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Matrimony portals have done a great job of turning the medium into a viable business model. Marketers have explored and exploited the online media to levels unimagined by conventional advertisers. Financial services have led the way followed by I. T. companies and more recently the travel segment. The biggest success story for the travel segment has to be the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC). The PSU embraced the net and has reaped great benefits out of this medium.
The Internet industry has come a full circle. After the dot com bust, the state of affairs for many portals looks bright and the one way to gauge this is to look closely at the revenues various portals get through the online ads.
Sample this: IRCTC sells 6,000 tickets per day through e-booking and the growth recorded on this front (since the online booking launch in August 2002) is to the tune of 400 per cent. The daily turnover recorded is over Rs 10 mn, and IRCTC claims to be the largest growing e-commerce site in Asia Pacific region. Also, 100 per cent of Air Deccan's inventory is sold through the net and one cannot buy a single ticket without an access to the Internet. The daily turnover recorded is in the range of Rs 25 to 30 million. For leading banks in India who have placed their ads on leading portals, of the 1,000 impressions (opportunity to see) the average customer conversion ratio is close to 3 customers. Fun Republic multiplex has done a business of more than Rs 1 million through tickets sold on the Internet in the period, April '04 to March '05. In addition to the recently released movies like 'Kaal', which garnered business close to Rs 13,000 from the net and 'Bunty Aur Babli' which is expected to do the touch a figure of Rs 16,000.
It's a new kind of a revolution, which is set to take the Indian market and marketers by storm, spurred by sophisticated technology providers and smart 'Net marketing' solutions providers, who are spinning more and more consumers into the 'Web'. Astute marketers have found the Internet medium as a viable advertising vehicle and have taken fancy to it.
Internet today reaches to about 2.5 per cent of Indian population, which is approx 25 million users and has been growing at a rate of about 40 per cent year on year. If it continues to grow at this rate than it is expected to add 50 million users by 2007 and should tip to about 100 million users by 2010.
Internet now acknowledged in media plan
While planning for advertising on the Internet, planners look to create two levels, one plan that identifies the sites, particular sections within those sites and particular position on pages (top banner, side button, etc.). This planning governed by an understanding of the traffic pattern (for e.g., youth, women, NRIs, young professionals, etc.) that the site would attract, which is pretty similar to the process that is followed while planning for conventional media. However, it is the planning at the second level that differentiates the Internet from other conventional media. Internet plans allow for real-time targeting of communication based on various parameters. The ability to understand the parameters (geography, time and day of visit) in real time and then deliver an appropriate communication is what makes the Internet a powerful advertising medium.
Many marketers are not only just adapting to this new medium but beginning to recognise the reach and importance. The net is a marketing medium with great potential — if only the industry can get the measures of success right and work together.
"Three years back marketers would put in a small amount of excess money if any after planning their offline and outdoor media. Over 3 years things have changed significantly, today there is thought behind Internet being part of the media mix. Clients understand that with increasing media fragmentation, the Internet is the best way to communicate brand attributes. Various studies globally have indicated that brand awareness of campaigns both aided and unaided increases significantly when offline media is used along with Internet. What marketers need to do is commission more research on Cross Media Optimisation and they will then be convinced about the power of the Internet even more," states, V. Ramani, CEO, Mediaturf.
Says Anurag Gour, Group Manager, Ad Sales, People Interactive, "At Shaadi.com, we have always given the Internet medium a priority. Being in the space has been a very important part of our media plan right from the beginning. Each medium be it television, print, radio, outdoor or the Internet has its own unique advantage and we realise the same and appropriate our spends accordingly."
However, the Web can only be used effectively when we understand the nature of this medium. Just as TV is not radio with pictures, so the Internet is not just a way of delivering tracts on a computer monitor. Unlike radio, TV and literature — which are 'push' mediums — the Internet is a 'pull' medium which draws people in — but only on the basis of what interests them.
To read the entire story, grab your copy of Impact Advertising and Weekly magazine issue dated June 6-12, 2005