an inevitability. This would require customer segmentation by cohorts, enablement of linking these cohorts between brand and publisher (any medium) and tracking response and measuring attribution using data integration at a CRM level. The entire system is data and tech driven supported by psychometric tools for the purpose of cohort creation and mapping. All in real time. Single source panel is the need of the hour. And there are multiple measurement organisations working together on this. More importantly it’s critical that a brand understands trading needs to be made more efficient by enabling customer segmentation in real time that can be activated using programmatic means, also in real time. The data pool and nodes will take some time to build as in any data led ML, and eventually it’s data science and creativity at work to engage prospects. Harshil Karia, Co-founder and Managing Director, Schbang: I think two big trends will dominate marketing: 1) More and more brands using a combination of technology to enrich what they do at last mile conversion, data management, and using the marketing data as signals to business and sales teams more effectively. Expect more martech being deployed. And expect more people to learn martech and it's capabilities and the ability to learn and unlearn the same. 2) The use of automation will start to affect creativity. One ad can be delivered in a 100 ways using video Ai and voice. One copy can be written in many ways customised to context. The writers to can work well with an Ai and make it their friend will do well. An Ai works as well as the instructional data it recieves. The factor that will help drive this is increased demands from CEOs to integrate the marketing function into large scale business processes and have the vision to see the value it can unlock - a push but also some patience. The automation allows marketing to now affect at scale far more parts of the organisation than they already have. Marketers and creators will do well to be curious and have a learn it all attitude while knowing and deepening their craft on copy and design." Prashant Puri, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, AdLift: We’re entering the organic first age where prioritizing organic search becomes paramount. We see content playing a vital role here, be it optimizing for voice search or improving user experience via engaging content across all brand touchpoint. We estimate influencer marketing spends to catapult to $150 to $225 in 2022 with brands doubling down on influencer led marketing campaigns across nano, micro and macro influencers - capturing 7 to 9% of overall digital marketing spends in India. Chandni Shah, Founder and COO, Kinnect: The one trend I see dominating 2022 is Social Commerce. The e-commerce industry experienced accelerated growth with the pandemic, and social commerce emerged as the 'flavour of the year'. Social media platforms too joined the bandwagon and introduced features and tools to enhance the consumer journey - from product discovery to purchasing them on/through the platform itself. Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 contributed significantly to the new era of online social retail. In 2020, Facebook introduced Instagram shops, integrating e-commerce and the world's most popular social media platform. In the Covid-19 pandemic, the worldwide social commerce market is anticipated to increase at a whopping <a href="https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5140143/social-commerce-global-market-trajectory-and?utm_source=GNOM&amp;utm_medium=PressRelease&amp;utm_code=rm7g2f&amp;utm_campaign=1434938+-+Global+Social+Commerce+Market+Worth+%24604.5+Billion+by+2027+-+COVID-19+Updated&amp;utm_exec=joca220prd" target="_blank">31.4</a>%. By 2021, social commerce will continue to expand as consumers stick to digital habits, whilst e-commerce and conventional retailers adjust to the post-Covid-19 reality. Combining e-commerce with social media can be highly valuable; it allows consumers to look for brands via social media platforms and search for products they wouldn't usually look for on an e-commerce website. Brand hunt, influencers, and mobile payments are examples of social commerce in action. Thanks to AI, marketers can now gather real-time data on consumers and transform it into actionable insights. The upcoming year will see more users turn into buyers and make purchases through social commerce. Brands that haven't explored the opportunity yet will be quick to jump onto this trend. To sum this up, the shorter the buyers' journey will be, the lesser chance of them abandoning products in their cart. Hareesh Tibrewala Joint CEO of Mirum India: Covid has taught us that every business, big or small, B2B or B2C, irrespective of the category -- needs to have a way of reaching out to the consumers online, be able to showcase ones products and services, collect payment and make delivery. We will see e-commerce driving investments in the area of technology, content creation and media. We will see continued expansion of market places as well as emergence of D2C brands. Within ecommerce