India's 2018 advertisement spending to grow 12.5%: Dentsu Aegis Network

Dentsu Aegis Network, one of the country's top media agencies, believes advertising expenditure in India this year will grow 12.5 per cent, up from 9.6 per cent in 2017.

The figure is an improvement over its earlier 2018 forecast, when the agency said ad spending would grow 12.2 per cent.

GroupM and Magna have also projected a revival in Indian ad spending. GroupM, the world's largest media agency network, had said in a forecast last month that India would be among six countries driving up ad spending in 2018. Magna, media intelligence unit of IPG Mediabrands, forecast growth of 12.2 per cent this year. Magna had also said that India's ad market would be Rs 1 trillion in size by 2022, thanks to consistent annual growth in advertising expenditure of 12.2 per cent over the next five years.

Dentsu's latest forecast sees the economy stabilising after introduction of the Goods & Services Tax last July. Digital media spending as a whole would increase 30 per cent in 2018, the agency said, with 43.6 per cent growth seen in advertising on mobile telephones. The contribution of mobiles within overall digital spending as a result would be 47 per cent, said Kartik Iyer, president, media brands and amplifi at Dentsu.

Iyer also said the Indian advertising market would maintain a 12.5 per cent growth rate in 2019.

"A key driver of growth would be the government's fiscal policies, expected to be pro-consumption and supporting rural and middle income groups. An improvement in availability of high-speed networks at a lower cost would have a huge impact on the efficiency of digital media, supporting growth. Marketers need to be prepared and harness these changes," Iyer said.

India's 12.5 growth rate for 2018 would also be the highest in the world, said Dentsu. Russia and Latin America would come second and third, respectively. While Russia's is forecast at 10.4 per cent, Latin America's would be 8.8 per cent, the agency said.