COMvergence an independent research and data consultancy, which analyses media spend investments and produces benchmark studies on new business performances, released its latest New Business Barometer for the FY 2022 for India.
India saw a lower number of account moves and retentions this year of 246 with media spends estimated to be around $1.5BN as compared to a higher number of account moves in 2021 which were 332 with media spends estimated to be around $2.3BN
In 2022, 66% of the total pitches held globally were local in nature ( country specific pitches) India was well above this average with 81% of total pitches being local which is $1286M whereas global and multi- country pitches made up 19% of the pie with $297M in 2022 for India.
Mondelez ,Pepsico, ITC, Nestlé, Meesho, Lenovo, Hyundai-Kia, NPCI, Abbott Nutrition, Rebel foods, Truecaller were among some of the account moves that dominated the Indian market in 2022.
The Media Agency Groups were led by GroupM with a total new business value of +$332M, followed by Publicis Media Group at +$289M new business value and dentsu International with a new business value of +$194M respectively.
Zenith from the Publicis Media Group stable and Wavemaker from the GroupM umbrella led the media agencies’ ranking, interestingly the 3rd rank was tied between Initiative, Havas Media and Spark Foundry ( Publicis Media Group) followed by Madison Media and Carat.
According to the recent Dentsu Global Ad Spend Forecasts, advertising spending would increase globally by 8.7% in 2022. Adspending in Asia Pacific is anticipated to reach US$250.0 billion, with digital accounting for much of this amount. With a growth rate of 16.0% this year and predicted increases in advertising spending of 15.2% in 2023 and 15.7% in 2024, India is seeing the highest growth in the market. Forecasted spending on advertising in China is expected to rise by 4.0% in 2023 and 5.4% the following year.
The reforecast of media investment is released in the context of escalating media price inflation, geopolitical tension, upcoming key elections, and one of the most anticipated global sports events of the year, the FIFA World Cup. Due to continued uncertainty, the current and historical comparison data has also been adjusted to remove Russian investment from the forecast, to better reflect the rest of the international ad spend trends and predictions.
Said Prerna Mehrotra, CEO Media APAC, Dentsu International: “The latest Dentsu Ad Spend July 2022 points to a continued recovery despite another year of economic uncertainty, with APAC 2022 ad spend of US$250.0 billion, based on a growth forecast at 5.1%. However, continued lockdowns in key markets, geo-political tension and ongoing supply logistics issues could add pressure on businesses with a cascading impact on marketing spends.”
Looking ahead, Dentsu expects the 2023 global advertising market to increase by 5.4% to reach US$778.6 billion followed by a further 5.1% increase in 2024.
Added Peter Huijboom, Global CEO, Media and Global Clients, Dentsu International: “Even with everything which has happened in recent months, not least the protracted war in Ukraine and its international repercussions, the advertising recovery remains strong on a global scale. And, despite factors such as inflation putting pressure on household budgets, combined with 2021 being a tough comparative year, we have only marginally revised down our 2022 global growth forecast by just 0.4 percentage points.”
Overall ad spend growth in Asia Pacific is boosted by key sporting events such as Indian Premier League, FIFA World Cup, Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and country elections in Australia and India. Digital continues to be the powerhouse driving APAC ad spend, as the fastest growing medium at 11.5% to reach US$151.7 billion, a 60.7% share of total ad spend. Fuelling this is the double-digit growth of Programmatic (32.3%), Paid Social (27.4%), and digital display (13.3%) in 2022. In SEA, TV spend is still significant, with the largest share (57.2%) of total SEA spend (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam), and a growth rate of 4.6%.
Globally, Out-of-Home (OOH) and cinema will both see encouraging double-digit growth in 2022 (respectively 11.5% and 19.6%). Radio is also forecast to grow, much faster than initially considered with a new reforecast of 5.0% for the year, up from 2.0% in the January predictions – which is mainly due to faster return to office working. As with previous predictions, ad spend in newspapers and magazines will continue to decline.
I n 2022, the Americas will be the top ad spend region at US$329.6 billion and the most dynamic with spend increasing by 13.1%. India at 16.0% growth will stay ahead of the US at 12.8% and Brazil at 9.0% as the fastest growing market.