we will see movement towards voice-based ordering as well as conversational commerce Harsh Shah, EVP, Business- North and West, Dentsu Webchutney: 2022 is going to be the year of alternate digital realities. Yes, the metaverse! That moment in time where our digital life seamlessly co-exists with our physical life. That year, where our virtual possessions are of as much worth as our real-life possessions. Bank accounts and crypto wallets. Art works and NFTs. One of the key outlooks for brands should be to see how they can use 2022 to prep themselves to be not only present in the metaverse but also for immersive storytelling. With growing interest in the concept and it being part of popular culture, will accelerate adoption. It will outgrow the internet in adoption. Also, with 5G hitting the market, it can act as a great platform to drive that initial burst of growth. Shradha Agarwal, COO and Strategy Head- Grapes: In my opinion, AI will play a crucial role in the digital marketing ecosphere. We have witnessed that from data collection to geo-fencing, AI has been helping businesses grow extensively. The technology comes with such a great combination that it has been used widely in certain aspects such as content creation, chatbots and search engines. Sectors like retail, e-commerce, banking, healthcare, gaming and others are already backed upon on artificial intelligence as it helps them recognize consumer behaviour, search patterns and it also helps businesses understand how customers find their products and services. In the coming time, we would see many others sectors trying their hands on the tool marketers want good sales and better ROI through their marketing strategy. Therefore, AI applications can predict what customers are likely to buy in the future based on their past purchases and browsing history. With this approach, it becomes easier for them to target their users. Also, AI use is becoming of utmost importance for those companies whose business depends on smartphones and drive sales through social media. Hence, AI as a market will grow exponentially. Raman Mittal, CMO and Co-Founder, TO THE NEW: I believe the dominant trend of 2022 will be Contextual Targeting. Contextual targeting isn’t something new, but for a while it was in the shadows because it’s performance was lower than Behavioral Targeting that used cookies. But in this cookie-less world, the modes of serving personalized ads to the audience have shrunk and marketers are moving back to contextual targeting. Whether it is category, keyword, or semantic contextual targeting, it will be exciting to see future developments in this arena. Mohit Gyanchandani, Head, media planning and growth, DCMN India: For several years, the marketing industry has witnessed an ongoing contest between performance and brand marketing in terms of budget, resources and impact. But in 2022, we predict that the old dichotomy between the two will become increasingly blurred. This is in part due to the impact of COVID on businesses. After a volatile 18 months, many organisations are re-evaluating their goals and moulding themselves to survive and thrive in this new economy. Above all, companies know that to succeed, they need to build brand salience. We’re already seeing that for many of our clients, it’s not simply about brand versus performance anymore: the two need to work in tandem. That means bringing both sides of marketing even closer together and building fully integrated, 360 degree campaigns that power growth and build brand recognition across online and offline channels. Marketers will also start looking at results more holistically. Instead of just looking at one specific channel and its impact on direct KPIs, they will look at results through a broader lens: for example, the impact that a TV campaign might have on digital channels like search or retargeting. This doesn’t mean that pure performance-driven campaigns are going away completely. The best approach for a brand will always depend on the company’s stage of growth and their overall marketing goals. But for companies looking to scale, taking a fully integrated approach will be key to achieving cut-through in an increasingly competitive industry." Ankur Gattani, VP - Growth and Marketing, WebEngage around MarTech: Majority of Indian organizations have been using a mix bag of first-party (1P) and third-party (3P) data for marketing and advertising. However, the usage and impact of 1P data are expected to amplify in 2022 in a big way. This trend will dominantly be driven by the legal framework that will prohibit the usage of 3P data and force the adoption for 1P. Organisations like Amazon and Netflix have spoilt the customers with their personalisation mechanisms. What this means is that customers expect personalisation from the websites and apps that they visit. Marketeers will have to make optimal use of data and analytics to bring that level of experience for their customers. Reports suggest that over 80% of marketeers see benefits in leveraging consumer data for marketing. At WebEngage, we work 100% on 1P customer data and we believe this trend will