India advertising sector set to recover to pre-COVID levels by 2020: Report

The Indian advertising market will recover to pre-COVID levels by 2022, growing at 12.4%, says a report from advertising firm Dentsu. The recovery will be led by television and digital, versus print, cinema, outdoor and radio platforms. The report noted that share of digital advertising has grown rapidly from 20% in 2019 to 29.4% in 2021. It’s expected to reach 32.7% by 2022-end.

With focus on Asia Pacific (APAC), the report says ad spend in the region will rise past pre-pandemic levels sooner than previously predicted. “Australia and India are forecasting particularly high growth rates in 2021. However, China is expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels of ad spends this year.” The APAC is projected to grow by 8.0% to touch $229 billion in 2021.

However, this growth is slower when compared with the global ad spends which are expected to grow at 10.4% to touch $634 billion. India is the fifth fastest-growing ad market globally in 2021 after Canada, the US, Australia and the United Kingdom. It highlighted that after a steep 12.9% decline in 2020, advertising spend in India is forecast to grow at 10.8% in 2021 to reach $9 billion. Television continues to be the most popular media in India, with a leading 40.9% share of spend that shows resilience despite the pandemic and a 7.7% growth compared to 2020 spending.

Ashish Bhasin, CEO APAC, Dentsu International, said India is expected to see a resurgence in digital advertising spend though TV is still the main contributor with a 40.9% share. The report suggested that the pandemic-induced decline in advertising spend during 2020 has proved less severe than anticipated in APAC. The 6.2% rise in digital spend in 2020 is forecast to grow by 12.8% in 2021 to reach $124.5 billion, representing a 54% of total ad spend in the region.

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Last month, a consultancy firm Media Partners Asia, stated that overall, TV advertising is expected to rebound in 2021, growing 4.6% year-on-year, before secular decline sets in again in 2023. It said the medium remains important in key markets where it retains its position as the largest ad segment as of end-2020, including India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.

It said India saw advertising take a hit in 2020, Media Partners Asia calculates a 27% drop, but may rebound strongly over the period to 2025. The consultancy forecasts an annualized 13% growth, driven by India’s increasing embrace of digital, which is focused on online gaming, edu-tech, food and delivery platforms. Media Partners Asia predicts 2024 as the year in which digital will overtake television to become the largest advertising segment in India.