--By Angila Sharma

 

The advertising sector has come a long way and is still evolving. This sector contributes around four billionrupees to the Nepalese economy, of which half is contributed by the television, radio and print media while the rest is covered by hoarding boards and flex prints. “The annual gross turnover of this industry ranges somewhere around 4 billion. However, it has the potential of producing 10 billion,” says Bharat Nyachhyon, executive director of Advertising Association of Nepal (AAN).For Nyachhyon, advertising is all about informing people about the products and services available in the market through storytelling and placing those stories wherever people are.

 

The way of disseminating information has become easier with the establishment of media and this has also benefitted the advertisement sector. Gone are the days when trumpets were blown to make important announcements. So, it won’t be wrong to say that this industry has experienced a paradigm shift in marketing. This sector has flourished over time and the growing number of advertising agencies and local advertisements prove this fact. At present, there are about 400 registered advertising agencies in Nepal. As such, Advertising Association of Nepal (AAN) has been serving this fraternity by awarding advertisement agencies for their creativity, innovation and influence. Every Year, AAN organizes Crity Awards where creative advertising agencies are felicitated. AAN recently organized the 8th Crity Awards with the theme ‘Be Creative, Be Smart’. “Crity Awards is a step taken by AAN to ensure quality and to make advertising agencies more dedicated to their work”, says Raj Kumar Bhattarai, President of AAN and Spectrum Advertising and Consultant. This step taken by AAN has definitely boosted this sector and the outcome is reflected in the advertisements.

 

Problems

Advertising in Nepal is yet to reach the summit as its full potential is still to be valued and on top of that is viewed in a narrow sense in Nepal. “Advertising is considered as a part of expense rather than investment. But, in the truest sense, advertising is investment that provides long-term return. It is a step that corporations take inorder to establish their product in the market,” says Nyachhyon.

 

Besides this, the advertising sector has its own policy level woes. In lack of a separate Act, it is regulated by theMotion Picture (production, exhibition and distribution) Act. The anomaly in this is that feature film is of 120 minutes whereas advertisement is of 2 minutes at maximum. Thus, the procedures to be followed are very lengthy and difficult. This is making advertisement difficult. “Due to lack of laws and acts, the best in the advertisement sector is yet to come” says Bhattarai. With the implementation of appropriate laws, this sector will grow beyond leaps and bounds.

 

The situation does not seem to be changing even in the near future, as the government remains hostile to the sector itself. It considers advertisement unnecessary and therefore has been denying recognition to it. This has deprived the sector of government support. Apart from that, the problem lies in perception of the people as advertisement continue to be perceived in narrow sense.Even though advertising is necessary for giving informed choices to consumers, some consumers feel that good products don’t need advertisement. “If a product is not advertised, consumers will not be aware of its features and availability in the market”, says Nyachhyon while stressing on the importance of advertisement.

 

Lack of maturity in advertising concepts among entrepreneurs is another underlying problem in Nepali advertisement sector. Entrepreneurs look out to provide all information of their product in a single advertisement. This lengthens the advertisements and viewers lose interest in the advertisement very soon. Due to this, the entrepreneurs don’t get maximum return from their investment in advertisement. 

 

The Future

The future of advertisement industry is promising. Beginning with limited forms of media the industry now has expanded its service numerous forms of media, growing every year. It is now one of the biggest and booming industries in Nepal. It has 28 TV channels, 350 radio stations and around 700 print media that are actively displaying advertisements. The increase of newspapers, the electronic media and its users has also led to the increase in the volume of advertorials. 

 

Along with that a new trend has been seen in this sector. International brands, which earlier used international advertorials for advertising in Nepal, are producing advertises at the local level in local languages. This is a positive indication illustrating growth in the sector. Similarly, better creativity and innovation is also another new feature seen in the local advertisements these days. With all these recent events, a steady growth in the years to come seems inevitable for the sector.

 

Conclusion

In a free competitive economy where markets grow, advertisement is a part of economic activity. Before, there was monopoly and people had no choices. But now, with the expansion of market and the proliferation of media, people have choices and advertisement helps people know about the choices they have.

 

Winners of the 8th Crity Awards

- Best Commercial Photographer- Business Advantage Pvt. Ltd. (Ncell Sapati)

- Best Copy writer Print- Prismark Marketing (Nepal Telecom)

- Best Art Director Print- Prismark Marketing (Nepal Telecom)

- Best Lyricist- Welcome Advertising and Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (Jagadamba Steels)

- Best Sound Recordist- Welcome Advertising and Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (Jagadamba Steels)

- Best Jingle Composer- Welcome Advertising and Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (Jagadamba Steels)

- Best Radio Spot-MARS Advertising Pvt. Ltd. (Civil Bank)

- Best Radio Jingle- V-Chitra Pvt. Ltd. (Sabun Paani Haat)

- Best Event Manager- Outreach Nepal Pvt. Ltd. (Real School of Nepal)

- Best Billboard- Business Advantage Pvt. Ltd. (Ncell)

- Best TVC Cameraperson- Welcome Advertising and Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (JagadambaSteels)

- Best TVC Script writer- Welcome Advertising and Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (Jagadamba Steels)

- Best TVC editor- Max L'agence Pvt. Ltd. (Ncell)

- Best Animated TVC- Business Advantage Pvt. Ltd. (Ncell)

- Best Print Ad- Prismark Marketing (Nepal Telecom)

- Best TVC director- Business Advantage Pvt. Ltd. (Ncell)

- Best Social Ad- Tristar Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (Unicef Jadugar)

- Most Popular TVC- Welcome Advertising and Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (Jagadamba Steels)

- Best TVC- Max L'agence Pvt. Ltd. (Ncell)

- Best Commercial Campaign- Business Advantage Pvt. Ltd. (Ncell Cup)

- Best TVC model (female) - Welcome Advertising and Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (Ashmi soap)

- Best TVC model (male) - Munz Ad Pvt. Ltd. (Kishan)

- Most Creative Advertising Agency- Welcome Advertising & Marketing Pvt. Ltd.