TVC TV

It’s all ads, no serials on these ‘broadcasts’

By Natalia Kovalchuk
Associate, Willard Kyiv

Large flat-screen televisions are being installed in quick-service restaurants, supermarkets and business centers across the country, in just about any location where consumers are present and products are for sale.  The TV sets stream an endless series of advertisements, but no entertainment programming.  They are electronic pitchmen, not entertainers, and by all accounts, they're doing their jobs very well indeed.

The phenomenon that is what the industry calls Indoor TV is gaining its popularity in the Ukrainian market.  Its main advantage is that even consumers who are not influenced by standard TV commercials will be affected by dynamic television advertising of products or services located directly at the point of sales.  Screens are placed close to the advertised goods, attracting the attention of potential buyers.  Supporters say that this stimulates spontaneous purchases at a relatively low expense. Marketing analysts say that 80 percent of a consumer's decision about a purchase takes place at sales points.  Accordingly, video's impact and influence makes it a highly efficient tool.

Ukraine's advertising market generally follows global trends, and indoor advertising is no exception, however local marketers have been able to avoid some of the pitfalls experienced by other marketers as they experimented with it.

"The fact is that the growth of indoor media in the world started much earlier than in Ukraine, but the process of development here is many times faster.  The advances are used in Ukraine, avoiding many of the mistakes that have been made abroad," says Mariya Kabakova, representative of the Indoor Video Association, an organization comprised of the eight largest companies offering indoor TV advertising in Ukraine.

Although indoor TV advertising often appears to be omnipresent, it occupies a rather small portion of the overall ad market, consuming an average 0.5 percent of media budgets nationwide.  According to the Ukrainian Advertising Coalition, in 2006 the volume of indoor TV advertising was comparable with the volume of Internet advertising.  That seems miniscule - and compared to ad spends for broadcast television commercials, it is - but the upward trend continued in 2007, 2008, and this year, despite the crisis.

That gives indoor TV plenty of room for growth.  The indoor advertising industry is presently experiencing some consolidation, and as the medium develops, more standardization is appearing in the approach the advertising takes.  As indoor video matures as a vehicle, expertise in areas like media planning, the way that advertising messages are presented and how to best determine effectiveness is forming.

Experts say that particularly good results can be achieved when indoor media is skilfully incorporated into an advertiser's marketing plan.

"Today's market conditions dictate the rule: Achieving effective results requires the skilful and balanced use of all tools available.  Indoor media, in my opinion, is a necessary and integral part of a quality marketing mix," Kabakova says.

The Indoor Video Association says that its research supports the assertion that consumers don't mind the presence of point-of-sale TVCs.  Rather than an annoyance, the association says shoppers' attitudes are positive, perceiving the ads as a source of useful information.

Kabakova said that indoor advertising is most effectively used in the FMCG market.  Indoor media may affect an advertiser's chosen audience because of its unique location in the sales area - a place where other media devices are absent or limited.

"If you want to surprise a youth audience with your novelty, you should place your advertising on the screens in McDonald's. And if your customers are representatives of the 'white-collar flocks', place your advertising in business centers," Kabakova advises. "In short, indoor media is targeted, and therefore effective."