Category: Advertising investments

This year started convincingly and strengthened the forecasts for a positive trend in media investments. Many advertisers are convinced that in a pandemic situation or not, successful brands need to be close to the customers and encourage them by reminding of themselves. New companies have joined the well-known and established TV advertisers. Some of them filled the niche gap the National Lottery had vacated and quickly climbed into the ranking of the biggest advertisers. In this topic we are observing top advertisers in the three main national channels – BNT 1, bTV and Nova TV. We are starting the review with the top 10 advertisers in BNT 1, and the focus of our analysis is the achieved weighted TRP’s 30 in the target group, representing all people in the country aged between 25 and 54 years (A 25-54) for the period January-May 2021:

In the first five months of the year the total number of advertisers in BNT 1 rose to 128, which is 70 more than in the same period of 2020. The advertisers in the top 10 are mainly representatives of three sectors – sports betting companies, represented by Brobet Limited, Bulgarian Sports Betting, Winbet and Telematic Interactive (Palms Bet), commercial companies that promote their products mainly through telemarket advertising forms – Skyshop and Studio Moderna, as well as state institutions and political parties and formations. It is interesting to note that the reported weighted TRP’s 30 of the top ten advertisers accounted for 67% of total TRP’s 30 in the channel for the period. In the following table we expand the number of advertisers to the top 20 and present their development compared to the same period in 2020:

In the top 20 for this year, the biggest number of advertisers who were not active in January-May 2020 is impressive. Some of them are a consequence of the parliamentary elections held in April. Brobet Limited, Winbet and Porche Bulgaria have the highest growth in the reported results during the observed periods, while Skyshop, Municipal Insurance Company  and First Investment Bank have decreased the most. An important fact is that in the period January-May 2021 the achieved weighted TRP’s 30 in BNT 1 are 152% higher than last year’s results for the same period. Part of this growth is due to the elections, but the more significant share is accumulated by the aggressively presence of sports betting companies.

We continue the analysis with the top 10 advertisers in bTV:

Here, as in BNT 1, the number of active companies grows to 183, which is 34 advertisers over last year or 23% more. Advertisers in the top 10 in bTV are from various categories – food (Ferrero), pharmaceuticals (Naturpharma, Sandoz, Stada Bulgaria), chains of stores (Billa and Lidl), beverages (Carlsberg), sports betting (Brobet Limited), cosmetics and household chemistry (Henkel Procter & Gamble) and others. The share accumulated TRP’s 30 amounts to 37% of the total for the TV channel. An expanded ranking of the biggets advertisers in bTV is presented in the following table:

Brobet Limited, Access Finance, Nobel Pharma and Naturpharma stand out with a growth of over 50%. Sanofi-Aventis Group, Reckitt Benckiser, Sandoz, Lidl, Kaufland, Ferrero and Procter & Gamble registered a decline of its’ TV activity in bTV. Some of the companies that had a presence in the TV channel in the period January-May 2020, but are currently absent on bTV are Studio Moderna, Bulgarian Sports Totalizator, Coca-Cola, Aflofarm and other smaller participants.

One of the main conclusions we can draw is that the beginning of 2021 turns out to be better for bTV compared to 2020 and we observe an increase of 17% compared to the relevant period last year.

We end the presentation with the ten biggest advertisers for the first five months of 2021 in Nova TV:

The number of active advertisers in Nova TV is also growing – from 203 in the first five months of 2020 to 233 in 2021. Here too, the advertisers in the top 10 have a diverse nature of their main activity. The companies from the top 10 that are active in Nova TV, but are absent in the main competitor bTV as of May 2021 are Studio Moderna, Skyshop, Coca-Cola and GlaxoSmithKline. The share of TRP’s 30 of the ten biggest companies in Nova TV is 27% of the reported value for all advertisers in the TV channel. In the table you can find more information about the top 20 in Nova TV and the changes that have occurred this year:

Coca-Cola, Brobet Limited, Kamenitza, Bella and Studio Moderna registered over 100% growth. On the other hand, Vivacom, Fortex, GlaxoSmithKline, P&G, Nestle, Ficosota Syntez and Natur Product reported a decline compared to the same period in 2020. Overall, accumulated by all advertisers in Nova TV TRP’s 30 increased by 8% over the same period last year.

Finally, we present a distribution of advertising investments based on weighted TRP’s 30 for all TV channels for which data are reported:

The presented charts show that for the compared periods the market grows by 14%. BNT 1 increases the reported TRP’s 30 by an enviable 152%. Nova TV’s growth is the lowest compared to the total market, which leads to a shrink of its share by 2% in the first five months of the current year. The growth of the market since the beginning of the year strengthens the positive attitudes and gives us reason to look optimistically at the rest of the year.

