History of advertising in India?
A sophisticated & professional industry called Indian AdvertisingIndian Advertising starts with the hawkers calling out their wares right from the days when cities and markets first beganShop front signagesFrom street side sellers to press adsThe first trademarksHandbills distributed separately from the products18th CenturyConcrete advertising history begins with classified advertisingAds appear for the first time in print in Hickey's Bengal Gazette. India's first newspaper (weekly).Studios mark the beginning of advertising created in India (as opposed to imported from England) Studios set up for bold type, ornate fonts, more fancy, larger adsNewspaper studios train the first generation of visualisers & illustratorsMajor advertisers: Retailers like Spencer's, Army & Navy and Whiteaway & LaidlawMarketing promotions: Retailers' catalogues provided early exampleAds appear in newspapers in the form of lists of the latest merchandise from EnglandPatent medicines: The first brand as we know them today were a category of advertisersHorlicks becomes the first 'malted milk' to be patented on 5th June 1883 (No. 278967).The 1900s1905- B Dattaram & Co claims to be the oldest existing Indian agency inGirgaum in Bombay1912- ITC (then Imperial Tobacco Co. Ltd.) launches Gold Flake1920s- Enter the first foreign owned ad agencies- Gujarat Advertising and Indian Advertising set up- Expatriate agencies emerge: Alliance Advertising, Tata Publicity- LA Stronach's merges into today's Norvicson Advertising- D J Keymer gives rise to Ogilvy & Mather and Clarion1925- LR Swami & Co, Madras1926- LA Stronach & Co (India) Pr. Ltd, Bombay starts- Agency called National set up for American rather than BritishAdvertisers- American importers hire Jagan Nath Jaini, then advertising managerof Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore. National today is still run byJaini's family- Beginning of multinational agencies- J Walter Thompson (JWT) opened to service General Motors business1928- BOMAS Ltd (Formerly DJ Keymer & Co Ltd) set up1929- J Walter Thompson Co Pr. Ltd formedIndian agencies, foreign advertising in the thirties1931- National Advertising Service Pr. Ltd. Bombay set up- Universal Publicity Co, Calcutta formed1934- Venkatrao Sista opens Sista Advertising and Publicity Services as firstfull service Indian agency1935- Indian Publicity Bureau Pr Ltd, Calcutta established1936- Krishna Publicity Co Pr. Ltd, Kanpur begins operations- Studio Ratan Batra Pr. Ltd, Bombay established- Indian Broadcasting Company becomes All India Radio (AIR)1938- Jayendra Publicity, Kolhapur started1939- Lever's advertising department launches Dalda - the first majorexample of a brand and a marketing campaign specifically developedfor India- The Press Syndicate Ltd, Bombay set upIndianising advertisements in the forties1940- Navanitlal & Co., Ahmedabad set up1941- Lux signs Leela Chitnis as the first Indian film actress to endorse theproduct- Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA), the current incarnation ofJWT, coins the Balanced Nourishment concept to make Horlicksmore relevant to India- Green's Advertising Service Agents, Bombay formed1943- Advertising & Sales Promotion Co (ASP), Calcutta established1944- Dazzal, Bombay comes into existence- Ranjit Sales & Publicity Pr. Ltd, Bombay started1945- Efficient Publicities Pr. Ltd, Madras set up- Tom & Bay (Advertising) Pr. Ltd., Poona begins operations in India1946- Eastern Psychograph Pr. Ltd., Bombay set up- Everest Advertising Pr. Ltd, Bombay established1947- Grant Advertising Inc, Bombay formed- Swami Advertising Bureau, Sholapur started1948- RC Advertising Co, Bombay set up- Phoenix Advertising Pr. Ltd, Calcutta formedCorporate advertising in the fifties1950s- Radio Ceylon and Radio Goa become the media option1951- Vicks VapoRub: a rub for colds, causes ripples with its entryin the balm market1952- Shantilal G Shah & Co, Bombay1954- Advertising Club, Mumbai set up- Express Advertising Agency, Bombay- India Publicity Co. Pr. Ltd., Calcutta1956- Aiyars Advertising & Marketing, Bombay- Clarion Advertising Services Pr. Ltd, Calcutta1957- Vividh Bharati kicks off1958- Shree Advertising Agency, Bombay1959- Associated Publicity, CuttackCreative revolution in the sixties1960- Advertising Accessories, Trichur started- Marketing Advertising Associates, Bombay set up1961- Industrial Advertising Agency, Bombay comes into existence- Bal Mundkur quits BOMAS to set up Ulka the same year1962- India's television's first soap opera - Teesra Rasta enthrallsviewers1963- BOMAS changes names to SH Benson's- Stronach's absorbed into Norvicson- Lintas heading for uncertainty- Levers toying with giving its brands to other agencies- Nargis Wadia sets up Interpub- Wills Filter Tipped cigarettes launched and positioned as made foreach other, filter and tobacco match1965- Kersey Katrak sets up Mass Communication and Marketing (MCM)1966- Government persuaded to open up the broadcast media- Ayaz Peerbhoy sets up Marketing and Advertising Associates (MAA)1967- First commercial appears on Vividh Bharati1968- Nari Hira sets up Creative Unit- India wins the bid for the Asian Advertising Congress1969- Sylvester daCunha left Stronach's to run ASP; later sets updaCunha