Ad volumes of H2 2020 grew 34% over H1; HUL remains biggest advertiser: BARC

In a challenging year for India and the world, it was reassuring to see an increase in ad volumes on TV in the second half of 2020. Hindustan Unilever was the biggest advertiser in 2020 with a 30% growth in ad volumes over 2019, followed by the Reckitt Benckiser Group, with their ad volumes growing by 37% in 2020 over 2019.

Movies genre saw significant growth in ad volumes in 2020 as compared to 2019. Hindi GEC witnessed the highest growth in ad volumes with 10% as compared to 2019. Other Regional GECs saw a growth of 8% as over 2019. News genre in 2020, too, had the highest volume, while Ad Volumes dropped by 1%.

“Television continues to be the screen of the household and the most important medium for all the major advertisers to reach their audience pre-pandemic and post lockdown too. Return of originals along with the festive season and live sporting events boosted the ad volumes, taking the overall growth in ad volumes to 34% as compared to H1, 2020 and eventually minimising the reduction in volumes to a marginal -3% for the overall year, as compared to 2019,” said Aaditya Pathak, Head – Client Partnership & Revenue Function, BARC India.

A heightened consciousness of safeguarding one’s health, understandably gave a boost to the antiseptics and personal care categories. Ad volumes for Dettol Toilet Soaps and Dettol Antiseptic Liquid went up by 118% and 136%, respectively. Ad volumes of Horlicks also surged by 60% in 2020 as compared to 2019.

In this pandemic necessitated lockdown and people confined to their homes, digital brands too turned to television to capitalise on the undisputed reach of the medium, given the changing consumer buying habits.

During the peak lockdown in April and May, the ad volumes for digital brands were the highest with 16% and 13%, respectively, as compared to the month of January 2020. The highest ad volumes share for digital brands in 2019 was at 9% in the months of March, September and December.