BARC is currently evaluating ISEC: Shashi Sinha

The Broadcast Audience Research Council is currently evaluating the new socio-economic classification system, Indian Socio Economic Classification, proposed by the Market Research Society of India (MRSI), Shashi Sinha, Chairperson of BARC, told e4m.

“We are evaluating the ISEC proposed by the MRSI. Soon, we will start consulting our stakeholders-broadcasters and advertisers. BARC can take the next step only after their feedback,” Sinha said in a guarded response.

BARC is a joint industry body founded by organizations that represent Indian broadcasters, advertisers and advertising & media agencies.

Sinha “personally” thinks that the ISEC is far superior, given the changing landscape of Indian households. “The ISEC will help advertisers target their audience with more precision. In terms of stability and discrimination among classes, the ISEC displays better discrimination compared to NCCS,” Sinha said.

Even if all stakeholders agree to the BARC proposal, the council will still take time to conduct a study in this regard and then form a new panel.

Notably, television media attracts close to Rs 35,000 crore of advertising money annually, which is nearly one third of India’s total ad spend.

What is ISEC?
The MRSI last week announced the adoption and implementation of its latest socio-economic classification system ISEC, which considers women’s education as a key definer of social capital.

This is entirely different from the current socio-economic classification NCCS that is based on ownership of consumer durables and vehicles. Almost 80 percent of Indians own these items now, hence, segregations between various economic classes are becoming increasingly difficult making the measurement system less relevant, industry experts say.

The ISEC has a non-intrusive approach. It features a 12-tier classification system, accessible to industry stakeholders, researchers, advertisers, and measurement bodies for household targeting.

The ISEC classifies households as the chief wage earner’s occupation, education of the highest educated male adult, and education of the highest educated female adult. In contrast, the NCCS only asks about the education of the chief wage earner and the number of consumer durable items available in households.

Socio-economic classification enables brands and agencies to understand their target audience’s behaviour and profiles and set price points. ISEC addresses this with classification using household education and occupation profiles. PitchonNet