Digital advertising is interactive and has more reach than TV commercials

In advertising, creativity plays a key role and the digital medium has taken this creative to a whole new level. And with a significant spike in consumption of digital channels, businesses and advertisers are shifting their media budgets to digital platforms.

To find out more about the impact of digital advertising, we had an interaction with Ms Ambika Sharma, Founder & MD of Pulp Strategy:

What has more appeal – TV commercials or digital advertising? Please elaborate. What has more reach, the former or the latter?

In terms of appeal creative is deciding factor. A good creative will be liked and talked about irrespective of the medium or platform. Having said that there is no denying the appeal of digital which provides highly targeted reach and therefore relevance not just for the brand but also for the consumer. The recent example of an online educator, is a case in point where consumers outrage was triggered because they were being frequently targeted with communication which was not relevant to them on television and other mediums, the waste advertising spend is lower in digital. There is the opportunity to make ads interactive, improve targeting via reach, hyper target or reach new geographies selectively etc.  with e-commerce the complete consumer acquisition journey is trackable. With planned investment there is the advantage of learning from consumer behavior via big data analytics. Digital has many advantages that television advertising cannot provide yet.

How has digital advertising grown in the past five years? Has there been a significant growth? Has COVID-19 driven this growth positively?

Digital Spends have shown a double-digit growth YOY for the past few years, by some estimates it has already or soon will surpass traditional spend in some categories. With the spike in digital users and time spent on digital mediums over the past 6 months the growth in digital spends will see a sharp uptake. The indicators of growth in e-commerce, Digital transformation initiatives by organizations. Changed consumption patterns will all channel back into digital being the medium of choice and spends from traditional mediums being re aligned into digital with more conviction and fervor than pre-COVID times.

How was COVID-19’s impact on Pulp Strategy?

Covid-19 took a toll, we were under-prepared for a prolonged dry spell. The impact on the economy was unprecedented, spends nose-dived, our business like most other agencies haemorrhaged. It took a lot out of the business. In the 1^st quarter even the technology and transformation business seemed to wobble, retainers and long-term projects pulled us through. The saving grace in Q1 was that we faced fewer operational challenges as we were already on an online work management system. During the lock down we were able to realign our revenue streams, re-skill fork force, and invest time with clients to plan for the immediate and long-term future. The Covid-19 slump will take time to recover in lost revenues but I believe we have come out of it a stronger more agile business.

Is digital advertising costlier than TV commercials? What is the margin?

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Advertising is not a cost centre it is a revenue centre. Digital is not costly; its costs are directly proportional to the ROI a brand need. Digital spends are flexible, a brand can start small and plan to go bigger. Digital is also more efficient with regionalization in language, targeting and discovery. The funnel is far more accurate, consumer journey more traceable this means spends are directed at consumers with wastage.

How are you able to convince customers/clients to opt for digital advertising?

Data, results, data, results. That is the cycle, over the last 2-3 years the inclination of mid segment brands has increased, the conversation is more open. We always recommend our clients start small and then work with them to improve their digital strategy.

What is the future of advertising in all formats?

The future of advertising is hyper targeted and personalized.