Brands value online presence

Rising input costs, increased competition and the need to rise above the din is increasingly prompting marketing executives to expose their brands to the online and mobile screens.

These spaces hold promise. Digital display ad spends in India range between Rs 300 crore and Rs 350 crore; search ad spends between Rs 150 and Rs 200 crore; and mobile ad spends between Rs 50 crore and Rs 80 crore, according to Leroy Alvares, country head of Tribal DDB India (digital arm of Mudra).

The online advertising market is expected to increase at least 10 times by 2011 to touch Rs 2,500 crore from today's figure of around Rs 250 crore. Spending on the mobile market, currently estimated to be around Rs 40 crore, is expected to touch Rs 500 crore in the next five years.

The brands range from two- and four-wheeler firms to those manufacturing consumer durables. For instance, Maruti, Tata Motors and Fiat have been advertising their products online.

"High-end products like cars have a big presence on the internet. Since cars are not mass market products, it makes sense to advertise to the specific audience, confirms Farokh Balsar, National Sector Leader, Media and Entertainment, Ernst & Young.

However, it's the FMCG (mass market segment) spends that have grown fastest when it comes to online marketing, according to Prasanth Mohanachandran, executive director