Advertisers in India in wait and watch mode on Musk’s Twitter takeover: Ad experts

As Elon Musk’s acquisition of the microblogging site Twitter creates an upheaval in the company with mass layoffs across markets, advertisers in India are in a wait and watch mode to see how the developments unfold even as, globally, big advertisers like General Mills, Audi and General Motors said they are suspending paid ads on the social media platform. 

Integrated marketing agency Gozoop’s co-founder and global CEO Ahmed Aftab Naqvi said many of the company’s clients are currently waiting it out to see how the company’s takeover shapes up.  

So far, he said, companies had been spending on Twitter during the festive season. Typically, companies spend in single digits of their total digital ad spends on Twitter while the majority of the money is spent on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) as well on Google. Most companies use Twitter for new products or campaign launches for tactical ads. 

“Currently, clients are a bit circumspect due to the changeover and may not want to have an aggressive advertising policy for the social media platform. There is a rise in consciousness and some brands are mindful of the new leadership,” said Naqvi. Twitter employees that advertising agencies like theirs deal with, have also been laid off, which has also caused a bit of a setback, Naqvi said. 

“Additionally, following Musk’s takeover, free speech may become even more free and companies that have a strong presence in terms of customer service on Twitter are also solidifying and reinforcing and staying prepared,” Naqvi added. Gozoop manages media for companies like Indian Hotels Company’s Taj Hotels as well as brands like Dell. 

Other advertising industry experts agreed that Twitter does have a place in the marketing mix for companies. “It may not be a Google or a Meta which are far more ‘advertisable’ but it does play a role. “Not much has changed from our perspective. Plus we don’t look at Twitter as a performance medium in any case. A lot of organic interactions that brands have with consumers do happen on the medium and will continue to. There is no major change as such but from a creative standpoint,” said Ashit Chakravarty, managing partner at Dentsu WebChutney, a digital agency that provides web design, promotion and marketing services. From the point of view of finding sub-cultures or pop-culture and content trends, Twitter and Reddit do and will continue to play a role, he added.  

Advertising industry veteran Sandeep Goyal said layoffs, ruthless or painless, don’t impact advertisers. Twitter is a new-gen medium with tremendous outreach and impact. Its ‘breaking news’ capability has far-reaching consequences. “Musk or no Musk, Twitter is here to stay. He is creating waves with his take-over and enjoying every minute of it. His in-the-face showmanship naturally has its downsides. But the dust will settle down soon enough. Indian clients have shown no adverse reaction to his arrival at Twitter. On whether to advertise or not, there seems no major activity on that front,” said Goyal, managing director of Rediffusion Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd.  

Though he cautioned that some ‘woke’ brands will use this opportunity to showcase their own brand philosophy but at a broader level not everyone is really concerned with who owns Twitter as long as media goals are met. 

Yet others find Twitter expensive. “While Twitter does have the reach and ad product, it seems expensive at the moment for small and medium sized business owners to leverage it. If Instagram and Meta can make a model for every type of business owner, why has Twitter waited all these years to do the same,” said Avijit Arya, founder of agency Internet Moguls.