Associates1970- Frank Simoes sets up Frank Simoes AssociatesThe problematic seventies1970-1978- National Readership Studies provided relevant data onconsumers' reading habits1970- Concept of commercial programming accepted by All India Radio- Hasan Rezavi gives the very first spot on Radio Ceylon1971- Benson's undergo change in name to Ogilvy, Benson & Mather1972- Western Outdoor Advertising Pvt Ltd (WOAPL) introduces firstclosed circuit TV (CCT) in the country at the race course inMumbai1973- RK Swamy/BBDO established1974- MCM goes out of business- Arun Nanda & Ajit Balakrishnan set up Rediffusion1975- Ravi Gupta sets up Trikaya Grey1976- Commercial Television initiated1978- First television commercial seen1979- Ogilvy, Benson & Mather's name changes to Ogilvy & MatherGlued to the television in the eighties1980- Mudra Communications Ltd set up- King-sized Virginia filter cigarette enters market with brand nameof 'Charms'1981- Network, associate of UTV, pioneers cable television in India1982- The biggest milestone in television was the Asiad '82 whentelevision turned to colour transmission- Bombay Dyeing becomes the first colour TV ad- 13th Asian Advertising Congress in New Delhi- Media planning gets a boost1983- Maggi Noodles launched to become an overnight success- Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd. founded- Manohar Shyam Joshi's Hum Log makes commercial televisioncome alive- Mudra sponsors first commercial telecast of a major sporting eventwith the India-West Indies series1984- Hum Log, Doordarshan's first soap opera in the colour era isborn- Viewers still remember the sponsor (Vicco) of Yeh Jo HaiZindagi!1985- Mudra makes India's first telefilm, Janam1985-86- 915 new brands of products and services appearing on the IndianMarket1986- Sananda is born on July 31. The Bengali magazine stupefies Indiaby selling 75,000 copies within three hours of appearing on thenewsstands.- Mudra Communications creates India's first folk-history TVserial Buniyaad. Shown on DD, it becomes the first of themega soaps- Price quality positioning of Nirma detergent cakes boost sales1988- AAAI's Premnarayan Award instituted1989- Advertising Club Bombay begins a biennial seminar called'Advertising that Works'- Advertising & Marketing (A&M) magazine launchedTech savvy in the nineties1990- Marks the beginning of new medium Internet- Agencies open new media shops; go virtual with websites andInternet advertising- Brand Equity (magazine) of The Economic Times is born1991- First India-targetted satellite channel, Zee TV starts broadcast- Close on the throes of the Gulf War enters STAR (SatelliteTransmission for Asia Region)1992- Spectrum, publisher of A&M, constitutes its own award known as'A&M Awards'- Scribes and media planners credit The Bold And The Beautifulserial on STAR Plus channel as a soap that started the culturalinvasion1993- India's only advertising school, MICA (Mudra Institute ofCommunications Ahmedabad), is born- Tara on Zee TV becomes India's first female-centric soap1995- Advertising Club of Bombay calls its awards as Abby- Country's first brand consulting firm, SABRE (Strategic Advantage forBrand Equity) begins operations1996- The ad fraternity hits big time for the first time by bagging threeawards at the 43rd International Advertising Festival, Cannes- Sun TV becomes the first regional TV channel to go live 24 hoursa day on all days of the week1997- Media boom with the growth of cable and satellite; print mediumsees an increase in titles, especially in specialised areas- Government turns towards professional advertising in the privatesector for its VDIS campaigns- Army resorts to the services of private sector agencies- Advertising on the Internet gains popularity- Equitor Consulting becomes the only independent brand consultancycompany in the country- Several exercises in changing corporate identity- For the first time ever, Indians stand the chance of winning the $ 1-million booty being offered by Gillette as part of its Football WorldCup promo 1998- Events assume important role in marketing mix- Rise of software TV producers banking on ad industry talent- Reinventing of cinema -advertising through cinema begins1998- Lintas becomes Ammirati Puri Lintas (APL)1999- B2B site agencyfaqs.com launched on September 28, 1999- The Advertising Club Bombay announces the AdWorks TrophyIn the new millennium2000- Mudra launches magindia.com - India's first advertising and marketingGallery- Lintas merges with Lowe Group to become Lowe Lintas and Partners(LLP)- bigideasunlimited.com - a portal offering free and fee ideas for moneylaunched by Alyque Padamsee and Sam Mathews- Game shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati become a rage; media buyingindustry is bullish on KBC- Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi marks the return of family-oriented soap on TV- French advertising major Publicis acquires Maadhyam2001- Trikaya Grey becomes Grey Worldwide- Bharti's Rs 2.75-crore corporate TV commercial, where a babygirl is born in a football stadium, becomes the most expensivecampaign of the year2002- Lowe Lintas & Partners rechristened Lowe Worldwide- For the first time in the history of HTA, a new post of president iscreated. Kamal Oberoi is appointed as the first president of HTA
