India’s advertising investment in print is expected to be steady in 2020, according to the latest report by GroupM, the media investment group of WPP. Ad spend in print is likely to reach INR 18,140 crore this year as against INR 18,164 crore in 2019.
Overall, India will continue to top the list as the fastest growing major advertising market in the world in 2020. As per the GroupM futures report ‘This Year, Next Year’ (TYNY) 2020, India’s advertising investment is expected to reach an estimated INR 91,641 crores this year, representing an estimated growth of 10.7% for the calendar year 2020.
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 will be the eighth fastest-growing country with respect to total ad spends across the globe, the report stated.
Even with an overall slowdown in the global economy, Indian media spends are expected to be between low and moderate in H1, with robust growth anticipated in H2 2020.
Television will continue as the most used media vehicle but digital is all set to close the gap. Digital secures number two position and is estimated to reach 30% of ad spend in 2020 with growth coming from 3Vs (video, voice, vernacular-Indic) and advertising on eCommerce. It is estimated to take 65% of incremental ad spend in 2020. The growth of digital is set to rise owing to changing consumer habits, according to the report.
Commenting on the TYNY 2020 report, Prasanth Kumar, chief executive officer – GroupM South Asia said, “We expect the global adex to grow by 5.1%. The Indian media landscape is constantly evolving and will continue to witness the fastest growth of 10.7% to reach INR 91,641 crores. While we expect sustained and stable investment across media in India, digital will 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.”
Television will see INR 38,081 crore of ad spend this year compared to INR 35,458 crore last year. Digital will see INR 27,803 crore of ad spend versus INR 22,057 crore last year. Print remains in the third place.
Sidharth Parashar, president – Investments and Pricing of GroupM India, said that the format of print storytelling is changing but content is still the strongest.
“With print media organizations undergoing transformation across India, 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,” Parashar said.