Industry wise globally, the greatest growth is forecast for the Technology sector (+11.3%), which has benefited from people’s greater reliance on digital devices. Retail is one of the key sectors of spend growth at a rate of 11.0% in 2022. The sector is driven by a number of factors including the significant growth of e-commerce, the entry of new players, and the introduction of emerging retail platforms. In Asia Pacific, technology, automotive and cosmetics and personal care are among the fastest growing sectors.
This Dentsu Global Ad Spend Forecast not only looks at the data from 58 markets, but also examines some of the key factors impacting ad spend shift, such as inflation increases, sustainability regulation, acceleration of gaming as an ad medium, doubling down on addressable media and also the importance of buying attention as core metric.
Dentsu International’s Global CEO, Wendy Clark, and Global CCO Fred Levron have announced the launch of Dentsu Creative, Dentsu’s global creative network. Dentsu Creative will serve as the sole creative network for Dentsu international working with clients around the globe.
In alignment with Dentsu’s global vision of designing a structure for horizontal creativity, Ajay Gahlaut, Group Chief Creative Officer, will now also be in charge of “infusing creativity” across Media and CXM besides Dentsu Creative in India.
Led by Fred Levron, who joined Dentsu international as Chief Creative Officer in November 2021 and has demonstrated the transformative power of creativity throughout his acclaimed career; Dentsu Creative will comprise 9,000 creative experts in 46 markets connected to 37,000 media and CXM experts across Dentsu international and collaborate closely with Dentsu’s creative team in Japan. In the near future, further leadership announcements will be made as Dentsu Creative brings in the next generation of strategic, production, business and creative leaders.
Said Levron: “If you had the chance to build a brand new global creative network designed for the modern world, what would it look like? That is what we are answering with the launch of Dentsu Creative. Clients, talent and the industry at large are craving for a change: in the way we build brands, in the way we collaborate and in the role we give to creativity. If the current players have set the rules of the previous century, we have the ambition to set the rules for the decades to come.”
Added Wendy Clark, Global CEO, Dentsu international: “At Dentsu, we’re building a modern agency network fuelled by horizontal creativity – a creativity designed to unify our people, their capabilities and our delivery for clients. We’re fortunate to draw from our Japanese heritage steeped in a relentless focus on craft, innovation and creativity. This legacy inspired our vision for modern creativity that was born in Japan and raised in a connected world. Dentsu Creative offers a simplified, modern creative proposition that answers clients’ needs for us to break down agency silos and inefficiencies and seamlessly connect our talent around the right client opportunities at the right time.”
Said Amit Wadhwa, CEO India, Dentsu Creative: “Dentsu has over the years, time and again demonstrated innovation through creativity. With Dentsu Creative, we will unite our creative talent under one brand; this will further simplify client engagements and strengthen our creative prowess. Moving with times is important and now is the time to transform brands and businesses through the lens of Modern Creativity. Dentsu Creative ensures the best output for our clients and the best opportunities for our people, which is the most exciting part for me.”
Added Gahlaut: “With Dentsu Creative, we will transform the creative face of dentsu as a network. As we add Modern Creativity to all the disciplines within the network and combine them, we will create a new-age powerhouse. Our aim is to bring profit and purpose together for our clients and our people. This is what the industry has been waiting for, and we are the forerunners of this breakthrough. Exciting times ahead!”
Dentsu Asia Pacific has announced the promotions of Sharan Jaswal to General Counsel APAC, Luke Speers to Chief People Officer APAC, both effective April 1 and Paul Koppelman to Chief Financial Officer, APAC effective May 1.
Said Wendy Clark, Global CEO, Dentsu international: “Asia Pacific is critical to the future growth of dentsu and our clients. I am delighted to see the promotions of three executives in the region, bolstering the existing team with exceptional people who have grown through our organisation.”
Haresh Nayak, former COO, Dentsu International, Media Service line & Group MD, Posterscope South Asia, has announced the launch of new independent venture. Headquartered in Mumbai, the agency will also have operations in Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.
On the launch of Connect Network Inc. Haresh Nayak, Founder & CEO said: “This is an independent network for all clients and agencies. Our ambition is also to make this a global network emerging out of India. With tech playing so much important role we are also attempting to connect AdTech with MarTech to make communication more action oriented and result driven. We will bring best talent, technology, commerce and experience as our core to service clients across.”
Dentsu International has been selected as Standard Chartered’s Media Agency of Record for a further five years.