not only help our clients engage with consumers in a meaningful manner but also improve their business ROI. Shivani Kamdar - Associate Creative Director, SoCheers: 2020 &amp; 2021 showed us how content is still the centrepiece of every marketing communication and how brands went the extra mile to establish a better connection with their audience. The coming year is going to be no different, in fact "Localisation of Content" is the need of the hour. A marketing technique for product promotion leveraging the local culture of the target areas by studying their preference, likes, dislikes. The customer begins to relate with the content at a subconscious level which in turn not only helps aid their purchase decision but in the long run, also helps forge a better recall for the brand. One of the key factors that will help drive this trend home is ground research - an intense focus on understanding the consumer intent by renewing SEO efforts. The other is the medium of communication. Building the right story is not enough; finding the most compelling way to sell it will do just the right thing. Will that copy be more relatable as a video or will adding audio to this help enhance the user experience? Consumers are craving interactive, consumable, entertaining content be it on mobile or across social channels; question is, will you give it to them? Dia Kirpalani, VP, Head of Strategy, Blink Digital: As we move into 2022 and beyond, we believe that both marketers and consumers will increasingly seek a clearly demonstrable line to value. To achieve this, marketers will need to harness the ability of end-to-end measurement, with an eye on their north star metric. India is moving online more than ever. With everything from shoppable content on social media, to conversational commerce bringing India's smaller towns further into the fold, this measurement is progressively important to assess where and how to communicate. Meanwhile, consumers will seek value and authenticity from their brands. Brands that win consumers' hearts will meet consumers where they are with content that has real relevance, whether they access it through voice, video or vernacular. Brands will need to also provide consumers an exceedingly easy content consumption or shopping experience through hiccup-free, friendly interfaces. Importantly, content will also need to authentically reflect evolving consumer values, and this will help determine what brands should communicate. For brands looking to scale up further, this combination of multiple elements is what will ultimately drive value. Rahul Nanwani, Co-founder &amp; CEO of ImageKit: It is predicted that globally, 82% of consumer web traffic in 2022 would be from videos. With India’s video market set to touch $18 billion by 2026, it will soon play a dominant role in digital marketing as well. Short-form videos have already attracted the attention of many Indians and the market is predicted to reach 650 million users by 2025. Thus, if brands need to reach a wider audience in the coming year, they need to utilize tools that will maximize their outreach through videos. Video optimization and media management tools help improve internal collaboration for teams creating the videos and then ensure that those high-quality videos can load quickly on a user's device. With several advancements being made in this field, brands will be able to provide better customer experiences and ensure their messaging reaches them through videos.

Metaverse, social commerce and personalisation in a cookie-less world: Here’s how digital marketers are preparing for the future

<ul><li>In wake of players, support staff and team management executives tested positive for Covid-19, BCCI announced the suspension of <keyword id="7866747" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ipl-2021">IPL 2021</keyword>. </li><li>Considering how big the league has become over the years, every year there is a lot of money riding on IPL.</li><li>We spoke to experts to understand the kind of impact the suspension of the league will have on different stakeholders.</li></ul> The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has suspended the current season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in wake of players in different teams testing positive for Covid. While there had been talks of moving the tournament to a different city in the past few days, the new positive cases among the players led to BCCI announcing an indefinite suspension of the league. For a while now, IPL had been the topic of a raging debate - Whether there was a need to hold the tournament this year, at this time, when the country is facing a massive surge in Covid numbers. While there were many who had felt that IPL should not have been held this year, or could have been suspended much earlier than it was, there were others who said something like an IPL was important because it acted as a distraction from the grimness that otherwise surrounds us. In its official statement, IPL stated, “The BCCI does not want to compromise on the safety of the players, support staff and the other participants involved in