Industry welcomes positive Pongal business sentiment despite 3rd wave challenges

The harvest festival of Pongal marks the first festival of the calendar year for Tamil Nadu. It holds great significance on many counts for the southern state. However, the third wave of Covid-19 has prolonged the uncertainties with multiple state governments enforcing restrictions.

We spoke to several industry experts to take a stock of the consumer and brand sentiment and understand the impact of the third wave on the festivities.

Hinting at a muted sentiment, a television industry veteran told e4m that although the response to Pongal, this year, has been positive, it could have been a bumper year if Covid-19 cases had not grown at such an exponential rate just ahead of the festival.

Sharing an optimistic perspective, Bikash Kundu, SVP & Head - Revenue (Regional Entertainment), Viacom 18 said, “Pongal is looking much better than we anticipated both in terms of the content being showcased on Colors Tamil and the feedback from the market. Despite the onset of the third wave of Covid-19, we have seen strong advertiser interest across categories who continue to be active on Colors Tamil this Pongal.”

Moving on to Print, Martin King, General Manager – Malar Connect (revenue division of Dinamalar that includes Print, Digital and activations) said, “Buying is happening, but advertisers want their spends reduced. However, they expect the same walk-in as in the post-Covid scenario.  Hence, they have started to bargain hard.  One should realize that Covid has affected every industry, including the Print media. While the print industry is passing on discounts as per the increase in volumes, advertisers and agencies should now look at things from our perspective. Consumers jump at offers and the sentiments are not bad at all.  But both the print media and clients will have to be a little more patient for things to be normal again.  We need to look at each other as partners in progress in tough times like these.  It is surely temporary; this too shall pass and soon it will be good times for all.”

The situation doesn’t appear much different in the radio industry. A senior industry leader from a radio station says that though the Pongal season has been positive, it could have been better without Covid-19. Media planners, however, say the advertiser response has by and large been muted. Kishan Kumar Shyamalan, Chief Growth Officer, Wavemaker India, says: “Pongal is typically a high intensity advertising season right in the beginning of the calendar year. Normally, after a great OND quarter in 2021, Pongal should've been another blockbuster. However, from the initial reactions and feedback from the market, it looks like a slightly lukewarm Pongal. A lot of that is to do with the uncertainty around the rising Covid cases in January and the restrictions that followed.” 

Echoing the sentiments was Aparna Tadikonda, Executive Vice President (South), Interactive Avenues – a Reprise Network Company. “This year, Pongal looks much muted than the previous pandemic years, largely due to the fear of the current variant spreading at a much faster pace. Cities like Bangalore where weekend curfews have been imposed have confined the celebration to home spaces. However, some states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where restrictions are not fully enforced are still seeing celebrating with safety precautions.”

Advertisers On Board

This year, categories that typically advertise during Pongal like FMCG , consumer durables and  jewellery have run campaigns to ride on the shopping sentiment. E-commerce as a category also continued to spend with Pongal sale campaigns. According to Viacom 18’s Kundu, “The traditional Pongal advertisers – jewellery, clothes and retail, the food category, especially oils, spices, chocolates, hosiery and the large format retail stores, particularly in the consumer durable sector, have shown a keen interest. We are in talks with local brands from real estate, retail showrooms, FMCG and BFSI and have got on board names like Gold Winner Oil, Mondelez and Aroma Ghee.”

Malar Connect’s King further highlights that Print has seen traction from the realty sector while retail has been cautious. “Real estate is on the highest spend levels as business has been good for them. The category has been pumping in the moolah. This may be a good tactic in times like these when there is less clutter. Retail is being cautious and still expects a normal ROI at below investment values.  It is to be noted that none of the brands or products have been discounted to push sales.  Discounts are extended only to some products and brands. Other categories like automobile, jewellery and textile are just advertising for visibility.”

Adding more perspective was Wavemaker India’s Shyamalan who said that the usual suspects like FMCG, durables and some of the new economy categories are advertising. “A lot of brands are also kickstarting their new campaigns. However, Pongal is also a time when local retail is bullish and that is missing this year. All things considering, it is a bit low on intensity." 

However, one category that has been significantly impacted are the movie promotions. Traditionally, Pongal is one of the biggest dates in the movie release calendar. The recent restrictions have led to the postponement of two blockbuster releases - Director S S Rajamouli's film RRR, featuring Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn, and Ajith’s 'Valimai'.

As for the mediums that gained traction Interactive Avenues’ Tadikonda says, “TV and digital continue to be the lead medium while radio has been leveraged in a few pockets. On Digital, clients are focusing on performance marketing campaigns to tap into the in-market audience for driving ROI.” “Except e-commerce we haven't seen much growth in the spends of other categories. It is mostly BAU with spends around Pongal either flat or de-growing,” she added.

Commenting on the shift to other media platforms, King said, “Some advertisers have moved to digital assuming that it is cheap, but they forget that their brands need to be seen and Print offers that scope with great creativity and innovation. You cannot change preconceived mind sets, but Print needs to wait and watch. Wait for advertisers to realize that they see more value in this true, time-tested and traditional medium.”

Rate Hikes?

A senior veteran from a GEC channel told e4m that with the high growth seen during the previous quarter (October to December) on account of Diwali, the channel was able to increase its rates, albeit marginally. According to Kundu, “We had a strong FY22 October-December quarter and saw a 40% top-line growth (YoY) across regional markets. What was interesting this year was our ability to get a rate hike and get a premium. We saw strong interest from local advertisers, contributing to over 20% of the revenues. In Tamil Nadu, the festival rate hike has been between 15% and 20%. Taking this forward, we are confident that our revenue will be much better than what we did on Pongal last year.” Radio players have also seen a marginal hike in rates over the last quarter with the inventory being sold out.

Summing up the sentiment, King said, “We have grown over last year but still want to compare values to the fiscal period when the pandemic hit us all in March 2020. We need to be positive in a negative situation. I am sure we will see a fiscal 2022-23 on par with 2019-20.”