Ad rates are shooting up this poll season

Ad rates for political advertising have shot up, doubling in some instances, from those paid by other advertisers as India gets ready to vote in a seven-phase general election that starts on April 11. Leading media buying companies and broadcasters said the 2019 election campaign will set a new record for political ad spending, some pegging it at Rs 4,000 crore, up 40% from the 2014 election. The last day of voting is May 19 with counting scheduled for May 23.

“Pre-election ad rates have increased about 100% compared with other corporate advertisers’ rates,” said Shashi Sinha, chief executive of IPG Mediabrands, which represents Coca-Cola and Amazon among others. “While the BJP and Congress are obviously taking the leading in advertising, regional parties have emerged as heavy spenders too. The spends on election advertising could touch Rs 4,000 crore, with the number of parties and contenders having shot up significantly over the previous election season.”

TV ad rates, especially those of news channels, go up at election time, said Ashish Sehgal, chief growth officer, ad revenue, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE). “The viewership of the news genre goes up almost 18-20% during elections and its mainly male viewership,” he said. “A lot of clients who target male viewers also shift to the news genre. During this period, we will see almost 25-30% increase in ad rates and in some cases may be up to 40%.”

Sehgal said there would be an increase in overall rates and political parties will also have to pay those. He didn’t say if political parties would be charged a premium. ZEE has also launched an election package for sponsors at a premium of over 30%.

On polling, counting and government formation days, viewership surges, Sehgal said. “These are the days when rates also go up to as much as Rs 2 lakh per 10 seconds. It’s like T20, airing all day on a news channel.”

Broadcasters will seek to maximise the opportunity for the biggest news event of the year, said a top ad sales executive at a large TV network. “Similar to the festival season, elections are also big for advertising, which comes every five years,” he said. “Political parties that want to reach mass audiences have to pay up. As they will be advertising for just a month or two, we are charging 20-30% more, compared to our regular clients, who advertise with us for the entire year.” Experts said advertisers across genres will need to cut through increased clutter over next 30-45 days to connect with viewers. “Political parties evidently have very deep pockets,” said Vani Gupta, former marketing director, PepsiCo, and cofounder of Benddit, a platform that provides turnkey sales and marketing solutions. “The challenge is before business houses who are jostling for visibility in the same media. This is when advertisers must deliberately pick new age media to get the attention of their consumers and circumnavigate the conventional roadblocks.”

According to a directive by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) grouping, political parties have to pay in advance for ads. “They have to pay a premium, plus in advance, which is a major advantage for broadcasters,” the executive said.

As per tracking firm Centre for Media Studies, the election exercise as a whole will cost a record Rs 50,000 crore ($7 billion) as more than 8,000 candidates contest 543 seats.