Despite the impact of the second wave of the pandemic, the total advertising expenditure (AdEx) registered 37% growth in 2021 to reach almost Rs. 74,000 crore, Rs 20,000 crore higher than 2020, and over Rs 6,500 crore higher than 2019. Keeping the growth momentum, AdEx is expected to grow by 20% to reach close to Rs 90,000 crore, according to The Pitch Madison Advertising Report, 2021. With a growth rate of 20%, going by WARC estimate India will continue to be the fastest-growing advertising market in the world, followed by Russia at 14%, the USA at 13%, and China at 11%, the report added.
As per the report, traditional media is expected to grow at 15%, while digital is expected to grow at twice that rate, at 30%. In the traditional media segment, TV has already crossed the figures of the pre-pandemic year 2019. However, print, radio, cinema or outdoor is not expected to cross the 2019 level even in 2022, the report forecasts. Despite being the only traditional medium that crossed its 2019 figure in 2021, TV will not be able to retain its leadership position in the overall AdEx as digital is expected to overtake in 2022. TV will account for a 36% share of AdEx in 2022, occupying the second position.
Increased number of matches in IPL and other major cricketing tournaments, the emergence of new categories and new advertisers, organic growth in FMCG are some of the key factors that will contribute to TV AdEx growth rate. Moreover, advertisers in OTT, fintech, edtech, bitcoins, mobile gaming and varied e-commerce categories are expected to rise and continue their bullish spend on TV.
With the continuously increasing penetration of digital in India, the medium is estimated to grow by almost Rs 8,000 crores to Rs 33,070 crore. With a 37% share of overall AdEx, digital is projected to become the largest medium in Indian Adex in 2022, the report added.
Print AdEx is likely to register 13% growth in 2022 to almost Rs 18,750 crore and occupy a share of 21% down by one percent share point compared to 2020 and 2021. But after a substantial de-growth in 2020, a growth of 13% will still be short by Rs. 1,300 crore as compared to pre-Covid levels. The surge in print AdEx is likely to be driven by categories such as real estate, education, mobile apps, crypto currencies, online shopping, media or OTT and edtech. State election campaigns including advertorials are also likely to fuel growth in print AdEx, the report added.
While Radio AdEx witnessed some amount of recovery during the festive season, the recovery is expected to continue in 2022. The medium is likely to grow by 10% in 2022 taking the total Radio Adex to Rs. 1,900 crore, maintaining its share of two percent for the third consecutive year.
On the other hand, outdoor is expected to grow by 36% in 2022, taking the total outdoor advertising market close to Rs 3,000 crore, occupying a share of just three percent of overall AdEx. However, OOH AdEx is still expected to be lower than its pre-Covid levels by Rs 550 crores.
With markets slowly opening up across India, Cinema advertising revenue is also expected to see a revival in the coming months. In 2022, cinema is expected to grow to almost thrice of the year 2021 to become a Rs 500 crore advertising market. The cinema share of AdEx will be a minuscule 0.56% in 2022, the report mentioned.
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