Ad spends set to hit 4-year high on polls, World Cup

NEW DELHI: Groupm, the media investment group of WPP Plc, expects I ndian advertising spending to grow 14% to ₹80,678 crore in 2019, the fastest pace in four years, driven by the cricket World Cup and national elections.

Consumer goods, auto, retail, e-commerce and technology, telecom are expected to account for 66% to the overall advertising expenditure (adex) this year, Groupm said on Tuesday.

India is the fastest growing ad market in the world and the third highest contributor to incremental ad spending, trail- ing behind China and the United States, the report said.

“While we are estimating the global advertising expenditure to grow at 3.6%, India would be witnessing the fastest growth at 14%. We expect sustained and stable media investment growth across categories in India,” said Sam Singh, chief executive, Groupm South Asia.

In 2019, 37% of incremental ad spending will go towards digital. Groupm estimated the digital adex will grow by 30% to reach ₹16,038 crore this year.

Meanwhile, television will continue to grow at a steady pace of 15% while radio is predicted to grow faster than the previous year’s 15%.

Print is estimated to grow by 2.2% and the share of print to all media is expected to be at 23%. While it is expected that both English and regional languages will grow, regional will see faster growth.

Cinema advertising growth is expected at 25% in 2019, as 2018 saw more titles winning audiences at the box office.

“India is unique among key markets and will witness growth in all media segments and not just digital. Offline media is poised to continue to grow and will contribute to being around 80% of ad spends in 2019,” said Prasanth Kumar, chief operating officer at Groupm South Asia.