Said Emma Sheller, Global Head, Brand Strategy & Consumer, Private and Business Banking Marketing, Standard Chartered: “At Standard Chartered, we are here for good. It’s the motivation of our business, and a principle we clearly share with Dentsu in the commitments and progress they’re making to be a force for good. We are committed to reducing carbon emissions, lifting participation and improving lives, and setting a new model of globalisation based on transparency, fairness and trust. It is important for us to have a partner with shared values and ambitions who would work with us to achieve our goals. Dentsu came to the table with a deep knowledge of our business, our commitments and how we can drive growth from the media with an impressive service model and a team aligned to that value set.”
The assignment covers Standard Chartered’s global markets across media planning, strategy and buying.
Prerna Mehrotra
Added Prerna Mehrotra, CEO, Media, Dentsu Asia Pacific & Singapore: “We are proud of the work we have delivered with Standard Chartered over the course of our four-year long relationship and are excited for the potential of our next five-year commitment. We presented Standard Chartered with a team of brilliant people, who felt passionately about delivering performance with purpose for the Standard Chartered business, which set strong foundations for us to build the next five years on. Our vision for good growth, delivered through our ‘One Dentsu’ service model across the diverse markets Standard Chartered operates in, delivered the competitive advantage for the team. We are thrilled to be continuing our partnership with them.”
As a key part Dentsu India 2.0 transformation agenda, Dentsu International has announced the creation of a new market leadership role of Chief Client Officer (CCO) and elevated Narayan Devanathan for the same for India. Most recently, Narayan was CEO, Dentsu Solutions, President, Strategy & Integration, Dentsu India, as well as APAC Lead for Strategy & Consulting, Dentsu Creative.
Narayan will report to Peter Huijboom, Global CEO Media and Global Clients and interim Co-CEO for India and will be responsible for driving a renewed focus on client-centric solutions and will partner Amit Wadhwa (CEO – Creative Service Line), Divya Karani (CEO – Media Service Line) and Anubhav Sonthalia (CEO- CXM Service Line) to deliver the best of dentsu’s solutions across the spectrum of business challenges that clients face in an ever-changing world while making our business easier to navigate for our clients.
Speaking on the appointment, Hujiboom said: “India is a key part of the global Dentsu story, and Narayan, in turn, is a key member of the India leadership team. As we embark on the next leg of the Dentsu India 2.0 journey, he will be focusing his energy, expertise and experience in helping bring together the capabilities of 3200+ Dentsu talents seamlessly to make Dentsu our clients’ partner of choice. With this appointment as Chief Client Officer for India, Narayan will be moving away from his other roles in India and APAC with immediate effect.”
Added Devanathan: “Transformation is easier said than done, but like integration, it’s a process. What matters most are the outcomes. Through relentless customer-centricity, outcome-driving solutions and next practice consulting, our aim for Dentsu India 2.0 is not just to transform ourselves but to transform our clients’ business – sustainably, for good. To this end, we will deploy the power of creativity, a consummate understanding of people and data, and keep our eye on the only prize that matters: meaningful progress for our clients, their customers, and society. To me, this is what my new role as Chief Client Officer means. And this will be my only focus.”
Dentsu group announces the launch of Dentsu Gaming, an integrated solution which brings together the extensive gaming heritage and expertise of Dentsu Japan network with the global scale and specialist capabilities within Dentsu international.
Leading the global launch of Dentsu Gaming, Keiichi Yoshizaki, Executive Officer, Dentsu Inc said: “Our philosophy is that gaming is more than just advertising – it is about creating, amplifying and adding momentum to culture and the industry at large. With Dentsu Gaming, we do this through our own in-house gaming studios, innovative business ventures, investing in gaming start-ups and through strategic partnerships at global scale and, this sets us apart from all others.”
Added Peter Huijboom, Global CEO, Media and Global Clients, Dentsu international: “We have a truly integrated and borderless business model at dentsu which ensures a seamless sharing of insights, deep-knowledge and specialisms to benefit our clients, regardless of their geography – Dentsu Gaming is a perfect example of this.”
Dentsu International has announced the launch of its first global ‘Rise Up’ Challenge to upskill 10,000 young people in digital media and creative communications and showcase its best campaign ideas to inspire consumers to drastically reduce their food waste.