organising the IPL. This decision was taken keeping the safety, health and wellbeing of all the stakeholders in mind. These are difficult times, especially in India and while we have tried to bring in some positivity and cheer, however, it is imperative that the tournament is now suspended and everyone goes back to their families and loved ones in these trying times. The BCCI will do everything in its powers to arrange for the secure and safe passage of all the participants in IPL 2021.” In its official statement, <keyword id="17943" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="star-india">Star India</keyword> said, “Star India supports BCCI’s decision to postpone IPL 2021. The health and safety of players, staff and everyone involved in the IPL are of paramount importance. We thank the BCCI, IPL Governing Council, players, franchisees and sponsors for their support. We are also indebted to our employees, on-air talent, production, and broadcast crews for trying their best to spread positivity by delivering the broadcast of IPL 2021 to millions of homes in the face of challenging circumstances.” However, the next big question everyone is pondering over is, how will IPL’s suspension impact different stakeholders considering there are massive investments involved in the league every year. This year, Star India had on-boarded 18 sponsors and over 100 advertisers across multiple brand categories including Edtech, Fantasy Sports, Beverages, Pay Wallets, Home Décor, Auto, Telecom, Consumer Durables, FMCG and Financial Services. For most brands, the IPL becomes that one property that garners impressive eyeballs. The leagues has helped a lot of brands build awareness and reach out to an engaged set of audience over the years. However, this year, perhaps due to the ongoing <keyword id="9323110" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Covid-surge">Covid surge</keyword>, IPL’s viewership witnessed a dip when compared to last year’s numbers, according to data from Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India. <div type="image" title="IPL 2021 viewership" msid="82390462" hostid="261"></div> Last year, BCCI had earned Rs 4,000 crore in revenue from hosting IPL, in addition to a 25% rise in TV viewership, according to BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal. The different franchisees make money through title sponsorships, media rights, merchandising, ticket sales and the prize money. When it comes to the broadcaster, Star Sports and Hotstar was expected to rake in advertising revenues of around Rs 3,600-3,800 crore, a substantial jump from last year’s estimated revenue of Rs 2,600 crore. While it might still be very early to understand the implications of the suspension, industry experts believe advertisers will approach Star Sports Network to rework the advertising deals. Many advertisers had to pay close to a 20% premium for ad slots this year and it is expected they would demand for extra airtime, to make up. What the exact implications are, and how different stakeholders work around the suspension, only time will tell. To understand what the industry felt about the league’s suspension, we reached out to experts from the industry, and here is what they had to say: <keyword id="248051" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ashish-Bhasin">Ashish Bhasin</keyword>, CEO APAC and Chairman India, dentsu supported the decision to postpone the IPL for now. “Given the prevailing pandemic situation, I think it is the right decision to postpone IPL for now. The health and safety of all the players and everyone involved I think is paramount and keeping in mind the situation in the country and the prevailing mood in the nation, in my view it is the right decision. IPL is the single largest property on television in India and something that appeals to a wide target audience, across the geographies. It has unparalleled reach and has always proven to be an excellent vehicle for brands and I think that will continue to be so and that will not change. Given the fact that several parts of the country are going into lockdown, there are emergency measures been taken in different cities and towns to curb the pandemic, the severe shortages and difficulties being experienced, lives being lost to the pandemic, I think it is more appropriate to focus on that then on commercial issues for now. I’m sure the commercial issues will get discussed and resolved in an appropriate manner.” While she said that the suspension will amount to substantial business impact for a lot of the stakeholders, <keyword id="3123098" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neena-Dasgupta">Neena Dasgupta</keyword>, CEO and Director, Zirca Digital Solutions also stated that she would not be in favor of it resuming at a later date. “There is definitely going to be a substantial business impact on all associated with the annual spectacle. It's not just Star and BCCI that would be losing revenue but other people as well whose revenue is linked to IPL. Media agencies, digital agencies who were riding big on IPL would now have to look for ways to compensate