Ad spends are seeing a significant surge in the assembly polls-bound Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh. Regional media buyers highlight an 80 percent-100 percent surge in ad spending compared to the previous state elections, with a strong emphasis on news media across both print and electronic platforms. The festive season and Cricket World Cup are also aiding ad spends.
“In the fierce competition for every constituency seat, political spending has witnessed a remarkable surge. Campaign budgets have grown manifold and this has fuelled a boom in political advertising, nearly doubling in the last month and a half,” said Atul Jain, director at media buying agency Atul Publicity, Rajasthan.
Jain said his billings for political clients have seen a significant surge in the last month. While not willing to quantify the jump, Jain said the focus of most of his clients has been on news media.
According to him, approximately 65 percent of the ad spend is directed towards regional newspapers, with the remaining split across television, radio, digital, and out-of-home media.
Broad-based advertising
However, the spends are not just coming from the bigger political parties or the popular candidates. Even smaller parties are adding significantly to the AdEx.
“Smaller parties like the Bharat Vikas Party are generously investing in advertisements, with an estimated Rs 80 lakh spent in the last month and a half alone. Additionally, community-based advertising is also on the rise, with groups like the Brahman Maha Samaj, Agarwal community, Jath community and many others allocating substantial budgets ranging Rs 70 lakh- Rs 80 lakh for advertisements,” said Jain.
Interestingly, it’s not just the political parties the regional advertisers are also aggressively spending in the election season. Their focus is also on news media because that is where the audience is in the poll season.
Regional FMCG players, lifestyle brands and stores, fashion labels, jewellery companies and real estate businesses are all spending on ads in the poll season.
Media businesses have another explanation for the surge in ad spends.
Sumit Modi, chief operating officer, Madhya Pradesh, D. B. Corp Ltd, said, “All 3 election bound states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have announced many welfare schemes for women, unemployed, farmers, households, etc, which will result in additional significant disposable income in the hands of people of the said states for spending. This is likely to increase consumption size and aid larger growth of local industries, which is expected to translate into a substantial rise in media spends.”
“We are witnessing very positive retail/local advertisers’ confidence via their media spends for the last couple of quarters,” he added.
Post-election spillover
Some of the surge spills to the post-election period, too.
Anand Singhania, managing director at Avinash Group, a real estate venture in Chhattisgarh, explained, “In the advertising realm, the post-election period is our prime time for assertiveness. We strategically wait for the election dust to settle, allowing the audience to gain clarity on the new government and its ideologies. In real estate, where price fluctuations are prevalent before, during, and after elections, our aggression peaks immediately after elections, with spending going up 15 percent compared to poll season.”
This is the opportune moment to leverage news media, especially the regional platforms in both television and newspapers, to amplify our advertising presence, Singhania said, adding, “It’s in these channels that we aim to captivate the audience, gauging the sentiment of the newly elected government and positioning ourselves prominently.”