MAM
Limited workforce in office, copy fatigue: Immediate challenges facing ad industry
NEW DELHI: The past two months have been nothing short of a rollercoaster for industries across categories and nationalities. With most of the world under a strict lockdown, production halted, supply-chains blocked, and consumer demand shifting to only essentials, the economy went through a whirlwind of issues. Also greatly impacted was the marketing and advertising industry, as a result of the dwindling cash liquidity and many brands going silent in the time of crisis.
However, things seem to be moving towards the better now. Lockdown restrictions have been eased greatly, green zones are already attracting consumers, and there is a lot of supposed pent-up demand to address. As brands start moving and earning, a lot of benefits will slowly be transferred to the advertising industry.
Wunderman Thompson South Asia chairman and group CEO Tarun Rai said, “While the crisis in India is still far from over, the relaxation is a sign of hope. It is also a reflection on the strikingly varied impact the crisis has had on different regions of the country. While there are still issues regarding both production and distribution, the clients I have spoken to are finding innovative ways of getting around them. For many categories, this is the time to dust off their marketing campaigns and start getting ready for the beginnings of positive consumer sentiment. Like the crisis came upon us suddenly the rebound may surprise us too. Marketers and brands should be ready.”
Dentsu One president Harjot Singh Narang added, “Investments in brand and marketing are sadly the first to go in a downturn but luckily come back really fast as soon as the businesses start seeing growth potential coming back. The relaxations are the first steps to inching back for now and so would be welcome by everyone. The real question would be how long before this inching ahead gathers some speed and opportunity to use brand and marketing as business drivers returns.”
There, however, are still some impending challenges that await the industry. Havas Group CEO Rana Barua argues that the next few months will be more testing. “There will be numerous challenges going forward; going back to work poses more challenges than working from home. We cannot jump the gun and start behaving as normal. We need to collectively behave and act responsibly which will ensure compliance while we are planning to go back to work, safety for all employees, managing both offices and also working from home, balancing client needs and expectations.”
Madison Media chief analytics officer Nagraj Krishnamurthy noted, “The industry is continuing to find it difficult to ensure supply chain continuity between the designated red, orange and green zones. Latest relaxation has eased the problem but not eliminated it. It will be at least a quarter before the last mile link to the consumer becomes operational pan India.”
Putting emphasis on the issues that the advertising industry will have to cater to, he added, “Usually, new copies are rolled out in the first quarter. However, this year, there are no new copies that are ready. Some clients are in a dilemma as to whether they can invest behind older copies. My suggestion to them is that they should unless the message is no more relevant. Analytics has proved that copy fatigue is a very rare phenomenon.”
“Secondly, the situation on the ground is not uniform across the country. Marketers are wondering whether they should go on mass media like television. If the campaign is to activate top-funnel metrics, they should advertise on TV. However, brands advertising to activate lower-funnel metrics like retail or auto can look at geo-targeted digital approaches.”
Rai highlighted that the safety and health of the agency’s employees are going to be of paramount importance. “We want to get back to our physical offices but want to be very sure that all the health protocols are in place. We are working effectively from home but getting back to work will give everyone a sense of normalcy. We will start slow, in one city first, with around 30 per cent of our staff and move forward from there. The other important aspect is going to be when video production is permitted. We are managing even now but it is difficult.”
Narang added, “Extended work from home, deeper thinking on brand relationships, strategies to navigate the months/full year of acute slowdown, strategies to tackle the adverse P&L impacts, and so many more immediate challenges face all of us in the industry. If change is the only constant then evolution and adaptation are the only necessities. Going ahead relaxations and new rules and ways will affect even more – how things change for the industry. However, the key will be to see how the industry and individual players in it evolve and adapt. In the next 18 months, leadership and thinking that enables pivoting to adapt to new realities will be the biggest need of this industry.”
MAM
India’s financial sector spent less on TV ads in 2025 but flooded the internet
Banks, insurers and lenders cut tv ads as digital jumps, LIC and Muthoot lead tv and Axis Bank tops online
MUMBAI: India’s banking, financial services and insurance sector, one of the most prolific advertisers in the country, delivered a split verdict on media in 2025. It spent less on television, held its nerve in print, turned up the volume on radio and deluged the internet with a ferocity that left every other medium looking pedestrian. The picture that emerges from TAM AdEx’s cross-media report for the BFSI sector is of an industry in transition, still wedded to the news bulletin but increasingly seduced by the algorithm.
Television: a retreat with caveats
TV ad volumes for the BFSI sector fell 16 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024, a sharp reversal after two years of consistent growth that had pushed volumes 16 per cent above 2021 levels by 2023 and a further 7 per cent higher by 2024. Within 2025 itself, the drop was concentrated in the middle of the year: the second and third quarters saw ad volumes slide 35 per cent each against the first quarter, with a partial recovery of 13 per cent in the fourth.
