The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) on Thursday said it has reached out to the government, seeking relief amid the covid-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown which has disrupted businesses.
Ashish Bhasin, president of AAAI, has sent a detailed set of recommendations on behalf of the members of the association, to the Union minister of information & broadcasting Prakash Javadekar stressing the importance of advertising industry for accelerated revival of the economy.
The advertising agency business, like many other businesses, has taken a hit because of the virus outbreak. The bulk of an agency’s costs are fixed in nature like salaries, rent, electricity, communication, upkeep, media audience measurement reports etc. The income and cash flow has been in serious stress in the last month and unless there is some intervention, many businesses will either file for bankruptcy or will have to undersize considerably.
INS and IBF, the associations representing the interest of print and TV media respectively, have permitted AAAI members to pay monies they have collected from their clients and not insist on what is due to them. But agency business may not be able to continue for long without the help of the government.
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