Tag: GroupM India

  • 10.2% AdEx growth in 2024

    10.2% AdEx growth in 2024

    GroupM India released its annual This Year Next Year (TYNY) report in Mumbai on Tuesdays. The overall ad revenue is expected to reach Rs 155,386 crore in 2024, with an incremental Rs 14,423 crores compared to 2023. This is a growth of 10.2 year-on-year.

    Digital at 13% growth is driving overall ad revenue growth in 2024, as per the report. It  will take 57% share of AdEx pie in the year. All other media combined to grow at 6.8% in the year.  Of the 14,423cr of incremental ad revenue in 2024, 70% to go to digital.

    Within digital, retail media driving growth; CAGR of 41% in 2019-24F. Digital extensions of TV estimated at INR 5,750cr in 2024. Auto, realty, retail, SME estimated to drive growth in 2024

    Prasanth Kumar
    Prasanth Kumar

    Said Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM South Asia: “Despite facing macroeconomic challenges, we remain optimistic about the industry. At 10.2%, India will be the fastest growing top market. 2024 will also see an upside from the spends leading to the General Elections. Digital particularly retail media and digital extensions of TV are expected to drive the growth. SME continues to fuel the growth. Linear TV is at a point of inflection and needs to be enabled with rapid deployment of technology to stay relevant.”

    Ashwin Padmanabhan
    Ashwin Padmanabhan

    Added Ashwin Padmanabhan, President – Investments, Trading, and Partnerships, GroupM – India: “The advertising landscape is evolving with the fragmentation of search, rapid rise of influencer marketing and retail media. Reflecting this, at INR 88,502 crores of the overall Rs 155,386 crore, digital will contribute to 57% of all ad revenue. Within digital ad revenue, search contributes 22%, retail media 18% and the rest 60%. Sectors like Auto, Realty and Offline Retail are expected to power the overall advertising growth.”

    Parveen Sheik
    Parveen Sheik

    Said Parveen Sheik, Head of Business Intelligence, GroupM India:  “Global advertising presents a steady picture: a projected 5.3% global growth in ad revenue for 2024, reaching $936 billion, with digital leading the charge at a commanding 79% share of all ad revenue. India continues to be ranked 8th globally and its ad revenue growth among its peers is a testament to its potential and resilience. Adaptability is key to navigating an evolving advertising landscape amidst inflation and geopolitical tensions.”

    Parthasarathy Mandayam
    Parthasarathy Mandayam

    Added Parthasarathy Mandayam (Maps), Chief Strategy Officer – GroupM South Asia, “Zero Party Data will come to the fore, providing insights on attitudes, behaviour, and product consumption. The availability of granular data will lead to micromarketing strategies, be it in market prioritisation, ultra-niche consumer segments and micro influencers. Advances in AI will also transform measurement, messaging, and media optimisation.”

    Priti Murthy
    Priti Murthy

    Said Priti Murthy, President -GroupM Nexus, “In 2024, brands will shift their focus to consumer experience through performance marketing, integrating brand activities and emotions. Search marketing will become more diverse due to growing complexity and skillsets. Attention planning will impact growth narratives and ROI. Technology will aid hyperlocal marketing, but modern retail still has room for digital growth.”

    The GroupM TYNY report also unveiled several evolving trends for 2024.

    Key trends include:

    • Increasing influence of gen-alpha will drive distinctive marketing strategies
    • Attention Planning – customising insights for actionability
    • 21% of television homes to be addressable in 2024
    • Sports to focus on immersive experience journeys
    • Brand marketing becomes more accountable on performance, breaking silos
    • Step-up on search
    • Ecommerce drives deeper into organisations
    • India’s general and modern trade getting digitised leading to rise of omnichannel commerce
    • Rapid developments in AI will transform media, messaging, and measurement
    • AI and technology dominate the content landscape and creator economy
    • Importance of niche consumer segments will power the growth of micromarketing
    • With consent becoming critical, zero party data will empower various areas of marketing
  • GroupM India elevates Navin Khemka and Sonali Malaviya for EssenceMediacom

    By Our Staff

     

    GroupM India has elevated Navin Khemka and Sonali Malaviya at EssenceMediacom South Asia (EssenceMediacom = Essence + MediaCom). Khemka has been appointed as the CEO of EssenceMediacom South Asia, while Malaviya has been promoted as Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer – EssenceMediacom South Asia.

     

    Both Khemka and Malaviya will be based out of Gurugram. They will work together to bring additional specialisations such as e-commerce, addressable content and digital OOH, to the offerings, while ensuring best-in-class core capabilities.

     

  • GroupM India inks strategic partnership with ShareChat

    By Our Staff

     

    GroupM India and ShareChat have announced a partnership to power a “new era of modern marketing”.

