Key Points :
- Top Brands such as Parle, Amul, Future Group and Maruti Suzuki have hinted at reviewing their ad expenses on TV News channels calling them unsafe platforms for the brands.
- There have been widespread concerns about the questionable aggression used by News Channels when reporting certain issues.
- The Brands have voiced their concerns saying leading advertisers must come together to convey a message to the news channels about ethical reporting.
The aggressive journalism practices adopted by some of India’s top news channels in recent times have raised concerns worldwide about the quality of news content in the country. Keeping this in mind, India’s top advertisers have expressed their worry over the increasing toxicity and unnecessary aggressive reporting in the country in the name for gaining TRPs. Talking to BestMediaInfo.com, the advertisers hinted at reviewing their ad expenditures if the TV News Channels did not improve the situation.
“As a viewer and advertiser, I really feel the news channels have stooped to a pathetic state and if the advertisers have the opportunity to break this vicious cycle, they must do it collectively and be a real purpose-driven brand. While doing this, we should state the reason that we are all doing it because of the content. I agree that such an environment is dangerous for any brand because it comes back to hounding it,” said Krishnarao Buddha, Senior Category Head, Marketing, Parle Products.
Amul’s RS Sodhi announced that the brand spends 35-40% of its total television budget on news and also said that although news channels are an important medium to reach out to the consumers, they were instilling negativity in the minds of youngsters. He said he would ask the brand’s media agency to suggest the way forward.
“I’m recommending all the leading advertisers to come together and ban the news genre until they are forced to bring sanity and ethics in news back. I’m saying the entire news genre because somewhere they will have to bring in honesty in reporting and not create stories only keeping TRPs in mind, which ultimately is poisoning the same mind,” said Krishnarao Buddha of Parle Products. He expressed his initial assumption that it would be difficult to bring all advertisers on the same page but said that it is not impossible since most of the big advertisers think from the perspective of creating a safe environment for their brands and question if they continue to be called as purpose-driven brands.
The advertises feel that the top advertisers must unite and send a message to news channels about their crass tactics and questionable content ethics. Several brands have reportedly reduced their advertising on social media platforms citing the rising hate speech and toxicity which renders the platforms unsafe for the brands.
“Brand safety should be a bigger concern for TV news nowadays. The language that these channels have been using, I don’t want my kids to be consuming that content and if I think this for my kids, it applies to my brands too. It’s important for us to come together and being responsible is extremely important right now. Every advertiser needs to play that part,” said Pawan Sarda, Group Head, Digital, Marketing and E-commerce, Future Group.
He expressed his belief that the atmosphere where you pitch a brand is as important as reaching a wide audience. The TV news coverage of the Sushant Singh Rajput case and its aftermath by the news media has been widely criticised.
Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said, “As a principle, it is a good idea for advertisers to invest in media with good and clean content. Brands generally would not like to be associated with malicious or disrespectful content.”
“Whether the advertising money can or should direct content is a debatable issue. And even if it was desirable or possible there is that equally vexatious issue of who and what decides what content or behaviour is aggressive or malicious or vilifying. As a society, we have to define what is acceptable and what is not. And work in accordance to that,” he added.
Although brands do not consider TV News a safe space for advertising, there are concerns of broadcasters making the brands easy targets if they cut funding.
“Somewhere advertisers have a fear and they find excuses to advertise on news channels because they have the power to arm-twist any brand. For example, if any brand gets into any controversy, they will go to the extent to kill the brand. It has happened with us in the past and we got negative headlines because we did not advertise on certain media,” Rao of Parle Products said.
