IRS Report 2019: Can the Increase in Print Consumption See a Rise in Print Advertising?

Within a span of two years, the print readership has seen a 4.4% jump bringing in a torrent of exuberance within publishers, who heralded the crumbling spirit of the medium with the dawn of the internet. Buoyant growth in the print medium consumption has however left advertisers unaffected irrespective of the sharp increase in the number of readers and a glistening future.

With the rapid penetration and influence of the internet, print’s quiddity went in question leaving the publishing industry in a tract of insecurity. The notion that the digital transformation radically altered print with the emergence of eBooks, audiobooks, snackable content, and quick reporting – left critics stubborn view of ‘print’s tough survival’ in vain. To substantiate the point of print’s favourable future, the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) Q1 2019 data, released by Media Research Users Council (MRUC), has shown the sharpest growth of print, countermanding the speculations of print dying and taking an upward trajectory. The dailies have added 1.8 Cr additional readers since IRS 2017, while magazines added 90 lakh readers. Surprisingly, the Hindi dailies alone have added 10 million readers.

All About IRS

IRS report, which was launched in the year 1995 with an objective of setting an industry standard for readership and other media measurement uses a huge annual sample size of 2.56 lakh (256,000 respondents). The prime objective of the study is to collect readership information from a cross-section of individuals, in great detail, so as to present a true and unbiased picture of their readership habits. Ashish Bhasin, Chairman MRUC (Media Research Users Council) and Chairman and CEO, Dentsu Aegis Networks well anticipated the findings of 2019 data, which is in favour of print, and also indicated towards the release of report on every quarter from now onwards.

“IRS is the gold standard for readership research study in India. Anybody who is associated with print, be it a publisher or an agency or an advertiser, the report is of extreme importance to them. It’s probably the richest database of this kind anywhere in the world. The sample size taken is extremely huge and the study of this kind and scale is not done anywhere in the world. Besides, the publication readership data, a huge amount of product data is produced, which is of significant use particularly to brand management and agencies,” Bhasin spoke.

“The IRS report hadn’t come out for three to four years in the recent past. However, we are pleased to have brought it out last year and again this year. Now the intent is to release it every quarter on a rolling quarterly basis. So, every quarter a new quarter of research gets added on, making it continuous research because in today’s changing world with the impact of digital and so on, the more frequent the research, the better it would be for consumption by the readers,” he added.

Publishers Take

Before the release of IRS 219 report, broadcasting giant, Network18, on early this year adjoined print to its assemblage of news medium platforms. Network18 launched Firstpost, a 20-page weekly broadsheet, which is sought to be circulated every Saturday. Even though the brand already has its presence online, the move from digital to the rudimentary media looked more than just formatting the idea of being present as a newspaper. As it is deciphered from Firstpost’s print debut, it’s a unique sign of the vagaries of India’s social media marketplace which pushed the readership of print. Irrespective of digital media platforms witnessing exponential growth in the last few years, spurt in literacy levels in India in the last two decades, rising disposable income, and the perceived credibility of written words are some of the reasons why this has happened.

Contrary to the belief about the traditional media, Network 18 chose to enter the print industry from a digital platform. Amit Seth, Vice President Sales & Marketing, Network18 Publishing responds, “Our belief is that in a world of mass newspapers there is a need for an offering for the discerning reader or as we would like to call them ‘The Power Set’. They are serious about their news and are looking for an intelligent opinionated read. The IRS report has put a positive effect on revenue of publishers so far. It’s a very positive development which allows publishers to reassert the relevance and role of print as content creators which consumers trust. On translating into revenue, a lot of will depend as to how publishers are able to use this positive development and the role media agencies to translate this into sizeable revenue upside.”

However, Basant Rathore, Senior VP – Strategy, Business Development & Brand, Jagran Prakashan Ltd believes, “Across every media, there is a lag between revenues following peaks in viewership/readership. It’s the consistency of performance that matters more than one round of good numbers. Rathore also believes that print is robust and growing. Both the circulation numbers and the readership numbers over the recent years are a testimony to that.

