Here is news that is likely to validate the aggression of those betting big on
digital advertising. The latest report by Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of India (
IAMAI) and research agency IMRB shows that the industry is expected to reach Rs 4,391 crore by March 2013. This is a precursor to the detailed report whcih will be unveiled later this week. The digital ad industry is currently estimated at Rs 2,851 crore and is expected to reach Rs 3,535 crore by this year-end.
This may seem like a pittance compared to
offline/traditional media that is worth over Rs 26,000 crore and includes TV, print, radio and out-of-home. According to digital marketing and communication expert V. Ramani, this is good news indeed. "It is heartening to note the growth in the space and the entertainment industry, in particular, has taken to the medium and used it in interesting ways," he says. Ramani, who was earlier with Havas-owned MPG Group and then co-founded digital start-up Ignitee, is now the co-founder of media-consultancy Parietal Innovative Solutions.
Interestingly, the survey opens up to include many steams in digital advertising. Currently, search contributes 20 per cent to the Rs 2,851 crore industry, portals/vortals 13 per cent, mobile ads 4 per cent, social media 3 per cent,
mobile ads 4 per cent, video 2 per cent, email 5 per cent and the balance 53 per cent, which is the largest chunk of pie, is accounted for by online classifieds. "I am glad that all these elements are being included, which shows the many layers that constitute the digital makeup," says Ramani. Many people, including marketers, earlier had restricted the understanding of the industry to the typical text messages and banner ads alone.
To be sure, travel, auto, telecom and banking, financial services and insurance industries continued to be the big spenders in the display ads, accounting for 18 per cent, 14 per cent, 13 per cent and 11 per cent of the space respectively.
Consumer durables,
FMCG and IT shared similar share at 8 per cent each and education segment accounted for 5 per cent.
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