PwC expects India’s media and entertainment industry to reach USD 36.7 billion by 2030, fuelled by digital advertising, OTT, gaming and other emerging segments. But more platforms do not mean more time with consumers. Their hours remain limited, even as television, YouTube, social media, OTT, gaming, creators and commerce compete for attention. So, for marketers, the challenge is no longer just reaching audiences, but deciding where each medium can deliver the most value — whether by building reach, creating context or holding attention long enough for a message to register.
Presence is not the same as attention
“Presence is table stakes; attention is the differentiator. Consumers’ media choices are fragmented across platforms, but for most cohorts there is still a hero touchpoint where they spend disproportionate time or attention. Social Media has become almost universal, particularly strong among younger cohorts; OTT tends to offer greater engagement and depth of viewing; while TV continues to have regional pockets of scale and effectiveness,” says Deepak Sonpar, Sr. Vice President, Client Solutions, WPP Media.
“The answer is not the same for every audience or category. The job for brands is to identify that touchpoint and understand what role it can play in the consumer journey,” he adds.
That also puts more variables into the media planning process than reach alone.
“Reach within the target audience remains a critical selection factor, but affinity is equally important. Attention has also emerged as an important consideration as audience fragmentation continues to grow. The communication task is another key factor in channel selection, since different channels play different roles across the consumer journey. The choice of media therefore needs to reflect the specific task each channel is expected to fulfil,” says Anand Chakravarthy, Chief Growth Officer, Omnicom Media India.
“All of these factors are built into our planning ecosystem on Omni, which ensures that best practices are always being used for each of our clients when building media plans,” he adds.
“We don’t look at platforms in isolation. We look at the role each platform can play in the consumer journey, whether it is awareness, consideration, product education, engagement or conversion,” says Amitabh Bhatia, Head of Marketing, Stovekraft. “For a mass consumer brand like Pigeon, scale still matters, so regional television, print or high-reach digital platforms continue to play an important role in building awareness. But increasingly, attention and relevance determine where we put incremental investment.”
“We are now asking: What did the consumer actually see, understand and remember? A million passive impressions may not be more valuable than a smaller but highly relevant audience that genuinely understands the product,” he adds.
That raises a more practical question for brands: how many platforms actually need to be part of the primary media mix?
The media mix is becoming a job allocation exercise
“We always follow first principles while building a media thesis. Factors such as the impact of the impression, audience interaction behaviour with the media vehicle and undivided attention while consuming respective platforms are key to our selection. We also value the content fitment, and audience alignment with our TG,” says Aman Gupta, Head of Marketing, Farmley.
He adds, “We believe in choosing two to three platforms as primary exposure vehicles and then ensure our content is optimised for the audience behaviour on those respective platforms. We are bullish on the rise of OTTs as an upcoming media vehicle, along with constantly staying ahead of the curve in terms of choosing the right digital mix between Instagram, YouTube and the entire inventory that Meta and Google ad engines have on offer.”
The larger point is that scale alone does not determine the value of a platform. Context, relevance and the amount of attention a consumer gives to the message can matter just as much.
“The way we look at platforms has changed quite a bit. Earlier, the starting point was largely, ‘Where is my audience?’ Today, the audience is everywhere, so that question alone doesn’t really help. The bigger question is, ‘Where does it make sense for my brand to show up, and where can we actually get people to pay attention?’” says Jyoti Chugh Bhatia, Group Director, Gozoop Creative.
When every platform says the same thing
The bigger problem with a crowded media ecosystem may be what happens when every platform is treated as an isolated buy.
“I don’t think fragmentation is the biggest problem. The bigger problem is that brands have become very good at saying nothing differently across ten different platforms,” says Shwetha Iyer, Senior Vice President–Marketing, Kissht. “Entertainment isn’t the opposite of effectiveness. It can be the mechanism that makes the message stick.”
As the number of platforms continues to grow, being present across more of them does not necessarily make a media plan stronger. The value lies in knowing what each platform is expected to contribute, and whether that exposure gives the consumer a reason to notice, engage with or remember the brand.
