In dull ad market, a few accounts may change hands

Agency experts blame general economic environment for advertisers opting to scale back on advertising

Advertisers are gearing up for the festive season with a few realignments. Car-maker Audi, for instance, is meeting creative, digital and social agencies in an effort to map out its communication requirements ahead of the festive season. The incumbent ad agency on Audi is Creativeland Asia, which is not likely to be replaced, but may have to share space with a few others.

Similarly, consumer products maker Marico is also talking to a few ad agencies for its Livon brand that it had acquired from Reckitt earlier this year. This was part of the personal care portfolio that Reckitt acquired from Paras in December 2010 including brands such as Setwet and Zatak among others. The incumbent agency on Livon is a hotshop named Cut the Crap, which began working on Livon two years ago.

 

Marico, meanwhile, has begun aggressively advertising its acquired brands Livon, Zatak and Setwet on national television.

By some estimates, the Rs 30,000-crore advertising industry is likely to grow in the region of 6-7%, lower than the roughly about 9-10% growth seen last year.

Agency experts blame the general economic environment for advertisers opting to scale back on advertising. Barring sectors such as fast moving consumer goods, e-commerce, telecom and media, most others have been muted on the ad front.