MAM
Industry sees higher growth than GroupM’s 12.6 per cent estimate
MUMBAI: “Acche din aa gaye hai,” said GroupM south east Asia CEO CVL Srinivas while unveiling the agency’s ‘This Year, Next Year 2015’ annual report.
As per the report, India’s advertising investment is expected to reach an estimated Rs 48,977 crore in 2015, up 12.6 per cent from last year with digital leading the pack with 37 per cent growth and television following at 16 per cent.
Last year, the growth of 12.5 per cent was attributed to the heavy ad spending due to the general and state elections and industry categories like e-commerce and telecom. Keeping the same positive attitude, the agency feels that 2015 will also move upwards.
Agreeing with it, the industry believes that with the economy going up in a positive manner, the numbers could even go higher.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Parle Products marketing general manager Praveen Kulkarni says, “ARPU (average revenue per user) is going to be better this year and ad spends will increase further.”
According to him, various initiatives taken by the government will bear fruits in the coming months. “2015-2016 will see a positive turnaround in the economy and the overall AdEx can grow up to 15 per cent,” he adds.
Voicing the same sentiments, HDFC Life marketing, product, digital and e-commerce senior executive vice president Sanjay Tripathy, sees an upward trend across all media. “The gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 6.9 per cent in 2013-14, and if it continues to grow, then AdEx is bound to increase as well. I see it going even beyond 12.6 per cent and as for digital, it can go up to 40 per cent,” he states.
However, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi India CEO and managing partner Anil Nair is a little conservative about the numbers. “Digital has various buckets from where the revenue comes in. Apart from media, there are other digital assets like apps as well. I don’t think we can put a number on the growth as I feel the industry will take at least one more year or so to touch a 37 per cent growth number,” he says, as he believes that numbers could increase for categories like retail but one cannot generalise.
“Definitely, the medium is growing faster than the rest but I would still peg it a little lower,” Nair adds.
As for the television, with new channels being launched by networks as well as investment in the digital platform and the ICC World Cup followed by the Indian Premiere League (IPL), the medium is moving forward.
Stating the example of recently announced yet-to-launch &TV, ZEEL chief sales officer Ashish Sehgal believes that with new channels comes added inventory. “World Cup and IPL will obviously help the channels as well as digital mediums. And as and when Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) releases its data, the advertising spend on television will see an upward trend as well,” he says.
However, Sehgal is a little cautious as well and believes that the numbers will be more close to reality when the next financial year begins in April.
The out-of-home (OOH) sector will see a drop this year as the agency estimates it to grow only by four per cent. Milestone Brandcom (part of Dentsu Aegis Group) MD and CEO Nabendu Bhattacharyya adds, “I guess GroupM has based the report on last year’s general elections but I believe that the sector will continue to grow by 10 per cent as the economy is stable. With e-commerce investing heavily on the medium and support of real estate and jewellery brand as well as infrastructure growing across cities and towns in the country, the medium has nothing to fear.”
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.
