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Smoke `bomb' sends admen scurrying

P.T. Jyothi Datta

Purvita Chatterjee

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, Feb. 7

THE proposed ban on tobacco may be a shot-in-the-arm for the health lobby, but it definitely has sent advertisers, media-planners and agencies into a huddle.

And naturally so, for, according to tobacco industry sources, total adspend and marketing expenditure of the three cigarette majors, ITC, VST and Godfrey Phillips India, total an estimated Rs 350 crore.

According to the Zafrani Zarda and Pan Masala Association, whose members include brands like Kothari, Gopal, Manickchand, Baba and Tulsi, the annual adspend by this segment is another Rs 100 crore.

Tobacco accounts of the industry are spread across Lowe-Lintas, Rediffusion, HTA and Bates. Lowe-Lintas (Kolkata) services ITC's India Kings, Berkeley and Wills Sport brands; Bates handles 555, Benson & Hedges, Gold Flake and Capstan; HTA handles Wills, Bristol and Scissors; and Rediffusion handles Godfrey Phillips India. Gold Flake Expressions is serviced by Trikaya Grey, Chennai.

New recall devices

According to analysts, companies would look at alternate ways to get some brand recall for their tobacco brands. This would be easy as some of the brands have already stretched to other product categories like leisurewear and accessories, categories wher e there is no question of a ban.

For instance, a brand like Wills has a sportswear sub-brand under the name of Wills Sport. Brands like Gold Flake and Classic have also stretched their equity into products like leather and fashion accessories. Four-square brand of Godfrey Philips is use d for sports accessories.

Admits Mr Ramesh Narayan, President, Advertising Agencies Association of India, ``Obviously, there will be a big revenue drop for ad agencies. I do not see the logic behind a ban on advertising when there is no ban on manufacturing. Worldwide, people may be moving away from smoking; but that does not mean that the mature tobacco user should not have the right of an informed choice.''

``Tobacco manufacturers can always advertise the (unbanned) products and recall their cigarette brands through this indirect route. After all, as long as there is an opportunity within the framework of law, there is no end to human ingenuity,'' Mr Naraya n added.

ITC's ad agencies are scrambling to figure out where they stand. For instance, Lintas, which holds an estimated Rs 40-crore media buying account of ITC, already has its Mumbai-based media head leaving for Kolkata.

Product versus brand

Mr Aashish Bhasin, President, Initiative Media, the media planning arm of Lintas, said: ``As far as we are concerned, we will continue with our advertising campaign as usual. It is for the client to decide whether it wants to continue to advertise. Ad ag encies have to follow the client and the client has to, obviously, follow the legislation.''

Much as ad agencies would like to see the proposed Bill scrapped, the impending blow to their revenue and bottomline seems imminent.

Mr Madhukar Kamath, Managing Director, Bates India, said, ``The Bates network is fully aware of the implications and the special skills required to manage the transition. Globally, the legislation on tobacco advertising and sponsorships is an ongoing phe nomenon. It is nothing new... After all, it is a proposed Bill and... it is still early days.''

Annoyed with the ``hypocrisy'' of the powers-that-be, advertising industry sources argued that the proposed Bill should not make the distinction between product advertising and brand advertising. And herein they hope for their breather.

``Where would the proposed Bill leave advertising for Wills Sport apparel or Gold Flake Expressions, the greeting cards line from the ITC stable? These are full-fledged diversifications and separate businesses of a company that has sought to leverage the goodwill of its brands.''

Industry sources strongly refuted that advertising for the apparel and the greeting-card lines would amount to surrogate advertising. ``These are full-fledged diversifications and the company treats the new businesses with as much importance and not mere ly as a front for its tobacco division,'' they pointed out.

The proposed Bill seeks to disallow the sponsoring of a sporting or a cultural event by a tobacco company. ``This would tie the hands of corporate sponsors,'' according to tobacco industry officials. The advertising fraternity, however, points out that i n ITC's case ``sports events on cricket, to date sponsored by the Wills brand, will possibly have to be shifted to new product categories like Wills Sport''.

Sports managers are also in a huddle, considering that tobacco companies are among the most magnanimous of sponsors. Consider the following associations, Wills with cricket and golf and Gold Flake with Tennis. Clearly the gloom cloud has set in for more industries than one.