Said Anna Lungley, Chief Sustainability Officer, Dentsu international: “Food waste is not just a matter of what gets left on plates – the world is squandering natural resources, harming biodiversity and increasing emissions simply by throwing away too much of the food we produce. The Rise Up Challenge is a rallying cry to a generation of young people who want to make a difference in this world. Through The Code we can give them the tools and techniques to not only campaign for sustainable behaviour change but also build the work ready skills they need for the future.”
Added Phil Adrien, CEO, Creative, Dentsu Asia Pacific and Co-chair of Dentsu diversity board APAC,: “I am incredibly proud that the module for Rise Up – produced in Singapore by our creative team, is now rolled out worldwide. This is our first unifying global theme on building a sustainable world, by looking at how brands can reduce consumer food waste. Riding on our commitment to using ‘digital for good’ and furthering a fair and open society, The Code also opens the doors of our industry to future talent. It empowers young people from underprivileged backgrounds with creative communications experience and offers the opportunity to work with some of our biggest clients.”
Dentsu International, strengthening its leadership roster, has added Vinod Thadani as Chief Digital Growth Officer for India. Thadani will also be taking on the additional role of Chief Executive Officer, iProspect India. He will report to Divya Karani, CEO-Media, South Asia. Until earlier this year, Thadani was Chief Digital Officer with Mindshare South Asia.
Divya Karani
Speaking on the development, Karani said: “Vinod is a strategic addition to our future-forward business design. His values and commitment to innovation resonate with all that Dentsu stands for. I am fully confident his exceptional and in-depth mastery of digital will help our clients’ business scale new frontiers.”
Vinod Thadani
Added Thadani: “I am excited to become an integral part of this network and look forward to the journey ahead. My contribution in dual capacities will be an opportunity to offer excellence and best-in-class services to all our clients specially in the space of Digital – Performance, Data Driven Marketing, Ecommerce, Marketing Effectiveness & Creative. There is scale, specialization & integration at the core of our offerings & through this journey, my goal is to pursue growth for our clients and the network.”
Advertising investment is forecast to grow by 10.4% globally in 2021, according to the latest Dentsu Ad Spend Report. The twice-yearly report which combines data from 59 markets, anticipates US$634 billion will be spent globally with all regions enjoying positive growth.
Adspend in APAC is expected to grow by 8.0% or US$17 billion to US$229 billion. In the region, Australia and India are forecasting particularly high growth rates in 2021, with 2021 growth expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels in China.
The pandemic-induced decline in advertising spend during 2020 has proved less severe than anticipated. Some trends in consumer behaviour and spend in advertising which emerged during the past year have remained.
In APAC, the 6.2% rise in digital spend last year is forecast to grow by 12.8% in 2021 to reach US$124.5 billion, representing a 54% share of total ad spend. Forecasts for Social (33.4%) and Video (10.8%) will also rise, with Search also growing (7.8%) reaching US$23.1 billion in 2021.
Offline/Linear ad spend will see a return to growth 2.8% to US$104.8 billion, following a 15% decline in 2020, however it is predicted that spend levels in APAC will remain below pre-pandemic levels in 2021.
While regional live events such Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games continue to be a significant driver of growth in Linear TV ad spend in APAC (3.9% increase in 2021 to reach US$59.2 billion), the dentsu data suggests a shift towards CTV (Connected TV) and OTT (Over The Top) and audiences moving more towards digital media consumption mean Linear TV spend will remain below pre-pandemic levels until beyond 2021.
With restrictions lifting on social activity, OOH will see a bounce back post impact of the pandemic, rising 7.5% in 2021 in the region. Cinema has a slightly longer recovery, with a further decline in 2021 (-5.0%) but expected to bounce back in 2022. Radio will also see growth (4.3%) in 2021.
While most channels will return to growth in 2021 (Cinema in 2022), Print is seeing a slight decline in 2021 (–2.7%) and expected to continue declining in 2022, as it continues to evolve towards new modes of digital delivery.
Looking at the industries who will see growth in ad spend this year, it will come as little surprise that government spending remains a key growth area, supporting the Covid vaccine rollout and other related initiatives. In APAC’s key markets, the travel and transport sectors, will still be affected by the uncertainty of the past year and see a muted increase in demand (4.9%), while Media & Entertainment is forecast to see growth (9.7%).
