'There should be a data bank for gut'

Sudha Natarajan has recently been appointed president and COO of Lintas Media Group. She has moved to Delhi from Bangalore, from where she was looking after Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi as well and handling big-ticket clients such as ITC (Foods), MRF, St Gobain and The Hindu group, among others. “We needed to focus on Delhi as it’s a booming market for advertisers. Our clients (Maruti, Sony Electronics, ITC and Revlon) are growing,” she said, explaining her shift to the city. Natarajan spoke to Shuchi Bansal on media spends and trends in the television space. Excerpts:

What’s the key difference between clients in the north and south?
In all major markets, the clients are professional. Delhi doesn’t behave any differently. Clients in Bangalore and Chennai are cautious in decision making. Their motivators are different. Their decisions are powered by brand needs. Delhi is a more dynamic market. The entrepreneurship spirit is very high. Most markets, including Mumbai, follow the efficiency-driven measurement parameters for brands. Delhi goes beyond that. It is willing to create a buzz for the brand rather than just go by its advertising needs. And it’s worked for Delhi. The only challenge now is to research what works and what doesn’t when it’s based on gut feel. There should be a data bank for “gut”. That stage is not happening.

Isn’t the media function now synonymous with simply “buying cheap” rather than any real planning?
Yes, for some agencies. Their focus is on numbers. But with the complexity of media options available today, the media is not just a vehicle on which we place the creative today. The media itself acts as a communication platform. So, it talks the language of the brand. When we launch brands, it is the media specialists who determine the rollout of markets and see if the universe of consumers is big enough for the brands.

Are advertising spends back on track?
According to our analysis of data between January and May 2009 over January-May 2008, spends on television are up. While TV grew by 7 per cent, print grew by 15 per cent. Radio, outdoor and cinema advertising declined. Did television grow because of the Indian Premier League?
There was IPL last year as well. However, this year the realisation per second of advertising that IPL got was 50 to 80 per cent more than what it got last year. Both news and general entertainment channels (GEC) have grown.

So why does the picture look gloomy?
Gloomy? When we launch products we don’t get inventory from TV stations to run the ads. I have to speak to channel heads to give inventory for our brands. The situation is not really as bad as it is being made out to be. Overall, there has been a bit of growth. This is a year of a check on reality.

With competition heating up, what will be the trend in the GEC space?
India is maturing as a media market. In the US, there is no clear leader among the top networks. There are three or four networks which have two or three large properties. It is more of a property war. In India, too, there will be no clear leader.

How will that affect advertising rates?
The average realisation per spot has come down for the top three channels. When STAR Plus was number one, it commanded a premium for the sheer reach it was delivering. But the advertisers squeezed the number two and number three players because there was a significant gap with the market leader. Now that gap is narrowing.