While on the other hand, Girish Agarwaal – Promoter Director- Dainik Bhaskar Group said, “The report has certainly created a very positive environment for the print advertisement among the agencies and clients and we are very confident about the way forward.

‘Dying Print’ can be Taken as a Myth?

The points that account for print’s superiority, particularly the newspaper, is an amazingly sophisticated technology for showing you what’s important and showing you a lot of it. The traditional media cannot die, it can just evolve as being deciphered. “This survey has clearly shown, print with its well-researched approach is a credible source of information which consumers prefer. This report serves as a clear wake-up call to all doubters to rethink, added Seth.

Further, Rathore opinionated – “No medium has ever died. Every medium is on its own evolutionary path. The print has the unique ability to localize and customize along with mass reach – and that’s what makes it an important part of the media mix. The print has its innate core strength that marks its relevance. There is an impact, there is a reach, there is this ability to customize, the ability to communicate detail. Print gives the ability to the reader to select – the reader can choose to give his attention to a piece of communication or reject it, unlike TV which intrudes, and the ‘time’ is not in the viewer’s control. Print’s time of access – the morning is a crucial period of our cognitive senses.”

“It was always a myth and misconception borrowed from the western world. Indian Print market has been consistently growing and as per all fundamentals, like yearly population growth, literacy level growth as well as currently available huge headroom gap between people who can read vs. people who are currently reading newspapers which is currently around 30% only. Further, 90% population of India who resides in smaller towns of tier II and III, have enough around 2-3 hours in the morning to read the newspaper, (due to less commuting time and office timing around 10-10.30 AM), which cost around $1.5 dollar per month and distribution cost is zero, while in western world, newspaper cost around $1.25 dollar per day and distribution cost is extra. The last two reports of IRS as well a circulation figures certified by Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) have successfully shattered this myth. As per recent ABC reports and release, Newspapers of India, including English have registered around 5% CAGR growth in circulation in the last 10 years, while Hindi Newspapers have registered around 9% CAGR growth in circulation in the last 10 years,” Agarwaal explained.

Riding on an opportunity to Woo New Advertisers?

The mystery behind how the IRS report can help the publishers find new/first advertisers is easy to decode. “These reports play an important role in showcasing print as a consistent and robust platform that it always has been and continues to be. Again, the responsibility of making this report reach every advertiser lies with us publishers,” Seth voiced his opinion.

Rathore is of the opinion that at any point in time business development efforts are always on – and it takes various shades depending upon the category in question. “More data just helps. We communicate the numbers and competitive positions across different audiences and different markets to advertisers who aren’t aware,” he averred.

Agarwaal explained how through IRS report, publishers like Dainik Bhaskar can make a strong case for print to attract the existing as well as new advertisers. “However, the local advertisers do not pay much attention to readership report as they are sitting in the local market and they experience the impact of print advertising on daily basis as readers of newspapers themselves, which indeed is a far direct engagement method than any readership survey,” he concluded.  

But, Does the Report have Any Effect on the Advertisers?

Advertising on a traditional medium like print retains many of the advantages for a marketer who is seeking credibility, repetition, and a closer connection with their target buyers. Reports like the IRS just substantiate the premises of such claims. The advertisers may, however, see the rise in print consumption as differently. Traditional advertisers like Dollar would invest in print advertising irrespective of the report. 

Bidyut Nath, Head of Marketing & Communications, India & Asia, Dollar Industries Ltd said, “We primarily advertiser in print during our peak season. In our industry, the peak season is summer, festive, and probably winter. We also advertise for attracting our dealers, distributors, and retailers. Seasons are very important for us. We go 360-degree marketing during seasons, particularly summers. Akshay Kumar is the brand ambassador of Dollar Big Boss. We try to push it well on print during this season. Apart from the other marketing vehicles that we have, print is mainly the medium that gives us spike during peak seasons. It is extremely important for us to include print as a medium.”

