MAM
Pitch Madison report forecasts 2018 digital adex growth at 25%
MUMBAI: According to the findings of the 16th Pitch Madison Advertising Report (PMAR) 2018, the advertising market slowed down to 7.4 per cent (Rs 53,138 crore) in 2017. The report also predicts the advertising growth in 2018 to be around 12.03 per cent thereby adding Rs 6,392 crore to adex to reach a total size of Rs 59,530 crore.
“We are optimistic about 2018 because you can’t keep the Indian economy down for too long,” said Sam Balsara as he presented the report. He added that the forecast is tempered by the possibility of the government’s reforms that may destabilise the economy in the short term.
In 2017, the report had predicted growth for 2017 to be around 13.5 per cent; however, the industry could not keep up its pace because of the government’s structural reforms.
Following the repercussions of demonetisation, 2017 had a bad start. “Adex was slow to recover from the impact of demonetisation and the first quarter of 2017 saw de-growth of 2 per cent and growth of a mere 2 per cent in the second quarter on the back of the IPL. Just when we expected adex to gather steam, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill came into effect in July and the market saw a drop of close to 20 per cent in traditional media over June 2017, and a drop of 5 per cent as compared to July 2016,” the report notes. “Mercifully, the festive period brought cheer to adex, and it grew from August 2017 to December 2017 by 13 per cent.”
Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Amazon Online India, Procter & Gamble, and Reckitt Benckiser topped the list once again. The newest entrant in the top five for 2017 was Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, which climbed from No 15 to No 5 on the list. Patanjali Ayurved is predicted to have nearly doubled its ad spend from Rs 300-400 crore to Rs 500-600 crore per annum.
According to the report, in 2017, traditional media grew by only 4 per cent, the slowest in half a decade. Television, which continues to be the largest contributor to adex with 37 per cent share, grew by just 4.3 per cent and reached Rs 19,650 crore; this is the lowest growth television has witnessed in the last five years. TV that is closely followed by print at 35 per cent share had even lower growth of 2.7 per cent to reach Rs 18,640 crore.
In 2018, television adex is expected to grow 13 per cent to reach Rs 22,205 crore while print adex is expected to grow by 5 per cent in 2018, taking the print market close to Rs 20,000 crore.
“It is thanks to digital media, which continued its onward march and grew by 27.2 per cent in 2017, that we are able to report an overall adex growth of 7.4 per cent,” the report observed. Digital added nearly Rs 2,000 crore to adex, to reach a size of Rs 9,303 crore in 2017. It now contributes a whopping 17.5 per cent to Indian adex, with video gaining huge ground, along with search, display, native and programmatic advertising.
Digital advertising is projected to grow by about 25 per cent to cross the Rs 10,000 crore mark and grow to Rs 11,629 crore in 2018. Digital is expected to continue its growth trajectory and growth at a rate of 25 per cent, taking the digital adex up to Rs 11,629 crore in 2018. FMCG, telecom, BFSI and real estate will continue to be growth drivers for digital while e-commerce will remain the backbone of digital adex.
Emerging from one of the darkest years for advertising so far, the industry is keeping its fingers crossed for 2018. There are some key factors that will drive growth in 2018, the report observes. There are signs of return of consumer spending and benefits of GST will start accruing this year boosting growth. Media, in particular print, will also get a fillip from the eight State Assembly elections scheduled during the year.
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MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
