Banking industry advertisement in India

For many years, banks considered it undignified to advertise. Presently they changed their minds and began steady and extensive "campaigns." At first, only the ultra-conservative "card advertisements," carrying the name and address of the institution, with perhaps a few statistics as to its resources were published. Of late years, however, more stress has been laid upon explaining to the public clearly and simply the services which banks have to offer, and perhaps to trace the constructive work performed by bankers in establishing the industries of the country. Advertising spends in the banking services and product categories has increased by 184.15 per cent in the calendar year January to December, 2008 to Rs 2,492.59 crore as compared to Rs 1,499.92 crore in 2007, according to data from AdEx Nielsen. Public sector banks like State Bank of India (SBI), Union Bank of India (UBI), Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank and IDBI Bank have seen an upsurge in their advertising spends upto 75 per cent. SBI has been the highest spender among banks spending Rs 292.92 crore in 2008. Among the private banks, ICICI Bank has been the largest spender with a total spend of Rs 129.02 crore in 2008. HDFC Bank spent Rs 18.83 crore in calendar 2008 as against Rs 80 lakh spent in 2007. The research paper discusses about banks advertisement and is based on secondary data researched through internet, books and newspapers.