Advt spend to rise 23.2% this year: Report

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 18

After witnessing a decline of 21.5% in advertising spends in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, the Indian advertising spends will make a strong comeback in 2021 (calendar year) with investment likely to reach Rs 80,123 crore, a growth of 23.2% over 2020, as per the GroupM futures report ‘This Year, Next Year’ (TYNY) 2021.

According to the report, the most-preferred medium for advertising spend, television is projected to grow at 18% in 2021 to touch Rs 35,914 crore. In 2020, it declined by 14% to Rs 30,436 crore. Further, digital advertising is expected to grow at 28% to reach Rs 27,700 crore.

The report states that 2020 was the worst year for print, audio, outdoor and cinema. The print, which was the third-largest media for advertisement, had de-grown by 43% to Rs 10,350 crore. It is expected to recover in 2021 with a projected growth of 23%, resulting in ad spends of Rs 12,731 crore.

Similarly, after a 73% drop in 2020, outdoor media is expected to grow at 69% to touch Rs 1,570 crore. Audio advertising is slated to increase by 17% at Rs 1,687 crore. Cinema advertising is also expected to rebound in 2021 with 197% growth after witnessing 83% decline in 2020. The total ad spends on cinema is expected to touch Rs 520 crore.

Commenting on report, Prasanth Kumar, CEO-GroupM SouthAsia said, “In 2020, the pandemic impacted across sectors and it, therefore, affected the media investments too. The advertisement industry too had its challenges and 2020 witnessed a steep drop in the overall media investments. However, we have witnessed a month-on-month upturn in the industry starting Q3 last year and we are quite optimistic about the revival that 2021 will see.”