The share of FMCG advertising spends (including that by makers of consumer durables) in print has been declining steadily over the past two years. The sector, traditionally among the biggest spenders in Indian media, had a share of barely 12% of overall spends in ’05.

This represents a decline by nearly five percentage points from ’03, according to a study by AdEx, a division of TAM media research. The sector has been sidelined of late by other sectors, particularly educational institutes, telecom and financial services.

The overall spends on print media in ’05 stood at Rs 6,300 crore, and FMCG accounted for around Rs 760 crore only. This figure has remained virtually stagnant over three years, with the figure for ’03 and ’04 hovering around Rs 740 crore.

Of this, 69% was used in brand promotion, while contests, add-on promotions and exchange promotions accounted for the rest. Print media specific to North India had the highest share of spends in FMCG, with nearly a third of the overall spends, while barely 9% of overall spends went to national papers.

The study showed there was very little growth in ad spends by companies in consumer durables, food and beverages and hair care sectors. A few sectors that saw growth in ad spends were personal healthcare, baby care and laundry. Baby care showed the highest growth in spends — up nearly 165% from ’04.

The F&B sector had maximum number of advertisers — nearly 2,000 — which accounted for nearly 17% of spends. Advertisers from durables numbered nearly 1,500, which accounted for about 43% of overall spends. The biggest spenders were predominantly consumer durables companies.

LG Electronics had a 5% share in spending (around Rs 38 crore), while Samsung Electronics and HLL had 4% each (around Rs 30 crore). A host of durables companies, including Philips, Mirc Electronics and Videocon had a 2% share in spends.

(http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)