Indian ad spends estimated to grow at 10.7% in 2020: GroupM's report

GroupM, the media investment group of WPP, have announced their advertising expenditure (adex) forecasts for 2020. As per the GroupM futures report 'This Year, Next Year' (TYNY) 2020, India will continue to top the list as the fastest-growing major ad market in the world.

TYNY forecasts India's advertising investment to reach an estimated INR 91,641 crores this year. This represents an estimated growth of 10.7 per cent for the calendar year 2020.

According to the report, India will continue to be the third-highest contributor to the incremental ad spends, only behind UK and USA, while China drops to the fourth spot. India is also the eighth fastest-growing country with respect to ad spends across the globe.

Commenting on the TYNY report, Prasanth Kumar, chief executive officer – GroupM South Asia said, “We expect the global adex to grow by 5.1 per cent. The Indian media landscape is constantly evolving, will continue to witness the fastest growth of 10.7 per cent to reach Rs 91,641 crores. While we expect sustained and stable investment across media in India, Digital to garner 65% of incremental ad spends in 2020. In 2020, India faces challenges and uncertainties across sectors just like other markets. However, this also brings opportunities for brands to innovate because of which we see an evolving media stack. This will be propelled by greater use of technology and better content across media.”

Digital secures number two position as the most used media vehicle and is estimated to reach 30 per cent of ad spend in 2020 with growth coming from 3Vs (video, voice, vernacular-Indic) and advertising on e-commerce. The growth of digital is set to soar high because of changing consumer habits.

Tushar Vyas, president growth and transformation - GroupM South Asia says, “There are multiple advancements happening in technology which is transforming digital advertising and other mediums. India being a diverse country, digital will keep growing, especially with the rise of content platforms and its availability in multiple languages powered by the growth of 3Vs. From a predominantly ‘at home’, ‘urban’, ‘English print’ & ‘TV’ consuming market, the Indian media consumer evolved to include ‘on the move’, ‘rural’ & ‘regional’ counterparts, experimented with digital media in the early 2010s’, adopted social media in middle of the decade and started consuming digital videos voraciously after 2016.”

Even with an overall slowdown in the global economy Indian media spends are expected to be between low to moderate in H1, with robust growth anticipated in H2 2020. Sidharth Parashar, president - investments and pricing of GroupM India, “The format of print storytelling is changing but the content is still the strongest. With print media organizations undergoing transformation across India."

He adds, "Publication houses have invested heavily in promoting digital subscriptions and have started limiting access to digital versions of epapers. We believe that this would pave the way for newer business models. Print will continue to remain relevant to advertisers wanting to build credible brands. Television will continue to grow at a steady pace. This year, the growth rate for TV is estimated to be 7% and Radio is expected to grow at 6%. While cinema and OOH will grow at 15% and 6% respectively in 2020.”

OTT has seen a faster evolution in India, which is now complementing television. OTT hybrid models looking at both advertising and subscription will continue to be an effective model.

Ashwin Padmanabhan, President – Partnerships and Trading of GroupM India, “While there are challenges and uncertainties in the market, it is a world of abundant opportunities in the content eco-system. This gives us vibrant options to reach and engage with consumers. It necessitates us to be agile, invest in new-age talent and technology while keeping an eye on the future. The key is to be always prepared while we are shaping the media landscape.”

GroupM also shared some of the top watch-outs that will shape the Indian consumer & therefore industry in the coming decade. The trends presented were around emerging technology, behavioural changes, data, etc, that put the consumer at the centre and emphasize digital driving the change across all formats of media.

Check the trends here:

Trends 2020.pdf

Check out the report and key highlights here:

GroupM TYNY 2020 Media Handout in INR.pdf