MAM
O&M makes a clean sweep at the Abbies
MUMBAI: It came as no surprise to anyone in the audience when Ogilvy & Mather yet again dominated the 40th Annual Abby Awards. As O&M group president and national creative director Piyush Pandey went up on stage to bag the Creative Agency of the year award the team broke out into a dance.
But giving them good competition with drums and gongs and other musical instruments of dubious variety were the Grey Worldwide team who cheered every award and their team on stage noisily.
The final tally for O&M was 20 Golds, 47 Silvers and 2 Special Golds earning them 425 points, way ahead of distant second Grey Worldwide, who bagged 10 Golds and 22 Silvers, to settle at 186 points, followed by Everest, Bates and Brand David.
Notwithstanding the controversies that surrounded the Abby Awards; the event itself was an entertaining one – thanks to the histrionics of Kunal Vijaykar the host for the evening, Cyrus Sahukar as Semi Girebaal from MTV trying to find herself the perfect brand fit, Indipop group Euphoria, jazz and dance performances.
For one, many big agencies – JWT, Leo Burnett, McCann Erickson, Mudra, Lowe – amongst others, stayed away from the awards this year as well. The divide in the ad world owing to two industry bodies – the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Advertising Club Mumbai – continues even as excellent work goes without being showcased at the event.
But coming back to the Abbys… This year the awards announced a new category – Ambient Media for advertising on sidewalks, elevators, human billboards – and a new award, the Young Abby, sponsored by Cadbury, which invited entrants to create a film and print campaign for Cadbury Dairy Milk. The theme for the form was “the feeling is back”. Abhinav Sinha won the Young Abby award.
The winners in the ambient category included O&M with a Gold for Hutch Rangshankara Theatre Festival (Cubbon Park) and two Silvers for Hutch Rangshankara Theatre Festival (Caesar’s) and Independence Rock (Rock). Silvers in this category were also picked up by Grey Worldwide for their Mumbai Railway Police (One Rupee Idea) and Everest Brand Solutions for Support tent card.
Moving on to the other sets of awards, the fight was mainly between the Men in Black from O&M and the huge team in white tees from Grey Worldwide.
The Abby Awards this year received a total number of 3100 entries from India and the South Asia region comprising Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The awards in various categories are as follows:
In the print Food and Beverages category, the two Silvers were won by O&M for Cadbury Ulta Perk, while the gold was also won by O&M for Air Action Center Fresh-Onion. In the same category for film, the Gold was bagged by O&M for Protex Happydent – Dirty Harry.
In the Healthcare, Household Care, Toiletries and Cosmetics print category Grey Worldwide picked up three Silvers for Kiwi Shoe Polish and the other 2 Silvers went to O&M for Ranipal and Bates Enterprise for Benadryl-Congescity. The Gold in this category was bagged by O&M for Pond’s Age Miracle – Anti Ageing. In the film ad for this category Ramesh Deo Productions won the silver for Pepsodent Toothpaste Cheater Cock.
In the print category for Clothing, Footwear and Accessories, the Silver was bagged by Bates Enterprise for Killer Garden. The film ads saw the Silver being picked by MTV Networks for MTV Roadies Cargo Pants- Graveyard.
In the print category for Consumer Durables the silver was won by Grey Worldwide for Haier Widescreen Television -Romeo Montague. The Silver in the film category was awarded to O&M for Moto Flip and Euro RSCG India for Voltas AC-India ka Dil India ka AC. The Gold was won by MTV Networks for X-Box 360- Porok.
The print Homes, Décor, Leisure category saw 7 Silvers. O&M bagged 3 Silvers for Lafarge Cement, 3 for HotWheels and one for Apsara Colorama. O&M also won the Silver in the film ad for Playwin Online Lotteries
In the print Automotives and Accessories VGC bagged a Silver for Snap on Wheel Aligners- The Center Spread while O&M took home 2 Silvers for Tata Safari -Tata Safari Spender and Tata Safari Just How while O&M’s Tata Safari Slavery won the Gold in this category for print. The Silver for the film ad was taken home by Red Ice Films/ A Advertising for Thunder Bird.
