2018 advertising expenditure growth at 12%: Pitch Madison

One of the most anticipated advertising expenditure (adex) reports, namely, the Pitch Madison report, has been released on Thursday, with ad spends forecast to grow at 12.03 per cent in 2018. This is 463 basis points higher than the ad spend growth seen last year, the report said. Last year, adex growth stood at 7.4 per cent, the lowest in five years.

In terms of size, India’s advertising market, said the report, would touch ~595.30 billion in 2018 versus ~531.38 billion in 2017. Media such as digital, cinema and television would be key contributors to adex growth this year at 25 per cent, 14 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively.

Sam Balsara, founder, chairman and managing director, Madison World, said contributors to 2018 adex growth would be improved consumer spending, trade and market forces stabilising post introduction of the goods and services tax, and higher economic activity, which would propel companies to spend more on brand-building.

While 2018 will also be a year of key state elections, the report predicts only a five per cent growth for print, adding that regional publications would drive ad spends in the sector.

“Print adex grew only 2.7 per cent in 2017, but will improve to 5 per cent this year,” Balsara said. “It will continue to be the second highest contributor to the overall ad market after TV, though its share is projected to come down from 35 per cent in 2017 to 32.9 per cent in 2018,” he said.

Television, on the other hand, will see share grow marginally from 36.98 per cent in 2017 to 37.3 per cent in 2018, while digital will grow from 17.5 per cent (in 2017) to 19.5 per cent this year.