We have bid farewell to 2021, a year that has been full of challenges for the media, marketing, ad, and all other industries around the globe. A year in which business owners changed and adopted new marketing and advertising strategies and withstood the hurdles posed by the pandemic. However, the Media & Entertainment industry has shown remarkable recovery with TV ad volumes bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels and expected to continue growing in the future, which is driven by increased advertising on regional channels and the entry of new categories of advertisers. According to CII – BCG Big Picture 2021 Report, India’s Media & Entertainment industry has revived to pre-COVID levels and is expected to grow to $55-70Bn by 2030 at 10-12% CAGR, driven mainly by strong growth in OTT, Gaming, Animation, and VFX. The industry continues to showcase multimodal growth with digital video leading the consumption boom.
The forecast reports by major agencies have highlighted the recovery and growth of ad spending in India.
Dentsu’s Ad Spend Report released in July 2021 stated that ad spending in APAC is expected to grow by 8 percent or US$17 billion to US$229 billion. In the region, Australia and India are forecasting particularly high growth rates in 2021. Ad spending in India is forecast to grow by 10.8 percent in 2021 to reach US$9.0 billion, following a steep 12.9 percent decline in 2020.
TV continues to be the most popular media in India, with a leading 40.9 percent share of spending that shows resilience despite the pandemic and a 7.7 percent growth compared to 2020 spend. Digital’s share of spending has grown rapidly, from 20.0% in 2019 to 29.4 percent in 2021, and is expected to reach 32.7 percent by the end of 2022.
GroupM’s ‘This Year, Next Year’ report forecasted that India’s advertising investment to touch an estimated Rs 80,123 crores this year, which is a 23.2% growth over 2020. Out of which, the share of digital is at 40 percent and the non-TV & Digital share of overall India ad spends in 2021 will stand at 20%. The digital share of overall India ad spending in 2021 will be at 35%.
Indian ad spends are forecast to grow between 6-8% annually over the next 5 years, TYNY report adds.
Digital Media to dominate
Zenith’s Advertising Expenditure Forecasts report showcases the new milestones to be passed by the dominant digital media in 2022, where worldwide social media advertising will hit $177 billion, overtaking television at $174 billion.
According to the report, social media will be the fastest-growing channel between 2021 and 2024, with an average annual growth rate of 14.8%,
followed by online video at 14.0%. Paid search will grow by 9.8% a year, primarily driven by retailer media, and out-of-home will enjoy solid 7.4% annual growth as foot and vehicle traffic return to normal. Radio and television will grow marginally, by 2.2% and 1.4% respectively, while print declines by 4.7 percent.
India’s Entertainment & Media industry is expected to reach Rs 412656 Cr by 2025 at 10.75 percent CAGR. These figures come from PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2021-2025.
Further expansion at a 7.6 percent CAGR will take TV ad revenues to the level of Rs 50586 Cr in 2025. Multichannel advertising will account for nearly 92% of the total TV advertising market in 2025. Online TV advertising will make modest inroads in the forecast period, with broadband penetration remaining extremely low at 7.3% of households.
India is the fastest-growing Internet Advertising market in the world at a CAGR of 18.8% during 2020-2025. Digital magazine circulation and advertising revenue are set to increase between 2020 and 2025 from just INR 231 Cr to INR 358 Cr at a CAGR of 9.5%.
As per CII – BCG Big Picture 2021 Report, Digital advertising is evolving towards more “interactive” ads and is also witnessing an increased blending of content and ads (vs. explicit ads). Short-form video platforms are growing and provide a unique value proposition to advertisers.
Gaming in India is currently under penetrated compared to the US and China but is expected to witness strong growth due to the “mobile-first” phenomenon. India is also emerging as a talent hub with more than a 10x increase in the number of gaming companies over the last decade. This has led to a boom in VC funding for the sector over the last few years.
The film industry has shown encouraging signs of recovery post a difficult 2020. There are a few growth factors for the future – continued growth in regional, direct to digital releases, and the rise of “content films’ ‘ and others. The Indian Post Production, VFX, and Animation industry accounts for a <10% share of the global market and has the potential to be a booming sector this decade on the back of several Central and State Government initiatives.
