The ignored marketing medium

"Can you feel it coming in the air tonight…"

Phil Collins may have just struck a chord with millions with "Can you feel it coming in the air tonight…" and with some canny marketers right here in India!

I am of course referring to the sky shopping / tele shopping industry where products are sold exclusively through advertisements on television channels. Known by many names, the umbrella phrase direct response television or DRTV for short, probably covers it best. And, for most of us marketers it just doesn't exist!

Let's look at some pretty startling facts:

• Size of the industry worldwide: approx $378 billion (that's right - billion) in 2007-08.
• Growing at 8% per annum historically
• Comprises 8% of all retail sales in the US, 5% in Korea and in China, a new market, already a 0.2% share
• The largest companies in this business like QVC in the USA are $8 billion+ organisations
• Even in the nascent China market, the largest DRTV company, Acorn, is already a $250 million + company

Unfortunately, in India, this entire vertical really doesn't exist in any meaningful way.

Though a few stalwarts like TVC Skyshop and a few other committed players like HomeShop18 and Telebrands and branches of international companies like Guthie Renker have made some meaningful inroads, the total market size is unlikely to be over Rs800 crore at most.