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The past 2020 has gone down in history as the year of Covid-19 and the adaptation to the new reality. The challenges it delivered to us reflected in all sectors. Advertisers faced a new and dynamic environment in which they had to make quick decisions in response to emerging new needs. Rapid adaptation and forecasting of the needs that the new reality will bring were crucial. The initial shock by the introduction of a state of emergency was overcome and with the easing of measures the business adapted and revised its strategies and planned activities. Here is a more detailed analysis of the gross budgets invested in TV and the reported GRPs 30 for the target group all aged between 25 and 54 (A 25-54) in the first quarters of 2020 and 2021:

In the left part of the chart are the reported gross budgets for TV advertising during the two comparable periods. The data show that the first quarter of 2021 marks a 40% increase in gross investment compared to the same period last year. The right part of the chart presents the achieved levels in weighted GRPs 30. According to this indicator, the results this year are 1% lower than the previous one. Please, note that the weighted GRPs 30 more accurately reflects market dynamics and investment, as gross investment is based on official advertising rate cards before discounts, which in turn outpace inflation and often lead to strong market distortions, especially in smaller niche channels.

Advertisers’ revised strategies have also led to a rearrangement of the categories by which active campaigns are classified. The changes are clearly visible from the table below the graph, in which we present the ranking in the top 5 of the categories based on reported weighted GRPs 30 for target group A 25-54:

The first 5 categories generate 74% of the total volume of TV advertising.

In both considered periods the leading position is reserved for products from the category “Pharmaceuticals”, which traditionally maintains high levels of activity. In this category we report the highest number of actively competing companies – a total of 65, and the brands that were active in the first quarter of this year are 186. Although there is a decline of about 1%, this is also the category in which are adding new advertisers and new products and maintaining a sustainable share of 30%. The category is formed by 12 subcategories and the first two in the internal ranking – “Food and diet supplements” and “Medicines” form 78% of the total volume in the category “Pharmaceuticals”:

On second place is the category “Retail outlets”, which increased by 34% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. In addition to the traditional chains of grocery stores, black and white appliances and household goods, we also observe the increased presence of a variety of popular online stores – emag.bg and fashiondays.bg (a part of Allegro Group), AboutYou.bg, Vivre.bg, Answer.com, modivo.bg and obuvki.bg (both a part of Eobuwie.pl) and many others. The first subcategory “Chain stores” out of a total of 6 in the segment generates 69% of the volume. “Online stores” reported the highest growth in category compared to last year, but it is important to note that many advertisers from subcategory were “moved” in this segment in early February 2021:

On third place in the ranking of categories is “Foods” with a 12% share of weighted GRP’s 30. In the first quarter of 2021, the category reported a decline of 17% compared to the same period in 2020. During the analyzed periods, a total of 30 subcategories were active. Products from the subcategory “Dessert bars” are advertised most intensively, and the first three subcategories form only 33% of the total volume:

Similar to “Pharmaceuticals”, the “Cosmetics” category remains stable with a minimum growth of 1% based on the reported weighted GRPs of 30 and retains the fourth position. It is interesting to note that in this category traditionally the most advertised products such as shampoos and conditioners, oral hygiene products and facial cosmetics are declining, but it is fully compensated by the activation of two passive subcategories in recent years – “Toilets soaps and disinfectants” and “Body cosmetics”, and by growth in the sub-category “Hair dye”. A total of 16 product subcategories were active during the analyzed periods, and the first three represent 55% of the volume of the “Cosmetics” category:

“Drinks” category is on fifth place. This is one position higher, but in general the reported GRPs 30 decreased by 5% compared to a year earlier. The dynamics in the subcategories is high and is strongly influenced by the opportunity for people to visit restaurants and spend time away from home. “Drinks” category consists of 12 subcategories. The “Beer” subcategory is undisputed leader, followed by “Carbonated Soft Drinks” and “Instant Coffee”. The three leading categories account for 73% of the total volume:

In the first quarter of 2021, all other categories accumulate 26% of the total market volume based on weighted GRPs 30 indicator and reported a decrease of 6% compared to the same period a year earlier. In the category “Others” we have summarized the data for the rest 19 categories, which are including 82 subcategories.

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We present you a brief analysis of the gross advertising investment in TV for the three main TV channels, as well as cumulatively for the main TV groups:

After the strong start and high activity of advertisers in the beginning of 2020, with the announcement of the pandemic in mid-March 2020 and the introduction of a state of emergency in the country, we witnessed a panic stop of campaigns by many advertisers and their postponement for indefinite period. With the onset of summer and the easing of measures, most advertisers realized that the right behavior is to adapt the strategy to the new reality as quickly as possible. In the second half of 2020, the situation is normalized and even gave cause for optimism and a fast recovery.

Analyzing the market based on gross advertising revenues, the undisputable leader is bTV and the channels of the BMG group with a growth of 5.4% and a reported volume of nearly BGN 953 million. On second place in terms of gross advertising revenues is Nova and the TV channels represented by NBG with a growth of 0.9% compared to 2019 and a reported volume of 832 million leva. The difference between the two groups is nearly BGN 121 million or 12.7%. On third place is TSH with the represented by the company niche TV channels, marking an enviable growth of 25.2%, but the reported gross investment is only BGN 72 million. It is correct to clarify that the growth of TSH is due to the channels represented by the group, which in 2019 are not reported by GARB Audience Measurement Bulgaria, as well as to Viasat’s kids channels added to its portfolio in early 2020. The owned by the state BNT is the only losing TV group. Its advertising revenues declines in 2020 by 15.6% to BGN 6.1 million.

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