MAM
WPP Media: The ad industry continues to defy the doomsayers
MUMBAI The advertising world, it seems, refuses to read the room. Whilst economists fretted over trade wars and geopolitical chaos, the ad business simply cracked on. WPP Media’s This Year Next Year global end-of-year forecast reveals an industry in rude health: global advertising revenue will swell by 8.8 per cent in 2025 (excluding American political ads) to hit $1.14 trillion. Not bad for an industry supposedly on its last legs.
The momentum doesn’t stop there. WPP’s number-crunchers reckon 2026 will deliver 7.1 per cent growth, with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 6.3 per cent. Trade tariffs turned out less beastly than feared, whilst the AI investment boom has opened wallets across boardrooms. The industry’s prior dalliance with machine learning, it turns out, was excellent preparation for the current technological maelstrom.
Joseph Schumpeter would be having a field day. Streaming video continues its relentless march against linear television. Retail media pinches budget from traditional digital channels. AI-powered answer engines are starting to reshape how people search. And creator-driven content keeps displacing the professionally produced stuff, forcing a wholesale re-evaluation of what actually works.
The real story is commerce. WPP forecasts it will rake in $178.2 billion in global ad revenue this year—surpassing total television advertising for the first time. That’s a watershed moment. The United States dominates commerce advertising, projected to reach nearly $100 billion by 2030, with China following at roughly the same level. Britain, Japan, Germany and India trail considerably behind, each forecast to hit between $8 billion and $12 billion by decade’s end. The report warns that AI interfaces may soon cannibalise retail media revenue, forcing consolidation and demands for proof of value.
Content-driven advertising remains the heavyweight champion at $663.5 billion (58 per cent of global revenue), but the composition has shifted dramatically. The chart tells a brutal story of industrial decimation and digital triumph. In 2000, newspapers commanded roughly 37 per cent of content advertising share—by 2030, they’ll be a rounding error at barely 3 per cent. Television, which owned about 65 per cent of the pie in 2000, will tumble to roughly 30 per cent.
The winners? Social media and other digital platforms have surged from nothing to dominance, claiming the lion’s share by 2030. Audio (including podcasts and streaming) maintains a thin but steady slice around 10 per cent. Magazines, which held 5.75 per cent in 2019, have virtually vanished into the digital ether.
Gaming represents the fastest-growing content advertising channel, expanding 29.5 per cent to $8.5 billion in 2025, though it remains a mere 0.7 per cent of total ad revenue. Small today, explosive tomorrow—the trajectory suggests gaming could be the sleeper hit of the next decade.
Newspapers are clinging on at $31.4 billion in 2025 before a projected decline—a brief stay of execution before the final curtain. Digital out-of-home advertising is forecast to represent 43.9 per cent of total OOH revenue by 2030, reaching $31.4 billion and effectively achieving parity with traditional billboards and posters. Even the streets are going digital.
America remains the undisputed king, commanding $431.2 billion in 2025 ad revenue (12.5 per cent growth). China sits at number two with $216 billion (6.8 per cent growth). Britain punches above its weight at third place with $58.4 billion (8 per cent growth), ahead of economic heavyweight Japan at $51.9 billion. The regional breakdown shows North America gobbling up 39.8 per cent of global advertising, APAC claiming 31.5 per cent, Europe taking 22.2 per cent, Latin America managing just 4.7 per cent, and the Middle East and Africa scraping by with 1.9 per cent.
Brazil is the standout performer, notching 16.1 per cent growth to reach $26.8 billion—the highest growth rate amongst the top 15 markets. India follows with respectable 9.2 per cent growth to $20.7 billion. At the other end, Italy limps along with just 2.9 per cent growth to $15.9 billion.
MAM
Brands push beyond compliance as trust takes centre stage
ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026 spotlights shift from legal checks to credibility.
MUMBAI: In a world where a disclaimer can be legally sound yet socially suspect, brands are learning that compliance may tick boxes but trust wins markets. At the inaugural ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026, a panel on “Beyond Compliance: The New Currency of Trust” unpacked a growing industry reality: the gap between what the law permits and what consumers accept is widening and fast.
Moderated by Meenakshi Ramkumar of National Law School of India University, the discussion brought together leaders across law, marketing and academia to examine how brands must evolve in a digital ecosystem increasingly shaped by scrutiny, scepticism and speed.
