2023 to be a growth story for print

Industry leaders predict the print sector will see a growth spurt in 2023 as advertisers return to the medium; stabilising of newsprint prices to help further

by Sonam Saini
Published - January 05, 2023
6 minutes To Read
2023 to be a growth story for print

The year 2022 was a period of recovery as well as a challenging one for the print industry. While on one hand, a majority of players surpassed pre-Covid levels in terms of advertising revenue in several markets, a rise in newsprint prices did have an adverse impact on the business. 

However, as we begin 2023 industry leaders are optimistic that the sector's challenging period has passed. Newsprint prices too have stabilised and is likely to drop further in the upcoming months. 

Kumar further added that there have been various discussions about print AdEx getting adversely impacted by digital. The growth of digital and digital channels of communication are undeniable. However, there is also an equal realization that the impact marketers were able to create in the minds of consumers is lagging behind, in the hunger of chasing last mile and performance-led parameters on digital, he said. 

“The eroding baseline of the brands is getting marketers concerned and it will be hard for them to forsake traditional media, particularly print in that context. Even in digital the growth is mostly happening from the vernacular market. While Jio disrupted the accessibility framework, almost 90% of those new customers have also come in from tier 2 and 3 markets. Vernacular holds a big story for the future. And as a vernacular newspaper, we are optimistic of getting the benefit of that.” 

Speaking of the market that they operate in, Kumar said that Kerala is the only state in India where Print’s reach surpasses that of TV. “Kerala has huge untapped potential for every single category. To educate advertisers about the same and offer them a never before solution, we have just launched a unique proposition #GatewayToKerala. It brings all our assets together - Print, TV, Radio and Digital - to create a surround impact. Content, community, engagements, experiences, quality first-party data and real RoI are part of our offerings here. As against the traditional campaign-led approach, any client can throw a specific market challenge at us and we go back with a tailor-made, efficient and compelling go-to-market strategy.”

According to a recent CRISIL Ratings report, while print media will see a healthy ad revenue growth of 15% year-on-year next fiscal, it will still trail the pre-pandemic level by 800-1000 basis points. This is due to a slow recovery in ad yields, particularly for English editions.

As for Malcolm Raphael, Senior Vice President, Times Response, "The growth of print advertising volumes in 2022–2023 compared to 2020–2021 indicated the dominance of print as a compelling option for marketers for new launches, topical communication, and brand messages."

Some of the patterns expected in 2023, as per Raphael are, a rise in consumer spending on tangible goods and services, real estate, cars, travel and tourism, retail, clothing, appliances, and consumer durables.

"The current social media upheaval and the widening gulf in trust between users of existing digital platforms present a chance for print to improve its product offerings and enhance consumer engagement. Due to the likelihood of a recession in the developed economies the following year, we may witness increased investments in developing economies like ours, which would increase demand for consumer goods and boost advertising," explained Raphael.

He also pointed out that the bigger advertisers returned in 2021 and 2022 but 2023 might be the year industry will see the smaller advertisers return as local businesses like retail stores, travel agencies, salons, and restaurants begin to recover from the impact of Covid. "In the most recent quarter, we have already noticed this."

Varghese Chandy, Vice President, Marketing & Advertising-Sales, at Malayala Manorama, shared that 2022 been the year of recovery for most media, particularly print. “We have seen that we reached the 2019 level in the last quarter. Most of the retailers have done well in catering to the pent-up demand and print has been the primary medium, especially during the festive seasons. Newspapers in Kerala saw the least drop in circulation even during Covid. We are all working towards pre-Covid numbers now,” he shared.

Chandy believes the current challenges will persist in 2023, but certain categories may be able to overcome them.

"Yield has been and will continue to be a challenge. So will the bottom line, as newsprint prices have risen to levels not seen in a year. A lot of categories, such as consumer durables and mobiles, will return to print in a big way because print is definitely delivering results. Tourism and related businesses such as hotels and airlines will thrive. Retail will continue to grow and will contribute significantly to print advertising. Print will continue to be important in areas such as health and education. More emphasis will be placed on transforming space sellers into solution providers. As a result, the emphasis on events, activation, BTL activities, strategic partnerships, and so on will increase," Chandy explained.

According to Amit Chopra, Joint Managing Director, Punjab Kesari, "The second and third quarters of the current fiscal year have been very encouraging for the print industry. In some cases, we surpassed pre-COVID advertising revenues last year, beginning in July. The year 2022 was superior to the years 2020 and 2021."

He also stated that the way a large portion of circulation has returned shows that the print industry is not going away anytime soon. People who return to print after Covid will do so for a longer period of time.

Chopra expressed his belief that the print industry will continue to grow in advertising in 2023. Because the Indian economy is doing better than the European and American economies, he believes that the number of advertisers and spends will increase in 2023. Also, nine state elections are coming this year which will also lead to an increase in political ad spending.

In terms of circulation, he stated that everyone is now attempting to increase their circulation numbers by launching new schemes and conducting door-to-door campaigns. Chopra also believes that the higher cover prices have been well received by readers, compensating for any circulation loss and higher new newsprint prices.

Regarding newsprint prices, he said after touching a peak of $900-950/tonne last year it has gone to $650/tonne and is likley to decline further to $600/tonne. "The newsprint prices have gone down and stabilised, which will drive profits for newspapers in 2023."  

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