     

    Said Prasanth Kumar, GroupM South Asia CEO: “At GroupM, we have embraced the digital disruption and have instilled digital as one of the major cornerstones to drive change. The challenges thrown by digital transformation have immensely contributed to our learning and introduced us to newer consumer habits, in turn enabling us to add value to our clients by offering tailored marketing solutions. We see our partnership with ShareChat going a long way in benefitting our clients as it effectively connects with a large population of the country.”

     

    Added former GroupM India and global honcho Ajit Varghese, Chief Commercial Officer, ShareChat and Moj: “Today, the consumer ecosystem is constantly evolving, however, majority of the marketing spends continues to be parked for tried and tested platforms. It’s time for the marketing and advertising fraternity to realize the urgent need to adapt to this rapid change. We are glad to have partnered with GroupM in offering ShareChat’s expertise to enable brands to reach the Bharat and Gen Z consumers effectively and at scale.”

     

  • GroupM forecast for 2022: 22.2% AdEx growth

     

     

    By Our Staff

     

    WPP-owned media investment conglomerate GroupM has  announced its  advertising expenditure (AdEx) forecasts for 2022. As per the GroupM futures report ‘This Year, Next Year’ (TYNY) 2022, the adspends are estimated to reach 107,987crs in 2022. This represents the estimated growth of 22% for the calendar year 2022. India will be the fastest-growing market among the top 10 global markets and retains its 9th rank in 2022, as per the report. See GroupM TYNY2022 deck.

     

    Commenting on the TYNY 2022 report, Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM South Asia said, “The pandemic has pushed the envelope towards digital and has hence topped the pie, with advertisers keen to explore more of it. Ecommerce and Telco will drive the economy, we also expect FMCG and auto to slowly catch up and contribute towards this growth.”

     

    Added Tushar Vyas, President – Growth and Transformation, GroupM South Asia: “With the pivot to digital by consumers and companies alike, digital emerges as the largest medium in 2022 with an estimated share of 45%.  Digital is estimated to grow by 33% in 2022. As digital capabilities enhance and connectivity becomes omnipresent, technology will further poise and change almost every sector of India’s economy.”

     

    Said Parthasarathy Mandayam, Chief Strategy Officer, GroupM South Asia: “With consumers gravitating towards themes like sustainability and sensitivity, brands are adapting rapidly, and media has the power to lead this change. Flexible, specialist and distributed teams are the order of the day and this trend will be further enhanced with the arrival of 5G. The emphasis on performance marketing has further accelerated and is at the very core of marketing. Intelligent & responsible leverage of first-party data will be critical for brands & marketers in driving this.”

     

    Said Atique Kazi, President – Data, Performance & Digital Products, GroupM India: “Marketers will have to bring together innovation, intelligence and integration in their strategy to win on Digital. In 2022; we will also see addressable TV coming to India in some scalable form and connected tv surge with smart TV sales and new fibre/broadband connections will be on the rise. Focusing on eCommerce, performance marketing, outcome-based media and addressable data is winning formula in 2022.”

     

    Added Sidharth Parashar, President – Investments & Pricing, GroupM India: “While digital is set to take the larger pie, we are expecting a noteworthy revival for OOH & cinema too after a tough period. Advertising on e-commerce, the rise of influencers and short format videos along with OTT has witnessed growth in 2021, which would continue in 2022.”

     

    Said Ashwin Padmanabhan, President – Partnerships & Trading, GroupM India: “The rapid digital transformation of companies, brands and the way they connect with consumers is reflected in the global advertising spends as well as the way even traditional media is expanding with their digital extensions. India in 2022 will see a rapid manifestation of these Global trends and thus fundamentally altering the media industry.”

     

  • GroupM restructures Central Trading Group leadership

    By Our Staff

     

    GroupM India has announced a restructure of its media buying function- Central Trading Group (CTG).

     

    Sidharth Parashar
    Sidharth Parashar

    Said Sidharth Parashar, President – Investments and Pricing, GroupM India: “This restructure is a part of evolving transformation for GroupM. We constantly recognise and invest in talent across functions for our team members who have helped evolve key areas like the media buying practice. The relentless commitment to delivering value to its client’s business is what truly defines team CTG, and I am privileged to lead a multi-dimensional team of leaders who are passionate about media and our client’s business. I am delighted to see these leaders grow and take on larger responsibilities in shaping the GroupM CTG transformational journey.”

     

    Rahul Satoskar
    K Srinivas Rao
    Muralidhar T
    Pratik Rathod

    Pratik Rathod who has been successfully leading buying for Wavemaker will be taking on an elevated group-level role of National Broadcast Head, GroupM India.

     

    Muralidhar T is taking on an elevated role of leading buying function for the whole of Mindshare.