Ramkumar set the tone by highlighting a critical shift, advertising today operates in the same digital space that fuels misinformation, scams and fake news, making credibility harder to establish. “The challenge is not just about what brands do, but the broader context of low institutional trust,” she noted, adding that when violations go unchecked, trust erodes not just in brands but in the regulatory system itself.
This vacuum, she said, has given rise to consumer activism from boycotts to social media backlash as a parallel accountability mechanism.
For Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer at Marico, the distinction was clear, legal compliance is non negotiable, but insufficient. “Compliance is the minimum threshold. The real challenge is staying aligned with changing consumer expectations,” he said.
He pointed to how advertising narratives have evolved from traditional depictions of gender roles to more shared responsibilities reflecting a broader societal shift. “Earlier, it was fine to show one person doing the household work. Today, that may not land well. Consumers expect brands to reflect reality,” Bhasin observed.
He also highlighted internal debates where campaigns that may be legally permissible are still rejected for being culturally insensitive, noting that responsible advertising often requires asking uncomfortable questions before the public does.
If compliance is the baseline, reputation is the battlefield.
Bhasin noted that reputational risk has become a far greater concern than legal exposure, particularly in an era where campaigns can be dissected within hours online. “Earlier, a controversial ad might invite a newspaper editorial. Today, within hours, you’re at the centre of a storm,” he said.
Brands, he added, now evaluate campaigns through a dual lens legal viability and reputational vulnerability with the latter often proving more decisive.
From a healthcare perspective, Satish Sahoo of Cipla Health underscored the complexity of operating within fragmented yet stringent regulatory frameworks, spanning drugs, food, cosmetics and Ayush. “Anything under a drug licence is the most tightly regulated,” he said, adding that this necessitates proactive, not reactive, compliance.
He shared an example from the oral rehydration salts (ORS) category, where Cipla resisted the temptation to position products aggressively despite competitive pressure. “Our product is WHO compliant, and our communication reflects that. We chose not to blur the lines, even if others did,” he noted.
The long term payoff, he suggested, lies in credibility built over consistency, not quick wins.
Yet, as Harsha N of National Law School of India University pointed out, even perfect compliance does not guarantee trust. Drawing from historical and modern examples from exaggerated product claims in the 1800s to contemporary environmental and health advertising, he argued that legal frameworks often lag behind consumer expectations. “A brand can be fully compliant and still be perceived as misleading,” he said, citing instances where fine print disclosures fail to reach or convince the average consumer. He added that larger companies carry a disproportionate responsibility to set ethical benchmarks, even in areas where the law remains silent.
The conversation also turned to digital advertising, where the challenge extends beyond content to how ads are experienced. From algorithmic targeting to personalised messaging, brands now operate in an environment where regulation struggles to keep pace with technology.
Sahoo noted that social media has amplified awareness, with influencers and consumers increasingly scrutinising product claims and calling out inconsistencies. “Awareness has gone up dramatically. People are questioning what goes into products and what brands are saying,” he said.
The role of self regulatory bodies such as Advertising Standards Council of India also came under the spotlight.
Harsha acknowledged that while SROs play a crucial role, they are not immune to criticism, particularly around perceived conflicts of interest and enforcement gaps. “SROs have a higher threshold of responsibility not just to interpret the law, but to anticipate societal expectations,” he said.
He added that failures in self regulation often push the burden back onto government intervention, underscoring the need for stronger, more proactive oversight.
One of the more nuanced debates centred on whether building trust comes at a cost. While Sahoo acknowledged that quality and compliance can increase costs, he argued that companies must absorb them as part of their long term strategy.
Bhasin, however, framed the challenge differently not as cost, but as competitiveness in a market where not all players play by the same rules. “The real tension is when others cut corners and you choose not to,” he said.
The panel concluded with a call to embed trust into business metrics.
Sahoo suggested that organisations must go beyond revenue targets to include consumer equity and trust based KPIs, ensuring that ethical considerations are not sidelined in the pursuit of growth. “Trust sounds abstract, but it can translate into measurable consumer equity,” he said.
As the discussion wrapped up, one message stood out: the rules of advertising are being rewritten not just by regulators, but by consumers themselves. In an ecosystem where attention is fleeting and scepticism is high, brands that merely comply may survive, but those that build trust are the ones that endure.