The decline in APAC advertising spend prompted by the pandemic in 2020, has proved to be less severe than originally anticipated. While 2020 remains the weakest performing year since the global financial crisis, the decline in growth has been raised since Dentsu’s January 2021 forecast (from -8.0% to -5.2%.) In 2021, the market is seeing a recovery in growth (8.0%), an improvement (2.1% pts) on January’s predication. Looking to 2022, recovery is set to continue when spending is likely to reach US$243.6 billion and grow at a rate of 6.3%.
Ashish Bhasin
Said Ashish Bhasin, CEO APAC, Dentsu international: “It is promising to see a return to growth in the APAC region with two of our markets in the top five contributors of ad spend growth; China and Japan. While China continues to see strong levels of growth driven by Digital and OOH, Japan’s growth will be buoyed by events like the 2020 Olympic & Paralympic Games, and the House of Representative elections and the advertising spend associated with it, particularly in TV.
In addition, Australia and India are two of the top year-on-year growth markets, forecasting a surge in ad spend. Australia has had a stronger economic recovery after the pandemic particularly in TV and Digital where the government focused much of their Covid-related campaigns, while India is expected to see a resurgence in Digital advertising spend though TV is still the main contributor with a 40.9% share.”
Prerna Mehrotra
Added Prerna Mehrotra, CEO Media APAC and MD Media Singapore: “We are optimistic that the region will bounce back to positive growth in ad spend, with some channels likely boosted higher than pre-pandemic levels. The main drivers behind the growth is economic recovery, with the APAC GDP set to increase by 7.3%, and a stronger-than-ever push to digital marketing. Serving as a stimulus the pandemic has accelerated digital adoption. Digital media will continue to drive ad revenue growth this year with strong performance in social (+33.4%) and video (+10.8%) and majority of spends in mobile. We will also see more investments diverted towards addressable and the digitalisation of OOH channels. Programmatic DOOH will also be a key growth driver in the future. With the growing numbers of SSPs and DSPs partnerships and an increasing demand for location-based solutions to ad-reaching consumers in these times of uncertainty, advertisers will benefit from the speed, flexibility and the targeting capability that the medium will provide.”
Growth in global ad spend between 2019 and 2022
Year-on-year % growth at current prices (January 2021 figures in brackets)
Share of global ad spend by channel between 2019 and 2022
Dentsu has announced the launch of ‘Indeed Smart City’ in India under its CSR advisory and implementation arm, Indeed. The aim of this initiative is in line with India’s aspirations for economic modernisation, which are fundamentally linked to the country’s Smart City Mission.
Indeed Smart City’s ability to identify and scale opportunities at speed is a product of its unique Innovation Architecture, which includes a cross-capability team of industry and operational expertise that helps cities’ pilots to adopt new technologies and spark transformation. The Smart City will deliver solutions across domains such as Smart Infrastructure under the ABD (Area Based Development) initiative of the Smart City mission as well as smart healthcare, safety, citizen engagement, education and smart energy solutions. Additionally, Indeed Smart City will also focus on ICT (Information & Communications Technology) from ICCC (Integrated Command and Control Centres) to safety and surveillance, Video Analytics, CCP (City Collaboration Platforms), Smart Poles, city wi-fi solutions and more.
Ajay Singh
Ajay Singh, a Smart City specialist, has been appointed as Vice President to spearhead the Indeed Smart City initiative.
Speaking on his new role, Singh said: “I am honoured to have the opportunity to lead Indeed Smart City by dentsu India- a network with industry-leading OOH technology, creative thinking team, and unique innovation architecture with its strong commitment to the community. The strength of media is important when it comes to communication points in cities so that they can be used to inspire people and change things for the better, thereby, making the urban environment more cheerful. With this ambition, we aim to have a growth-oriented innovative mindset, constant investments in our team, and onboard new emerging technology partners. I am truly excited to lead this innovative group. As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, I am confident that Indeed Smart City will grow to become the trusted smart solutions technology partner for our customers across the globe and help give the cities a more sustainable & resilient future -‘Re-invent to stay relevant’.”
Haresh Nayak
Commenting on the appointment, Haresh Nayak, COO, Dentsu international, Media Brands added: “Our cities are undergoing dramatic change as a result of new technologies and modern infrastructure projects. Indeed Smart City will harness the power of technology and smart solutions via its associates and partners to bring meaningful marketing solutions and experiences for brands. I am confident of Ajay’s capabilities and his impressive track record will certainly allow us to explore newer opportunities as we move into the next phase of smarter solutions.”