     

    K Srinivas Rao takes over the Wavemaker buying mandate from Rathod. Rao has been leading the Mediacom buying function for the past few years.

     

    Rahul Satoskar, currently the region buying lead for Mindshare west, gets elevated to lead Mediacom buying nationally.

     

  • GroupM India appoints Ritika Taneja as head of e-com

    By Our Staff

     

    Ritika TanejaGroupM India announces the appointment of Ritika Taneja as Head of E-commerce. She will be leading the e-commerce product offerings to clients and will also be responsible at co-creating the e-commerce vision and strategy charter for GroupM India. Taneja will be based out Gurugram and report to Atique Kazi, President – Data, Performance and Digital Products, GroupM India, and closely work with Toni Ruotanen, Head of E-commerce services GroupM APAC.

     

    Atique Kazi
    Atique Kazi

    Said Atique Kazi, President – Data, Performance and Digital Products, GroupM India: “There is a growing importance of strengthening e-commerce practices for brands in today’s digital economy and e-commerce has transformed the ways in which businesses are done in India. Ritika’s appointment is a part of our continued investment in talent, especially in areas of enormous growth opportunities, like e-commerce. With the kind of extensive knowledge in this vertical that Ritika brings to the table, I am certain that we will continue to make the e-commerce practice a GroupM differentiator for our clients and brands.”

     

  • Influencer marketing will be INR 900cr: GroupM Study

    By Our Staff

     

    INCA, GroupM’s brand-safe influencer and content marketing solution unit, announced the release of The India Influencer Marketing Report last weekend. The report looks at all aspects of the industry including trends and the impact of regulation.

     

    Prasanth Kumar

    Commenting on the report, Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia said: “Over the last few years, brands have shown significant interest in influencer marketing. The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of influencer marketing by brands making it an integral part of the brand marketing strategy and is now an important part of our media mix recommendation to brands. The key factor that has got brands interested is the bond of trust and authenticity that influencers share with their audiences, thus helping brands associate with an influencer to leverage the same. This report is our effort to help marketers understand various aspects of influencer marketing in the country. Consumer behaviour is changing at a fast pace, and we want to empower marketers with the knowledge that can help them.”

     

    Ashwin Padmanabhan
    Ashwin Padmanabhan

    Added Ashwin Padmanabhan, President – Partnerships and Trading of GroupM India: “Influencer marketing industry is at a point of inflexion and can take off, subject to the industry initiating to measure, quantify and make investments in influencer marketing accountable. The ‘India Influencer Marketing Report’ is GroupM and INCA’s attempt to do the same. Not only have we tried to quantify the industry, but we have also attempted to define and standardize the various formats and industry terms. We hope this report will catalyse the industry and ensure the power of influencers is harnessed effectively!”

     

  • GroupM appoints Atique Kazi

    By Our Staff

     

    Atique Kazi
    Atique Kazi

    GroupM India has appointed Atique Kazi as President – Data, Performance and Digital Products.

     

    Prasanth Kumar
    Prasanth Kumar

    Said Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM South Asia: “At GroupM our focus is to continue evolving by offering flexible, scalable and innovative solutions. Atique joining the core team at GroupM India is the reflection of our commitment towards offering digital solutions that can create great value-add for brands in this ever-evolving market. I look forward to working closely with Atique and I am confident that he will continue to grow our digital offerings. His expertise of aiming at innovation and providing value-propositions will be key towards Digital Transformation of our clients and partners.”

     

    Added Arshan Saha, CEO Xaxis, APAC: “The scale and speed of digital transformation and the fact that India as a market has demonstrated its leadership in this area means that we need to have our best talent to fulfil this demand. Atique is one of our very best with a proven track record locally and most recently regionally in APAC where he launched and scaled GroupM’s Influencer and content arm – INCA. Having worked with Atique for over 8 years, I can attest to his leadership, curiosity, knowledge and drive which are invaluable in defining and determining client success.”

     

  • GroupM appoints Karthik Shankar to head digital trading

    By Our Staff

     

    GroupM India announces the appointment of Karthik Shankar as Head of Digital Trading, GroupM India. In this role, Shankar will be responsible for leading digital trading and partnerships.

     

    Sidharth Parashar
    Sidharth Parashar

    Said Sidharth Parashar, President – Investments and Pricing, GroupM India: “Karthik has a proven track record of managing tech & media partnerships, digital trading, e-commerce and leading brand safety initiatives. We believe that Karthik would play a pivotal role, as we partner with our esteemed clients in their digital transformation journey”.

     

    Karthik Shankar
    Karthik Shankar

    Added Shankar: “These are exciting times for digital advertising which is witnessing hyper-growth in all spectrums including video, commerce and data. Clients and partners seek guidance and support in navigating this complex ecosystem. This role has the right mix of understanding, access and ability to collaborate with the ecosystem to streamline media investments. I am excited to join and be part of the GroupM family.”

