Goods and services tax has come as a major windfall for the advertising industry, with various estimates by media planners and companies putting spending on GST-related ads in June at more than Rs 300 crore, matching the same as that during Diwali for some industries.
As per advertisement industry executives, major advertisers included consumer electronics retailers, automobile dealers and software and tax firms.
Ecommerce marketplaces, too, ran campaigns of pre-GST sales, mostly in the digital media. Such high spending has come as a boon for the industry since June is typically a dull month for advertisers.
Companies have been running campaigns on pre-GST discounts since they wanted to sell off old inventory where they would incur loss under GST.
The government and some telecom companies have been using the outdoor media to convey the benefits of GST to the masses.
While the advertising activity has gone up across print, television, digital and outdoor, most media planner believes that this will not have any implication on the overall ad spending.
It is a short-term activity and the ad spends are minuscule in the overall pie- CVL Srinivas, CEO-South Asia at GroupM.