The print category Silver for Financial Advertising was awarded to Alok Nanda & Co. Comm for Marico Corporate – One Out of while the Gold for the film ad in the same category went to SBI Life Video Game.
The print ad for Corporate or Organisational Advertising had Bates Asia bagging the Silver for Self with Save the Civet and O&M for Ogilvy India with Ogilvy on Digestion. The film ad Silver was picked up by Bank of India-Piggy.
In the print Retail Advertising category the Silvers went to O&M for The Reader’s Book Shop- Gandhi and Percept H for Ghetto Bar- Soccer while the Gold was won by O&M for The Reader’s Book Shop- Che
In the Business Products and Marketing of Services there were 7 Silvers bagged by O&M for Hutch Ringtone, Hutchison Telecom for Signature 1, Hutchison Telecom for Signature 3. O&M also bagged the Gold in this category for Hutchison Telecom Signature 2. Grey Worldwide took home 3 Silvers and a Gold for Visage Images and Universal Language Translator.
In the Travel and Hospitality category Grey Worldwide picked up 4 Silvers for TCI and Honeymoon Packages- 2 apiece and one silver went to Everest for the French Film Festival at Fun Cinemas. The Gold in this category was awarded to Grey for TCI- Taj.
In the print Public service category Everest bagged a silver for The Poona School & Home for blind Girls -Braille-Monroe while the other three Silvers were bagged by O&M for Hutch- Sanctuary Whale, Sanctuary Shark and IAPA -Mother-Son. There were five Golds in this category 4 of which were taken home by Grey Worldwide for their Times of India-Jaago Gujarat ads and O&M took home one gold for WWF-Space Courtesy.
In the Media print category, O&M bagged all three Silvers for Kolkatta TV – Kolkatta Taxi, Kettle, and Rickshaw ads. The film ad for the same category was bagged by O&M with a Silver for KBC-Kid, FCB Ulka’s Zee Cinema-Pyaar Ki Shuruvat and MTV Networks for VH1-If you were a song.
RADIO: The Radio FMCG Category saw Brand David pick up two Silvers for Himani Memo Plus and Himani Sanjeevan Dhara with Art of Leaving. The Gold was picked up by O&M for Lexi Pens. In the Consumer Durables, cateogory Brand David bagged the Gold for Nitco-Dirt Free. In the services category, the Silver was bagged by O&M for Star 7827-Manorama.The agency also picked up two Golds in this category for Children’s Little Theatre and Playwin Online Lotteries.
OUTDOORS: In the Outdoor FMCG category, the Silvers were bagged by O&M for Cadbury Ulta Perk and Bates Enterprise for Benadryl for Congescity. Grey Worldwide bagged the Gold for Kiwi Shoe Polish.
In the consumer durables category O&M picked up a Silver for Titan Watches and Grey Worldwide bagged a Silver for Haier Widescreen Television.
In the services category O&M took home two Silvers for Gold’s Gym and The Reader’s Book Shop- Mandela. The Gold in this category was shared by A for Adoor-Vertigo and Grey Worldwide for HoneyMoon Packages-Henna Hawai.
In the public service outdoors category the 5 silvers were shared between O&M which won 4 of them for Kathalaya- Rapunzel is back, WWF Space Courtesy, IAPA-Mother-Daughter and National Assoc for the Blind-Braille. Everest took home the Silver for The Poona School &Home for Blind Girls- Braille. The Gold in this category was picked up by Grey Worldwide for Times of India Jaago Gujarat.
DIRECT MAIL: In the direct mail Business and Consumer services OgilvyOne Worldwide won the silver for UTI Bank Meal Card while the Gold went to O&M for Childline 1098-Mask. The two other Silvers in this category were won by Everest for Cancer Patient Aids Association and Alzheimer’s -Society of India. In the product manufacturing and distribution, the Silver was bagged by India Hotel Company while the gold was bagged by O&M Bangalore for Lenovo the Floating Laptop.
