Abstract
Because of its dense population and rising economy, many companies in India appeal to their consumers through advertising agencies. In the Indian advertising sector, the agencies that became dominant were British agencies until 1947 and local agencies starting from 1947. When the country gained its independence in the 1990s, foreign advertising agencies again became dominant in the country with the new economic approach adopted. This research aims to explore the advertising practices in the prime-time zone on Indian television channels with a special focus on the prime-time zone advertisements of the ABP News TV channel, which broadcasts continuously on YouTube and has the most followers. In the research, it is concluded that health advertisements are broadcasted more frequently on TV than in other sectors. Performance and quality are frequently emphasized in the advertisement content, and the positioning strategy is more frequently adopted by advertising agencies.
TopIntroduction
Throughout history, India has had numerous wealthy civilizations, and it continues to host various ethnic, religious, and cultural distinctions that are the remnants of these previous civilizations. Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, all of which gained independence after 1947, were all located on Indian land. India remained a British colony until 1947 when it gained freedom. The four nations that make up this region speak the same language, eat the same cuisine, have similar traditions, and have similar cultural characteristics (Shankar, 2015, p. 74). This richness may be both an opportunity and a stumbling block for advertising. By 2026, the advertising sector in India is expected to grow by 11%. It is thought that the course of the COVID-19 pandemic will be a significant determinant in the realization of this rate at higher or lower levels (Imarcgroup, 2021). Although the course and duration of the pandemic are decisive here, the strategies used by advertising agencies will also play a vital role.
Under British rule, India's first advertising activity in the modern sense began with newspaper advertisements. For a long time, newspaper advertising has been the most widely used advertising medium in India (Chaudhuri, 2007). Due to the Indian government's prohibitions on international advertising firms, Indian advertising companies dominated the country until the 1990s. However, in just three years, the worldwide advertising business acquired eleven of the country's top twenty advertising companies (Ciochetto, 2010, p. 193).
The advertising industry should not be seen as a marketing strategy that only offers certain products to the consumer. This industry also instills some role models, messages about looking healthy and living in this society (Pradhan, 2021, p. 9). On the other hand, how the agencies, which are the main players of this industry, address the consumers on behalf of the brands and how they try to create an impression have a decisive role in this installation (Koslow et al., 2003). Based on this framework, it can be stated that advertising agencies as a bridge in the creation of a certain attitude or behavior change by transmitting advertising messages to consumers.
Kumar and Gupta (2016, p. 304) emphasize that advertising agencies or companies that produce messages to meet the demands of the customers in the advertising understanding of the future know where to focus, use technology effectively in advertising messages, distribute the advertising messages to the consumers themselves, make the right media choice, and fully grasp the place of the consumer and the product in the life cycle can be successful in their advertising work. China and India have attracted the attention of the world with their economic breakthroughs in recent years. The study aims to bring an up-to-date perspective on the Indian advertising industry and its advertisements. This study examines all advertorials broadcast for a week in the prime time zone of the Indian ABP News TV channel, which broadcasts live on both terrestrial and YouTube channels and aims to reveal the advertising practices of India, which is seen as the greatest economic power in the future. These ads, which were coded by the Maxqda20 program and were analyzed by the content analysis method.
Key Terms in this Chapter
ABP News TV: It is a Hindi-language television channel owned by the ABP broadcasting group. ABP News TV broadcasts 24/7 both on its own website and on YouTube.
Prime Time: It is the qualification given to the time period in which the content broadcast on television is watched the most. In general, it is used to express the broadcast zone that corresponds to the local time range of 19:00 - 23:00 of each country.
India: Located in the Asian continent, it is the second-most populous country in the world. People with many ethnic and cultural characteristics live in India, whose official name is the Republic of India.
Advertising: In the most general terms, it is the promotion, transfer and persuasion of anything to the relevant target audience through mass media. The ultimate goal of the advertisement, is to persuade the consumer to buy something or to create a positive image or perception about the institution.
Advertising Strategy: It refers to the methods and techniques used in advertising to reach and persuade the consumer. The advertising strategy is determined by seeking answers to the questions of how the advertised product or service will be presented to the target audience in the most effective way, how the content will be shaped, and how the advertisement will be prepared in the general framework. In determining the advertising strategy, the product or service itself, whether the institution has a national or international structure, and the profile of the target audience has an important place.