Brands tweak ad strategy to accommodate coronavirus awareness communication

To say that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken over our lives is an understatement. Audiences and brands alike are adjusting to a new normal, and it is reflected in the themes of commercials ads on television. Research firm TAM catalogued commercial (non-government and non-NGO) ads on television between week 6 2020 (February 2 to February 8) and week 15 (April 5 to April 11) and found a steep rise in ad volumes of coronavirus themed communication by brands.

Week 6 saw 5 minutes of coronavirus themed/awareness commercial ads by brands which dipped to 3 minutes in week 8. The following week (week 9) saw 36 minutes of commercial ads with messaging around coronavirus/COVID-19 awareness. The sharp rise came in week 11 which saw this theme produce 3083 minutes in ad volume as compared to 26 minutes in week 10. The highest volumes were recorded in week 13 (March 22 to March 28) with early 11,000 minutes of commercial advertising on TV themed around coronavirus awareness. The graph gas since dipped, though commercial ads themed around coronavirus awareness continue to be more popular than usual.

As a result of aggressive messaging around precautions for prevention of COVID-19, the number of categories advertising around the theme has also increased. While you do have the usual suspects – hygiene brands, and personal care brands, there are diverse categories now advertising on the same topic. From 1 category in week 6, the number of categories advertising on coronavirus awareness increased to 48 by week 15.

Hindustan Unilever and ITC were top 2 advertisers which were using message related to coronavirus during Week 6 to Week 15. Others in the top five included Reliance Jio Infocomm, Star Cement, and Piccadilly Agro Industries. A total of 172 brands from 66 categories have advertised on television with messaging focussed on coronavirus awareness.

News channels are the preferred television vehicles for commercial ads with coronavirus awareness messaging, leading the pack with 44 per cent share. Movie channels come in second with 26 per cent share, followed by general entertainment channels (21 per cent). According to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) TV viewership data, these are the genres attracting maximum eyeballs in the COVID-19 lockdown period, so it would make sense for advertisers to flock to these channels.

Coronavirus related awareness is spread more by social ads by governments (central and state) which account for more than 50 per cent ads on theme, followed by social ads by NGOs (36 per cent) while only 12 per cent of the commercial Ads are talking about virus.

Across channels, social ads by governments (central and state) had maximum coronavirus related ads volumes amounting to 3790 ads per day. Social ad insertions by NGOs amounted to 3482 ads per day (8 per cent lower than government ads). In comparison, commercial ads around coronavirus awareness were around 3300 ads per day across brands and channels.