Mumbai: Madison World has unveiled the Madison Advertising Report 2026, outlining key structural shifts shaping India’s advertising and media ecosystem.
Based on extensive market data, the report distils five core imperatives for marketers and agencies navigating an increasingly digital-first landscape.
Digital as the Planning Spine
With Digital accounting for 46% of advertising expenditure under the older methodology and nearly 60% under the expanded definition in 2025, the report underscores that digital infrastructure—data, signals, measurement and optimisation—must now anchor all media planning. Traditional channels such as TV, Print, OOH and Radio remain vital but need to be layered onto a digital-first foundation.
Large Screen Planning as a Unified System
The report calls for treating Large Screen as one integrated system combining Linear TV and Connected TV (CTV). While TV continues to deliver mass reach and live-event impact, CTV offers affluent, measurable audiences and seamless integration into digital journeys. This requires moving beyond siloed TV and OTT buying towards unified Large Screen strategies.
Strategic Positions in Retail Media
With Retail Media—spanning e-commerce and quick commerce—now contributing significantly to ad spends, brands are urged to move beyond experimentation. The report recommends deliberate choices on where to lead, follow or opt out, while designing end-to-end media-to-commerce loops linking Large Screen and Digital video to online marketplaces.
Digital Majority as a Structural Breakpoint
India crossed the Digital majority threshold in 2024 and reached 60% in 2025 under the expanded definition. The report emphasises that this milestone demands new organisational structures, decision-making frameworks and measurement systems within marketing teams.
From Campaign-Led to System-Led, AI-Native Planning
In a tighter capital environment, the report highlights system-led planning that integrates attention, memory, response and commerce outcomes as essential for sustainable growth. It positions Madison’s evolving planning architecture as an example of how agencies must transition from media buying to engineering competitive advantage.
India Versus Global Benchmarks
While global consultancies have projected India reaching 50–60% Digital share in the coming years, the report demonstrates that India has already achieved this level on an advertising base of ₹1.55 lakh crore in 2025, when newer segments are fully accounted for. By publishing both legacy and expanded data series, the report aims to present a comprehensive and realistic view of India’s advertising economy.
Commenting on the findings, Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World, said, “Every year, people ask if Indian advertising is slowing down. PMAR 2026 tells a different story: headline growth has moderated, but the market has quietly crossed ₹1.55 lakh crore and 60% Digital share when you count what actually matters—Retail Media advertising, and MSME ad spends. India is not just catching up with global benchmarks; in many ways, it is leapfrogging them with its own Digital-first engines.”
Ajit Varghese, Partner and Group CEO, Madison Media & OOH, added, “PMAR 2026 confirms what we are building Madison 3.0 around: growth will not come from buying more media, but from engineering better systems. Large Screen must be planned as TV plus CTV, Retail Media must be wired into commerce outcomes, and MSME-like Digital behaviours are reshaping how demand is created and captured. Our Growth Planning System and MBrain are designed for exactly this world—where every rupee has a clear job and every channel is part of a measurable system of effects.”
