MAM
Appliance advertising to exceed pre-pandemic level by 24% in 2023: Zenith report
Mumbai: Forced to spend more time at home, consumers are investing in making their homes more pleasant to live in, fuelling rapid growth in demand for both large and small appliances, particularly cookers, washing machines, dishwashers, and air conditioning units, as per Zenith report. Zenith forecasts six per cent annual growth in home appliance ad spend in 2022 and 2023 in 12 key markets, including India, predicting that home-appliance advertising will grow ahead of advertising as a whole in 2021, expanding by 12.6 per cent while total advertising grows by 11.5 per cent.
According to the report, digital advertising accounted for 55 per cent of home-appliance ad spend in 2020, up from 51 per cent in 2019 with brand building and e-commerce expected to further drive 10 per cent annual growth in digital ad spend. According to Euromonitor International, e-commerce rose from 23 per cent of home-appliance retail sales in 2019 to 32 per cent in 2020, compared to 16 per cent of the market as a whole in 2019, and 21 per cent in 2020.
Zenith expects home-appliance brands to continue to invest in e-commerce over the next few years, driving 10 per cent annual average growth in their digital ad spend between 2020 and 2023. Digital advertising will rise from 55 per cent to 57 per cent of their ad budgets over this time.
The strongest growth in home-appliance advertising was observed in India and Russia as consumers make more first-time purchases. Zenith forecasts it will grow at an average rate of 18 per cent a year between 2020 and 2023 in India. The rapid growth will be in part a reaction to its decline in 2020, which was much steeper than average, with spending down 15 per cent in India. But growth should remain strong after a swift recovery in 2021, as rising personal incomes allow households to buy new types of appliances for the first time.
Over the past few years and especially during the pandemic, home appliances in India have witnessed substantial growth, said Zenith India CEO Jai Lala. “Consumer sentiments are changing towards the category – from being a luxury item to now as a need-based one. An increase in spends will be towards digital followed by TV and print amongst other mediums,” he added.
Television is still a vital channel for home-appliance brand-building, supplemented by out-of-home, as per the report. Home-appliance brands spend substantially more on these media than the average brand: in 2020 they spent 29 per cent of their budgets on television advertising, compared to an average of 24 per cent, and 7 per cent on out-of-home, compared to four per cent. Zenith forecasts out-of-home expenditure by home-appliance brands to grow eight per cent a year between 2020 and 2023. Television, suffering from the continued migration of audiences to digital channels, will lag behind slightly, with growth averaging six per cent a year.
Zenith predicts that advertising expenditure by home-appliance brands will rise from $4.4 billion in 2020 to $ five billion in 2021, well ahead of the $4.5 billion spent before the pandemic in 2019. By 2023, ad spend will reach US$5.6 billion. Despite the easing of coronavirus restrictions, Zenith expects consumers will continue to devote more of their time and budgets to the home than they did before the pandemic.
“In most markets, the increased appetite for home improvement is incentivising home-appliance brands to step up their communications activities substantially,” said Zenith head of forecasting Jonathan Barnard. “Most of this growth is going to digital channels to support increased e-commerce activity, but traditional media like television and out-of-home will remain essential tools for maintaining mass brand awareness.”
Digital advertising will become even more important to home-appliance brands over the next few years as they continue to embrace e-commerce, as per the study. Home-appliance brands were already well ahead of the market in adopting e-commerce before 2020, but the pandemic led to a step-change in home-appliance e-commerce. It is essential both for brand building – mainly using online video, native advertising, and social media – and performance, using paid search.
“Faced with rising interest in the purchase, the increased role of digital in the mid-to-lower funnel, and a greater focus on delivering direct-to-consumer experiences, appliance brands have never operated in a more demanding and complex marketplace,” said Zenith global strategy lead Drew Erskine. “Successfully building brands for the long term will require agile strategies that find the balance between cultivating desire through broad communications and converting interest, often digitally, in more relevant ways.”
The 12 markets included in the report are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, and the US, which between them account for 74 per cent of total global ad spend. The report covers large and small home appliances, including air conditioners, dishwashers, fridges and freezers, heaters, kitchen appliances, ovens, personal care appliances, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines.
Brands
Wipro hires 7,500 freshers, withholds FY27 hiring outlook
Profit rises to Rs 3,522 crore, Rs 15,000 crore buyback announced.
MUMBAI- Hiring may be on, but visibility is off, Wipro is adding talent even as it pauses the crystal ball. The company hired 7,500 freshers in FY26 but stopped short of offering any hiring outlook for FY27, underscoring the uncertainty gripping the IT services sector as it pivots towards an AI-led operating model.
The disclosure came alongside its fourth-quarter earnings, where management flagged volatile demand conditions and refrained from committing to future workforce expansion. Chief human resources officer Saurabh Govil noted that over 3,000 of the total hires were onboarded in the March quarter alone, signalling continued intake despite a lack of clarity on deployment pipelines.
This divergence active hiring without forward guidance reflects a broader industry pattern where talent acquisition continues even as deal conversions remain uneven and client spending cycles stretch. Wipro expects its IT services revenue for the June quarter to range between a decline of 2 per cent and flat growth sequentially in constant currency terms, reinforcing near-term caution.
Chief executive officer Srini Pallia pointed to artificial intelligence as both a disruptor and an opportunity. He said evolving client priorities are pushing the company towards outcome-driven engagements, with Wipro increasingly focusing on a services-as-software model through its AI Native Business and Platforms unit. The shift marks a structural change from traditional headcount-led growth to AI-enabled delivery frameworks.
The company has already committed over $1 billion to its AI ecosystem, with investors closely watching how these investments translate into revenue. For now, the numbers present a mixed picture. Net profit rose sequentially to Rs 3,522 crore, while revenue grew 3 per cent to Rs 24,236 crore. However, core IT services performance remained under pressure, with full-year revenue declining 0.3 per cent in dollar terms and 1.6 per cent in constant currency.
Large deal bookings offered a counterpoint, rising 45.4 per cent year-on-year to $7.8 billion, highlighting a widening gap between deal wins and actual revenue realisation. On a quarterly basis, IT services revenue slipped 1.2 per cent sequentially, signalling continued softness in execution.
Margins, however, told a more optimistic story. Operating margins expanded to 17.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, up from 14.8 per cent in the previous quarter, reflecting improved cost discipline. That said, the company cautioned that upcoming wage hikes and the ramp-up of large deals could exert pressure going forward.
Attrition stood at 13.8 per cent in the March quarter, indicating stabilisation after periods of elevated churn. Alongside its earnings, Wipro also announced a Rs 15,000 crore share buyback, reinforcing its focus on shareholder returns, with a payout ratio of 88 per cent over the past three years.
Taken together, the numbers capture a company in transition investing in AI, maintaining hiring momentum, but navigating a demand environment where growth is uneven and visibility remains limited.
