The advertising expenditure (adex) growth rate has been projected at 11-15% this year by GroupM, Dentsu and IPG Mediabrands – three of the country’s top media agencies. This projection comes at a time when the global advertising growth rate is seen muted at 4-6% amid slowdown and geopolitical concerns.
India is also likely to top the Rs1-trillion mark in terms of ad spends for the second year in a row, led by digital, television and print advertising. It will also emerge amongst the fastest-growing ad markets in the world, standing eighth overall from ninth position earlier.
Factors such as advertising around the general and state elections (eight states will go to the polls this year) coupled with a likely resurgence in sectors such as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) are expected to aid adex growth in 2024, the media agencies said.
“Despite the current worldwide geopolitical instabilities and economic outlook, major political and sporting events in 2024 in key markets (such as the UK, South Africa, the US, Mexico, India and Indonesia) will create positive growth in ad spend,” said Will Swayne, Dentsu’s global practice president of media.
“Globally, the ad revenue growth of traditional media owners is slowing. In India, however, linear as well as digital formats are growing, which are contributing to overall domestic advertising growth,” said Venkatesh S, senior vice-president and director, intelligence practice at Magna India, part of IPG Mediabrands.
The ad forecasts by the media agencies peg the Indian ad market at around Rs1.22-1.57 trillion in terms of size in 2024, up from Rs1.09 trillion in 2023.
Categories that are expected to drive advertising growth this year include FMCG, automotive, retail & e-commerce, media and entertainment, banking and finance, including fintechs, travel and real estate.
Dentsu says that digital advertising is now the primary driving force for the Indian ad market, taking an over 41% share of the domestic ad market. But TV advertising, it says, continues to be a key medium for brands in terms of driving visibility and reach. Print remains a stable medium from advertising perspective.
“Advertisers, even those enlisting the expertise of agencies, are drawing on deeper and often more direct relationships with their customers. This is especially true of the automotive, media and entertainment sectors, disintermediating customer marketing and allowing for more personalised messaging,” GroupM said of the advertising trends emerging in 2024.
GroupM also projects how artificial intelligence will permeate the world of advertising this year. The agency sees AI affecting every aspect of business, including marketing communications which could turn to AI to drive more bang for the advertising buck.
“Just as every business is now a ‘digital’ company, the same will soon be true of AI—especially in the world of advertising. AI will spread through products, services and operations at all companies, including ad agencies. While early benefits will accrue primarily to technology providers developing large language models, users will also see their operations undergo a change,” GroupM said.
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