‘Online, offline media differentiation blurring’
Hyderabad: Not many years ago, one had to learn how the Internet works. Now, it is learning us and doing things for us. This is how Suresh Reddy, Chairman and CEO of Brightcom Group that recently acquired the digital media company MediaMint, feels about the changing technology paradigms. “Many people are gradually using online media, […]
Hyderabad: Not many years ago, one had to learn how the Internet works. Now, it is learning us and doing things for us. This is how Suresh Reddy, Chairman and CEO of Brightcom Group that recently acquired the digital media company MediaMint, feels about the changing technology paradigms. “Many people are gradually using online media, internet, tablet, connected TV and others. Since the pandemic, online traffic surged and media consumption exploded. The usage has more than doubled. Initially, there were no advertisers. Now advertisers have come back and are greeted with high traffic,” he told ‘Telangana Today’ in a telephonic interaction from the US.
Many in the online advertising segment have almost doubled their businesses due to the pandemic. “We have also started to see that kind of growth. We are now a debt-free company and see growth avenues in connected TV, video on mobile, and of course audio. The last one is a big area that we want to invest in and grow,” said Reddy. Brightcom scaled up its backend to 200 to 250 people to deal with the new opportunities. “We realised that we need both sales and execution engines to work to be on the growth path. Media Mint acquisition was primarily to address the execution part,” the official said.
The Hyderabad-based MediaMint, which is a digital consulting and digital operations provider specialising in ad operations, campaign management, creative services, data analytics, and platform support, has more than 1,300 people working for it. Brightcom Group acquired it for about Rs 566 crore in cash and stock including Rs 360 crore in cash to be paid at closing, Rs 170 crore in BCG stock and Rs 36 crore to be paid in six months from closing. Its revenue for the FY22 March ending is expected to be Rs 187 crore.
Trends and growth drivers
“In the past, there used to be a differentiation in the online and offline media but now the line is blurring. TV, newspaper and other mediums are going online. Even out-of-home advertising has gone digital with beacons making the experience more promising for advertisers and aiding in them getting better RoI. It is fascinating to see how the Internet is coming into every part of our lives,” he said.
“We are watching the content on tablets, phones and more. This is no longer the cutting edge thing. Stage 2 of this will be how the Internet will change the nature of media consumption. For instance, FM radio was used while driving. Now, we see people consuming media using a lawnmower while cooking or even playing. They are listening from a site. The shift is happening in not just what we are seeing and what we are learning but how the Internet is consumed,” he further said.
Ad traction
One could see over 900 ads on desktop, 450 on mobile, 200 on FB, 30 video ads and 7 audio ads and almost zero print ads, the over Rs 2,700-crore company said about the trends in its annual report (2019-20.) The momentum in interactive media usage is resulting in digital ad spending gaining a larger share of all advertising. The Asia-Pacific region is the largest contributor of global ad spending followed by North America. Digital spend is predominantly mobile rather than desktop, reflecting the shift in audience usage from desktop to smartphone, it said.