Amit Tiwari, Vice President Marketing, Havells India Ltd found the trend of increased print consumption to be very positive. “If you see in terms of increasing print consumption because print as a support system plays a vital role among the group of mediums that we actually talk about. This also gives us an indication of the consumption pattern of the medium. If you see from first to the last mile or in terms of detailing out anything that you want to do, print is the best medium to utilize.”

Utkarsh Thakur, Marketing Head – Sonata & SF at Titan Company Limited explained the continuous movement of increasing print consumption in India. “Most of the growth is coming from regional publications. It’s a complete reflection of where the consumer is moving in those markets. For example, if you look at UP and Bihar or the entire Hindi belt, there is a clear movement of people wanting to be much aware; the literacy levels are rising and newspapers and other print media is seen as a sign of being a more educated or informed medium, or else being able to make a perspective on things. So, people gravitate towards it and they see it as one of the tools to progress. Hence, print as an option.

“India is one of the very few markets globally where the print readership is growing. I work with Sonata which has a strong brand presence across India. In lots of our regional markets, we see that print is improving. Thus, we use print heavily in our advertising because it gives great results in terms of immediacy especially when need to do brand promotions or announce new collections. Besides, it has a significant amount of credibility in the age of social media, television news, etc. where people still believe that the publishing houses which are decades old are authentic. Therefore, a combination of factors perhaps is leading to the growth of print. The brands too have rapidly evolved and are able to keep a pace with people’s aspirations. Lastly, the content type has also changed so print does not remain any longer a very boring long-form format. The ease of consuming the medium has increased as well, and hence people gravitate towards this medium.”

Karan Kumar, Chief Brand, and Marketing Officer, Fabindia, spoke about the greater use of print by the company. “We use a lot of print to announce our new collections from time to time. We combine the print plan with tactical campaigns on OOH and cinema. But in terms of the absolute reach of announcements, print works the best.”

Will the Increase in Print Consumption Lead to an Increase in Ad Expenditure?

“Every year there is an increase in our ad expenditure in print irrespective of any report. Earlier, we used to spend Rs. 3-4 crores and with the reception of the good response, we slowly increased the budget which is now up to Rs. 14 crores,” Nath added.

“We don’t think to increase our budget on print as we are already spending quite heavy in print advertising. It depends upon the objective that you want to achieve by every medium and the role of the medium in that activity. We are anyway using print in a well-balanced way and putting good concentrated efforts on print,” Tiwari quoted.

Utkarsh said, “Increase in ad expenditure is irrespective of that because print is a good medium for advertising and a lot of people are consuming print. So, it makes a stronger case for print though it depends on a campaign to campaign. Whenever you have a new collection, print is the best medium to look up to. A lot of our business stakeholders look towards print. But I also think the choice of the medium is often the function of what the campaign is. If a campaign requires to deliver emotion then television works best; if it’s about immediacy then radio and print do well; if it’s about education, again print does well. With the increase in readership, the medium will continue to grow, and we will keep looking at it with greater attention as a way to invest.”

“Driving engagement and sustaining conversations is where print medium is weak, and which is where social and digital play a significant role in our overall media strategy. This medium also lends itself to much sharper and more targeted communication and so both media platforms complement each other. Each has its obvious role to play and we choose platforms basis the individual objectives we are driving,” Kumar voiced.

Dinesh Menon, Global Chief Marketing Officer, State Bank of India, said, “The latest IRS just reaffirms the fact that print will continue to deserve its place in the media mix. However, I don’t see an increased share of spends in print because digital is gaining manifold. A marketer will always endeavour to reduce wastage and increase ROI. Instant mass awareness which may or may not be CTA based, but ROI for sure. In a non-CTA/direct response campaign, the efficacy could be measured by just CPR.”

Conclusion

The IRS report is extremely positive for the print industry but the reactions from the brands have been mix when it comes to the increase in ad expenditure. All-in-all, brands acknowledge the growth in print consumption but irrespective of that, they will continue to invest in print looking at the immediacy the platform provides. The factors that the brands mainly look at are the type of campaigns and target audience they are intending to cover. For regional audience or readers, advertising in print works better. If a brand plans instant mass awareness, call-to-action campaigns on print can get them good ROI.