HISTORY OF ADVERTISING IN INDIA

[vikram chawla]

There has been a long tradition of advertising in India since the first newspapers published in India in the 19th Century carried advertising. The first advertising agency was established in 1905, B. Datram and Company, followed by The India-Advertising Company in 1907, the Calcutta Advertising agency in 1909, S.H.Bensen in 1928, J. Walter Thompson Associates through its Indian associate, Hindustan Thompson Associates in 1929, Lintas (Lever international Advertising Services) in 1939 and McCann Erikson in 1956. Advertising expenditure in the 1950s was estimated at $US 300,000. Under the more socialist political environment of the 1960s and 1970s there was little incentive for companies to advertise because advertising was not tax deductible. In the 1970s there was a 58% growth in the number of registered agencies from 106 in 1969 to 168 in 1979, and this included a growth in Indian agencies. The first advertising appeared on state television in 1976.


With the opening of the economy in the 1980s there was a growth in the number of alliances with multinational agencies and an expansion in advertising though foreign network participation in agency ownership was limited. In 1987 Hindustan Thompson was affiliated to J. Walter Thompson. Lintas, the 2nd ranking agency, held only 4% of its subsidiary, as did Ogilvie and Mather. Saatchi and Saatchi/Compton had minority interests in Compton as did Lintas. A study done in 1984 of the largest companies in India found that the ratio of advertising expenditure to sales had risen from .64 in 1976, to .71 in 1980 to .74 in 1984. Foreign controlled corporations had the dominant share of total advertising expenditure, and 80% of these were in the consumer goods sectors. Advertising was very concentrated with the top 50 advertisers accounting for 80% of the advertising spending and the top 10 advertisers made up 40% of that figure, 32% of the total. The largest advertiser throughout the period was Hindustan Lever which was nearly 10% of the advertising budget of the corporate sector companies.Pharmaceutical companies were also significant advertisers at this time.

Credit:
Ciochetto, L. (2004) Advertising and globalization in India, Media Asia, 31(2):158.


-Indian Advertising starts with the hawkers calling out their wares right from the days when cities and markets first began

-Shop front signages

-From street side sellers to press ads

-The first trademarks

-Handbills distributed separately from the products

18th Century

# Concrete advertising history begins with classified advertising

# Ads appear for the first time in print in Hickey's Bengal Gazette. India's first newspaper (weekly).

# Studios mark the beginning of advertising created in India (as opposed to imported from England) Studios set up for bold type, ornate fonts, more fancy, larger ads

# Newspaper studios train the first generation of visualisers & illustrators

# Major advertisers: Retailers like Spencer's, Army & Navy and Whiteaway & Laidlaw

# Marketing promotions: Retailers' catalogues provided early example

# Ads appear in newspapers in the form of lists of the latest merchandise from England

# Patent medicines: The first brand as we know them today were a category of advertisers

# Horlicks becomes the first 'malted milk' to be patented on 5th June 1883 (No. 278967).

# 1931- National Advertising Service Pr. Ltd. Bombay set up

# 1936- Indian Broadcasting Company becomes All India Radio (AIR)

# 1978 -First television commercial seen


# 1990-Marks the beginning of new medium Internet


# 1991- First India-targetted satellite channel, Zee TV starts broadcast

 

[drsaurabhsrivastava]

the information is quite good. would love to get an article on profile of advertising agencies in india. will request for it if any one has it. top 10 ad agencies in india.

in this regard i will suggest all to go through 4p magazine. in each issue they deal with ads and the agencies that made the ad. it does gives some insight into ad agencies in inda.

 

[Kalpana Heliya]

the information is quite good. would love to get an article on profile of advertising agencies in india. will request for it if any one has it. top 10 ad agencies in india.

in this regard i will suggest all to go through 4p magazine. in each issue they deal with ads and the agencies that made the ad. it does gives some insight into ad agencies in inda.

Dear Dr.Saurabh,


A very brief profile of Top 10 Advertising agencies in India is available here:
Advertising Companies Of India

Afaqs gives the latest information about these agencies.

I read 4p's of Marketing though nt regularly....but to know about the latest ad and the agency behind it, i follow afaqs! the complete Indian advertising, media & marketing

Hope to hear further on this issue

 

[sonaliyadav]

dis matter is really v helpful in teaching students about history of advertising...thanks a lot 4 dis...

 

[raj_verma61]

Hey,
really nice topics. it will really help us.

 

[Business-education]

I was surprised by these post that people really care about, Advertising. I was the student of advertising and wanted to share some points related to it objectives and importance.

Objectives of Advertising
Four main Objectives of advertising are:

Trial
Continuity
Brand switch
Switching back
Let’s take a look on these various types of objectives.

Trial: the companies which are in their introduction stage generally work for this objective. The trial objective is the one which involves convincing the customers to buy the new product introduced in the market. Here, the advertisers use flashy and attractive ads to make customers take a look on the products and purchase for trials.
Continuity: this objective is concerned about keeping the existing customers to stick on to the product. The advertisers here generally keep on bringing something new in the product and the advertisement so that the existing customers keep buying their products.
Brand switch: this objective is basically for those companies who want to attract the customers of the competitors. Here, the advertisers try to convince the customers to switch from the existing brand they are using to their product.
Switching back: this objective is for the companies who want their previous customers back, who have switched to their competitors. The advertisers use different ways to attract the customers back like discount sale, new advertise, some reworking done on packaging, etc.
Basically, advertising is a very artistic way of communicating with the customers. The main characteristics one should have to get on their objectives are great communication skills and very good convincing power.