for the lost revenue opportunity. While it is being said that the tournament would resume during better times, no one should place their bets on it. As a business I would not be in favour of the decision, but looking at the current scenario, saving human lives is top most priority. I would like to say to all my fellow colleagues across the industry, “Hang on and stay safe, this too shall pass,” she said. Pointing at how the first-time advertisers would perhaps be the least daunted by the development, <keyword id="1505615" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ashish-Khazanchi">Ashish Khazanchi</keyword>, Managing Partner, Enormous Brands said, “Suspension of IPL will certainly have near-term adverse impact - both in terms of business objectives of advertisers and even more importantly on the market sentiment. Heavy investments may be held back because there's going to be unpredictability on how the returns on investments may turn out to be. The first-time advertisers however are probably going to be the least daunted going by my extensive work with them. For a few important reasons. One, their businesses are heavily digital-enabled. That part of the world will roughly continue unfazed and may actually gain shares at the expense of the traditional business models. Two, they have a much higher risk appetite than traditional business. The older businesses are usually in a consolidate mode, while all start ups are in an aggressive growth and acquisition mode. They may actually take advantage of lesser media saturation to build share of voice. The cancellation is somewhat likely to cast a little shadow of uncertainty even on the World Cup. But only the next few months will tell us the way for sure." Chetan Asher, Founder &amp; CEO - Tonic Worldwide said, "IPL is a major vehicle for visibility for startups in India and brands associated with the event can become a household name, from a marketing perspective. While the suspension derails the opportunity for them, given the current context that's unavoidable and a step in the right direction. However, they can channelise their investments and energy in trying to make a difference by partnering with NGO’s providing relief during Covid-19." Earlier this year, a report from Duff &amp; Phelps had revealed that the value of the IPL ecosystem witnessed a 3.6% dip in 2020. So how will the suspension this year further impact its value? Varun Gupta, Managing Director and Head Valuation Advisory- APAC, Duff &amp; Phelps, A Kroll Business said, “If the tournament had merely been suspended and restarted within a week or two, it might not have much of a difference to the revenues of the IPL or that of the franchisees. However, it appears that that the tournament is postponed indefinitely, which would have the following impact – Firstly, IPL would suffer significant revenue losses for the current season. There will be loss of sponsorship and broadcasting revenues for BCCI. The league was already coping with loss of revenues from ticket sales and in-stadia F&amp;B, besides the loss of revenue last year due to <keyword id="215177" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vivo">VIVO</keyword> pulling out for the 2020 season. Secondly, the teams will also suffer revenue losses on account of reduced revenue from the central pool and loss of team sponsorship revenues. Having said that, one must also acknowledge that while it was ongoing over the last few weeks, the IPL provided 3-4 hours of much needed diversion and relief to the Indian masses who are reeling under a barrage of bad news on the Covid front. IPL’s ability to pull TV audiences continues unabated. Secondly, the value of any enterprise is based on its future cash earning capacity. To our mind, while there will be some revenue loss this year, the future revenue generation ability of the IPL is undiminished.” Sanjay Mehta, Joint CEO of Mirum India said that while the move will have an impact on brands, it also gives them time to rethink their communication strategies. “The suspension of the IPL, then, is going to hurt all those brands. Many (such as CRED, for example) would have invested significant sums in new creatives. Others would have planned campaign schedules and connected the same to product demand forecasts and inventory placement in stores. These plans will all get impacted, as finding alternate spots to run that kind of ad inventory will not be easy. On the other hand, many businesses and their customers are themselves impacted due to the second wave of Covid and might see this as a sigh of relief in a way, as they might save money for ad inventory that is not run. Also, at a time when the mood of a large number of citizens is very low, having "in-your-face" advertising urging you to purchase something as if life was normal, was a little jarring too. Maybe this break gives them time to rethink their creative strategies, for communication in the midst of the Covid challenges,” he said. Ambika Sharma, Founder &amp; MD, Pulp Strategy added, “The battle with Covid-19 which started a year ago has disrupted the operations across the globe. In India, with