PRINT CRAFT: In this category for art direction the 4 Silvers were shared between Bates (Karan Rawat), O&M (Amol Ghotkar) and GreyWorldwide( Payal Jhutani) bagging 2 Silvers while the Gold went to Bates for Killer-Immortal created by Karan Rawat and A for Adoor Vertigo won by V.Sunil.
Dilip Khomme (O&M) picked up the award for excellence in Illustration with Silver for Apsara Colorama- Phrases.
The photography awards were picked up by Jatin Kampani(Gravity)for K.Raheja Universal Calendar and Prasad Naik for Ravissant.
FILM CRAFT: The category for direction had Abhinay Deo bag Silver for Motorola from Ramesh Deo Productions. The Gold was shared between Red Films/A Advertising for Thunder Bird directed by Abhinay Deo again and Shoojit Sarcar for Camlin Permanent Marker for Ramesh Deo Productions.
The Silver for original score went to Corcoise Films- Dhruv Ghanekar and Ashutosh Pathak for Reliance Infocom – Rang Cha Gaye. The Gold was bagged by Amar Mangrolkar for Clickjobs.com (Footcandles Film).
The editing awards saw Ramesh Deo Ptoductions bag a Silver for Century Ply (Huzefa Lokhandwala) and the Gold was awarded to Shiv Kumar Panicer for Piaggio Ape by Flying Saucer.
In the animation category, Vaibhav Studios bagged two silvers for Amaron and Aids Awareness (Bula-Di- Campaign). Tan Lee Chia bagged the Gold for Appy Fizz (MFX).
Aksha Pardasany won Silver in the performance by an actor category for Band Aid by Black Magic Motion Pictures.
INTERACTIVE DIGITAL MARKETING: The Silver for Web banners was picked up by Ogilvy One for Hutch- Wherever you go, our network follows. The Mosquitoes/Promosites Silver was picked up by OgilvyOne for Mentos Help Line and the Gold in this category was picked up by B.C Webwise for Sunsilk Gang of Girls.
The Silvers for Digital Innovation went to Webchutney Studio for makemytrip.com-Moving Train and OgilvyOne for meethamoment.com by Cadbury.
CAMPAIGN: In this category the Food and Beverages saw two Silvers being shared between O&M Mumbai for Cadbury Ulta Perk and Grey Worldwide for Appy Fizz and Friends.
In the health care/household care/toiletries/ Cosmetics category Grey Worldwide bagged 2 Silvers for Kiwi Shoe Polish and Pantene Pro V.
In the Clothing/Footwear/Accessories segment Bates enterprise picked the Silver for Killer Immortal.
In the Consumer Durables category Grey Worldwide picked up the Silver for Haier while O&M picked up a Gold for Moto Flip.
In the Home Décor/Leisure segment, O&M picked up two Silvers for Lafarge Cement and Lafarge Concreto.
In the financial advertising category, the Silver was awarded to O&M for SBI Life.
In the retail-advertising category, the Gold was awarded to O&M for The Reader’s Book Shop.
In the Business Products and Mktg of services, Grey Worldwide picked up two Silvers for Universal Language Translator – Maze and Visage Images – India while O&M won the Gold for Hutch – Signature.
In the travel and hospitality segment, Everest won a Silver for the French Film Festival while Grey Worldwide picked one for TCI-Words.
The Media campaign saw O&M pick a Silver for Kolkatta TV and MTV Networks grab a Gold for MTV-Sorry for the Interruption.
The public service campaign saw Grey Worldwide pick a Silver for Times of India- Jaago Gujarat while Meridian Communications won the Gold for WWF & Bangalore Bias.
The Integrated campaign had 2 Silvers up for grabs both picked up by O&M. The O&M team picked up one for SBI Life and O&M Pvt Ltd picked one for Hutch- Rangashankara Theatre Festival.
The advertiser of the Year was Hutchison Telecom followed by Times Group and Travel Corp. of India.
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.