The retreat did not reshuffle the deck. Life insurance retained first place among TV categories with 19 per cent of ad volumes, mortgage loans held second with 16 per cent, and the top ten categories together accounted for 82 per cent of all BFSI television advertising. The dominance of news channels was equally pronounced: news claimed 68 per cent of ad volumes, general entertainment channels a distant 14 per cent and movies 12 per cent. Together, news and GEC captured 82 per cent of the sector’s television spend. News bulletins alone took 48 per cent of programme-genre volumes, with feature films second at 12 per cent. Prime time, between 6pm and 11pm, drew 34 per cent of ad volumes, followed by afternoon at 22 per cent and morning at 20 per cent. A full 82 per cent of all ads ran between 20 and 40 seconds.
Life Insurance Corporation of India was the sector’s biggest TV spender with 11 per cent of ad volumes. Muthoot Financial Enterprises came second with 9 per cent, followed by National Payments Corporation of India at 6 per cent, Tata AIG General Insurance at 5 per cent and State Bank of India at 5 per cent. The top ten advertisers together accounted for 51 per cent of total TV volumes. Three names were new to the top ten in 2025: Tata AIG General Insurance, IIFL Finance and Tata Capital. At brand level, Muthoot Finance Loan Against Gold led with 9 per cent share, Tata AIG Health Insurance entered the top ten for the first time, and the top ten brands together contributed 35 per cent of ad volumes.
Print: the long climb continues
Print told a different story. Ad space for the BFSI sector has grown every year since 2021, rising 16 per cent in 2022, 30 per cent in 2023, 51 per cent in 2024 and 64 per cent in 2025, all measured against a 2021 baseline. Within 2025, ad space was flat in the second quarter but surged 46 per cent in the third and 33 per cent in the fourth compared with the first. Life insurance led print categories with 21 per cent of ad space, followed by mutual funds and banking services and products at 13 per cent each, and corporate financial institutes at 11 per cent. The top ten categories together took 82 per cent of print ad space. LIC led print advertisers with 6 per cent share, and the top ten together covered just 19 per cent of ad space, a reflection of how fragmented print spending remains. Three new entrants joined the top ten in 2025, with Billion Brains Garage Ventures the only exclusive presence not seen in 2024’s list. In the top ten brands, LIC dominated with a 2 per cent share, while Nippon India Mutual Fund rose to third position from fourth in 2024. English accounted for 62 per cent of print ad space, Hindi for 20 per cent. Business and finance publications took 59 per cent of the genre split. The south zone led regional spending with 33 per cent of print ad space, Bangalore topping that zone, while New Delhi and Mumbai were the leading cities nationally.
Radio: louder than ever
Radio ad volumes for the BFSI sector have climbed steadily, rising 12 per cent above 2021 levels in 2023, 36 per cent in 2024 and 45 per cent in 2025. The quarterly pattern within 2025 was volatile: a sharp drop of 43 per cent in the second quarter and 42 per cent in the third, followed by a near-full recovery in the fourth. Life insurance led radio categories with 22 per cent of volumes, banking services and products second at 14 per cent and corporate NBFCs third at 11 per cent. LIC of India held its position as the leading radio advertiser with 20 per cent of ad volumes; the top ten radio advertisers together covered 69 per cent. Muthoot Financial Enterprises led radio brands with 10 per cent share, five of the top ten brands belonged to LIC alone, and SBI Mutual Fund made a remarkable leap to fifth position from 272nd in 2024. Evening and morning time-bands together captured 84 per cent of radio ad volumes, with evenings at 44 per cent and mornings at 40 per cent. Maharashtra was the leading state for radio BFSI advertising with 18 per cent share; Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for 43 per cent.
Digital: the five-times surge
If one number defines the 2025 BFSI advertising story, it is five. Digital ad impressions for the sector multiplied fivefold between 2021 and 2025, having already doubled in 2023 and doubled again in 2024 before the 2025 leap. Within the year, impressions dipped 19 per cent in the second quarter and 12 per cent in the third before recovering 8 per cent above the first quarter by the fourth. Banking services and products led digital categories with 27 per cent of impressions, life insurance and credit cards tied at 19 per cent each, and securities and sharebroking organisations fell from first place in 2024 to fourth in 2025. Axis Bank was the runaway leader among digital advertisers with 12 per cent of impressions, followed by ICICI Bank at 9 per cent, IDFC First Bank at 7 per cent and Kotak Mahindra Bank at 6 per cent. The top ten digital advertisers covered 59 per cent of impressions, and seven of them were new entrants compared with 2024, signalling rapid churn in the digital spending hierarchy. At brand level, Axis Bank led with 9 per cent, ICICI HPCL Super Saver Credit Card vaulted to third place from 921st in 2024, and six of the top ten digital brands were new to the list. Programmatic buying accounted for 91 per cent of all digital BFSI transactions; combined with ad networks, it captured 96 per cent.
The data from TAM AdEx paints the portrait of a sector that still believes in the power of the television news bulletin to sell insurance to the masses, but increasingly knows that the next generation of borrowers, investors and cardholders is scrolling, not watching. The race is now on to reach them before the algorithm serves up someone else’s loan offer first.