its huge populace it has become a daunting task to overcome despite safety and Covid-19 protocols. The IPL which is an extremely popular event that everyone looks forward to, should not have been allowed as the charm and excitement of watching and engaging on the ground cannot be matched with watching it at home without your friends and dear ones and right now you see only devastation in either your neighbourhood, family or anywhere. The high stakes of IPL should have been looked into, especially when we see players falling to Covid infections. The infection can have multiple manifestations on the health of the players which can lead to serious lifelong illness. While we stare at huge losses, be it for the Sponsors, Broadcasters and BCCI, the environment is least conducive to host these matches. A mutually agreeable formula by key stakeholders can be adopted transparently to arrive at a decision, especially when the medical experts are warning us about the Covid peak.” Speaking about the impact of the move on brands as well as agencies that have worked on campaigns for their clients, Shradha Agarwal, COO and Strategy Head- Grapes Digital said, "This is definitely going to affect the marketers. There are creative works, campaigns that are yet to be launched as brands were waiting for the IPL to enter its second phase. In May many brands would have come out with ads and campaigns because the IPL advertising inventory is sold through long term contracts that are signed before the tournament begins. This will also impact digital agencies that are ready to launch their campaigns with influencers based on IPL. There are few possibilities, firstly, the IPL is suspended and not dropped hence, advertisers will wait for the league to resume or some clients would cease the campaign and work on Plan B because the budget was allocated for a specific period, and if the quarter changes they will back out. Small advertisers might take the route of moving to regular inventory instead of investing for the remainder of the season in one go." What route the broadcaster takes in the next few days to rejig its advertising deals with brands and sponsors is something we will need to wait and watch.

As IPL gets suspended indefinitely, experts discuss the broad implications of the move on all stakeholders

<ul><li>The pandemic-induced lockdown accelerated <keyword id="618493" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-marketing">digital marketing</keyword>’s adoption rate in India. </li><li>A lot of brands have a digital-first and digital-only approach, while there are brands that want to start and stay only on digital. </li><li>So will this be a strong enough push for clients to invest a lion’s share on digital? We reach out to digital agencies to understand what we can expect in the future as digital takes precedence. </li></ul>Digital marketing has taken precedence over all mediums since the outbreak of coronavirus. According to DAN’s digital report released in January this year, digital marketing was expected to grow by 10.9% and reach ₹75,952 crore by the end of 2020. However, with the nationwide lockdown, print, radio, OOH, in-cinema advertising saw a massive drop, enabling further acceleration in digital’s overall growth. 2019 was also another year with its own set of challenges. With the economic slowdown, advertisers decided to cut back on spends and market sentiments reached a new low but despite those hurdles, digital continued to flourish. Now with reading news, catching up with friends, dating, hanging out and many other social activities becoming virtual, the whole market dynamics have altered. This has led to marketers rethinking their strategies and digital agencies introspecting on how they can lead the change. As markets are now slowly opening up, we reached out to experts to find out if the ad revenue pie will change, too. Experts opined that most advertising budgets and brands will be digital-centric in the times to come once we recover from the dent that COVID-19 has created. Unny Radhakrishnan, CEO, Digitas India said, "Digital always had a year-on-year healthy growth. More often the growth stories are reported based on how much digital media spends are growing. While that is clearly an indication of growth, the current situation is triggering accelerated growth not just in digital media spends, but in the overall approach to digitisation. There is a renewed focus on digitisation of all customer touch points. Consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with digital interfaces - from virtual showrooms to OTT to digital news subscriptions to e-commerce. So brands will continue to invest in this transformation and investments could be significantly skewed on to digital. Most of our conversations and engagements with our clients are in the areas of these transformations and building digital brands." However, digital advertising will take some time to get its due back. Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar South Asia, highlighted that 95% of the ad revenue still comes from traditional beauty, FMCG and auto brands, who weren’t fully operational during the lockdown. He predicts a 40% drop in the overall digital revenue this year. “Consumption has gone through the roof for various forms of content ranging from video, gaming to education. Ramayan and news viewership also gave TV a push. Unfortunately, the clients aren't able to keep up with the pace. So far, only 5% of ad revenue comes from a pure digital brand and 95% still comes from a traditional FMCG or auto brand. They’ll start spending in the days to come. Apart from that, e-comm players told me that 75% of their sales came back in lockdown 3.0. Hence, people are going to put their best bets on digital again. Lockdown did have a long-term impact because the ad spends have cut down,” said Jasani. Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, CEO and Co-founder, Gozoop says an ‘even bigger uptick awaits us.’ “Digital spends are going to grow exponentially in the post-COVID era. CEO’s, CFO’s &amp; CMO’s are experiencing the benefits of having a digital-only marketing strategy and once they have tested success, I don’t see them resorting to other forms of advertising, at least in the short to medium term. There will be an increased focus on martech and performance marketing strategies. I also expect inbound marketing and performance-led influencer marketing to become a critical tool in the arsenal of most digital first marketing teams.” Sharing why digital has seen unhampered growth year-on-year despite the volatile environment in India, Sanjay Mehta, Joint CEO, Mirum India said, “It was due to various advantages that it offers, including sharp targeting, being very measurable, being able to track the ROI well, very efficient to create and manage campaigns, usable for small and large budgets, ease of starting, stopping, and tweaking campaigns, and not needing to stay committed to a creative or a medium, for long periods of time, etc. For all these reasons, digital advertising has been growing for years now. But marketers were still spreading their spending across media, including TV, print, OOH, cinema, radio, etc. Since all these mediums saw a drop, digital became a natural choice.” Traditional brands who offer tangible products will also embrace digital in the days to come. Giving us an insight into which categories will be the first adapters during <keyword id="9318169" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unlock-1-0">unlock 1.0</keyword>, Jasani said, “There is a clear transfer of marketing monnies from mediums like outdoor, in-cinema to digital. Now, with this markets opening up, you should see much more activity from brands like mobile providers, who aren't termed as essentials but are important. Auto will see a boom because people will avoid public transport. But you will not go for a test-drive. This whole process will move to digital. Marketing will be around how safely it will be delivered it to you. So a lot of money will be spent on safety whether it is tourism, food, airlines, etc.” Google’s report titled ‘What is India searching for’ revealed how dependence on digital is rapidly increasing as time spent on smartphones in the first 3 week of COVID-19 disruption inched towards 4.5 hours per day and online video accounted for more than 70% of India’s total data usage. As a result, clients who have reached out to Gozoop lately are demanding digital-first strategy and Naqvi predicts that it will now get the lion’s share. “A lot of brands that are coming to us today and want a digital-first approach with some only wanting digital as the main channel. I feel that the future of brand building is digital. It’s not just here to stay but is here to lead. When it comes to the brands that have traditionally relied on mainline, there will be some tactical work that will be done occasionally, but that’s not to say that print and traditional will die. However, the portion of spends will flip. Digital spends will go up from 20-30% of the current total media spends to as high as 60-70% in the post COVID era,” shared Naqvi. The sudden transition to digital wasn’t really smooth for marketers. They were trying to figure out the market sentiment and how to communicate with consumers. Eventually, the importance of ROI was driven home. “The economic challenges of the current period do force brands to think sharper on ROI factors, where marketing spends are concerned. Hence digital as a highly measurable medium, becomes a first call. Even within digital, data-driven marketing and marketing automation, become a must-do, since these generate even sharper focus and enable far better ROI on spends,” said Mehta. There is a silver lining to this whole situation after all. Jasani predicts this consumer sentiment will pick up come Diwali. “This is going to be the best Diwali since the past 2 years. First two months will go in stocking essentials but come Diwali, consumers are going to step out and buy things. It will be a good thing for the country and economy, overall,” said he. Digital experts said that this shift to digital is an irreversible change in the marketing landscape.

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