Importance of Advertising
Advertising plays a very important role in today’s age of competition. Advertising is one thing which has become a necessity for everybody in today’s day to day life, be it the producer, the traders, or the customer. Advertising is an important part. Lets have a look on how and where is advertising important:

Advertising is important for the customers
Just imagine television or a newspaper or a radio channel without an advertisement! No, no one can any day imagine this. Advertising plays a very important role in customers life. Customers are the people who buy the product only after they are made aware of the products available in the market. If the product is not advertised, no customer will come to know what products are available and will not buy the product even if the product was for their benefit. One more thing is that advertising helps people find the best products for themselves, their kids, and their family. When they come to know about the range of products, they are able to compare the products and buy so that they get what they desire after spending their valuable money. Thus, advertising is important for the customers.

Advertising is important for the seller and companies producing the products
Yes, advertising plays very important role for the producers and the sellers of the products, because

Advertising helps increasing sales
Advertising helps producers or the companies to know their competitors and plan accordingly to meet up the level of competition.
If any company wants to introduce or launch a new product in the market, advertising will make a ground for the product. Advertising helps making people aware of the new product so that the consumers come and try the product.
Advertising helps creating goodwill for the company and gains customer loyalty after reaching a mature age.
The demand for the product keeps on coming with the help of advertising and demand and supply become a never ending process.
Advertising is important for the society
Advertising helps educating people. There are some social issues also which advertising deals with like child labour, liquor consumption, girl child killing, smoking, family planning education, etc. thus, advertising plays a very important role in society.

 

[jitenmazee]

There has been a long tradition of advertising in India since the first newspapers published in India in the 19th Century carried advertising. The first advertising agency was established in 1905, B. Datram and Company, followed by The India-Advertising Company in 1907, the Calcutta Advertising agency in 1909, S.H.Bensen in 1928, J. Walter Thompson Associates through its Indian associate, Hindustan Thompson Associates in 1929, Lintas (Lever international Advertising Services) in 1939 and McCann Erikson in 1956. Advertising expenditure in the 1950s was estimated at $US 300,000. Under the more socialist political environment of the 1960s and 1970s there was little incentive for companies to advertise because advertising was not tax deductible. In the 1970s there was a 58% growth in the number of registered agencies from 106 in 1969 to 168 in 1979, and this included a growth in Indian agencies. The first advertising appeared on state television in 1976.


With the opening of the economy in the 1980s there was a growth in the number of alliances with multinational agencies and an expansion in advertising though foreign network participation in agency ownership was limited. In 1987 Hindustan Thompson was affiliated to J. Walter Thompson. Lintas, the 2nd ranking agency, held only 4% of its subsidiary, as did Ogilvie and Mather. Saatchi and Saatchi/Compton had minority interests in Compton as did Lintas. A study done in 1984 of the largest companies in India found that the ratio of advertising expenditure to sales had risen from .64 in 1976, to .71 in 1980 to .74 in 1984. Foreign controlled corporations had the dominant share of total advertising expenditure, and 80% of these were in the consumer goods sectors. Advertising was very concentrated with the top 50 advertisers accounting for 80% of the advertising spending and the top 10 advertisers made up 40% of that figure, 32% of the total. The largest advertiser throughout the period was Hindustan Lever which was nearly 10% of the advertising budget of the corporate sector companies.Pharmaceutical companies were also significant advertisers at this time.

Credit:
Ciochetto, L. (2004) Advertising and globalization in India, Media Asia, 31(2):158.


-Indian Advertising starts with the hawkers calling out their wares right from the days when cities and markets first began

-Shop front signages

-From street side sellers to press ads

-The first trademarks

-Handbills distributed separately from the products

18th Century

# Concrete advertising history begins with classified advertising

# Ads appear for the first time in print in Hickey's Bengal Gazette. India's first newspaper (weekly).

# Studios mark the beginning of advertising created in India (as opposed to imported from England) Studios set up for bold type, ornate fonts, more fancy, larger ads

# Newspaper studios train the first generation of visualisers & illustrators

# Major advertisers: Retailers like Spencer's, Army & Navy and Whiteaway & Laidlaw

# Marketing promotions: Retailers' catalogues provided early example

# Ads appear in newspapers in the form of lists of the latest merchandise from England

# Patent medicines: The first brand as we know them today were a category of advertisers

# Horlicks becomes the first 'malted milk' to be patented on 5th June 1883 (No. 278967).

# 1931- National Advertising Service Pr. Ltd. Bombay set up

# 1936- Indian Broadcasting Company becomes All India Radio (AIR)

# 1978 -First television commercial seen


# 1990-Marks the beginning of new medium Internet


# 1991- First India-targetted satellite channel, Zee TV starts broadcast

Hey guys, i am sharing a presentation which will be in PDF format and this will gives you an overview of history of advertisement in Indian and its origin. So please find attachment and check and i am sure you would like it.