     

     

  • Cricket nets 87% share of Indian Sports Sponsorship

     

    By Our Staff

     

    GroupM ESP, the entertainment, esports and sports division of GroupM India has released the sports sponsorship report for India 2020. The size of the Indian sports industry in 2020 is estimated at Rs 5894 crore. This report takes into consideration – sponsorship spends, celebrity endorsement and media spends on sports properties.

     

    The biggest share here goes to media, where advertisement spends on TV, Digital and Print media contributed to Rs 3657 Crore, which accounts for 62% of the total spends. Sponsorship Spends included On-Ground Sponsorships, Team Sponsorships and Franchise Fee, and this took up 28% of the industry pie, which translates to an amount of Rs 1673 Crore. An interesting shift that gained momentum in 2020 was the athlete endorsement which grew 5% over 2019, against the run of play in a year ravaged by the pandemic.

     

    During the period of inactivity in sports, there was a significant step jump in the level of social media influencer activity among popular athletes. Here again, cricketers ruled the roost, with a 92% share of the pie. Of the 377 endorsement deals that happened last year, 275 involved cricket players. 2020 also saw female athletes pulling in brands and the continued success of these stars is proof of the fact that our champions are loved, and we are proud of them. As the sporting nations wait eagerly in anticipation, the stocks are highly in favour of endorsements from our athletes.

     

    The lockdown had also catalysed the growth in certain sectors. The absence of live sports along with a sub-optimal supply of fresh OTT content led to the shift towards gaming; the month of April 2020 saw an 11% increase in users per week along with a significant jump in average time spent per gamer. This led to a sudden boom in e-sports in 2020, with communities getting built and multiplayer activities gaining ground. Over the last three years, there has been a doubling in the gamer base as well as viewership numbers in the time.

     

    Despite Covid-19 threat and multiple risks, India’s foremost sporting league, the Indian Premier League (IPL) got underway in UAE in September much to the delight of fans, players, franchisees, sponsors, and rights holders. The success of the IPL was a great demonstration of the qualities of brinkmanship and improvisation, just what the doctor ordered to lift the spirits of a nation in which cricket is followed with religious fervour. Even as the absence of a fair share of events has rendered year-on-year comparisons irrelevant, two things are extremely heartening. First, the overall levels of business seen in the industry in 2020, and then, the high running momentum as we exit the year and move on to 2021.In November, the Indian Super League (ISL) got underway in three venues in Goa with strict protocols and adherence to bio-bubble considerations. This was the first major sports event to be held in India after the pandemic; giving ample demonstration of our ability to pull off an event of this magnitude under such circumstances.

     

    Said Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia: “With the lockdown being enforced and subsequent stoppage of play on the field, the void was stark with no visibility on how the anti-Covid efforts would pan out. And even without any activities, our sports heroes stayed close to us. They came closer by actively engaging with their followers on social media and the spontaneity of this online content flow and with the open arms that we welcomed it, is the demonstration of the power of sports in our country. Speedy responses and improvisations are on the go where what the situation demanded and among the many things the Covid-19 situation taught us marketers, was the need to be adaptable as the tide turns fast around us.”

     

    Added Vinit Karnik, Head – Sports, Esports and Entertainment, GroupM South Asia: “Many sports properties were either cancelled or postponed and even sponsorship and media spends were impacted. But it is commendable how the sporting ecosystem reacted to this crisis taking into consideration the very fact that sports were back sooner than expected. Even in the face of an adverse context, the stakeholders came together to provide the spark the industry needed. The IPL and ISL are an exemplary demonstration of India’s preparedness to host major sporting events under such taxing circumstances. With many sporting events lined up in 2021, fans might have to make choices between certain events in terms of what, when and how much to watch, leading to a rise in demand for subscription viewing in live sports. 2020 looks like that proverbial backward step we take before a giant leap, like the one we are expected to take in 2021, as part of the making of the sporting nation.

     

  • @GroupM: Vinit Karnik is Head – Sports, Esports & Ent – S Asia & Karthik Nagarajan is Head of Branded Content

    By Our Staff

    GroupM India has announced the promotions of Vinit Karnik and Karthik Nagarajan. Karnik, the Business Head of GroupM’s Entertainment & Sports practice (ESP), will take over the new role of  Head – Sports, Esports and Entertainment, GroupM South Asia and Karthik Nagarajan, Chief Content Officer for Wavemaker India, will take on additional responsibility at GroupM in the new role of Head of Branded Content, GroupM India.

    Said Prasanth Kumar, CEO of GroupM South Asia said, “Disruption and evolution go hand-in-hand and it also brought in opportunities in the content, sports and entertainment space and it is consistently redefining the market place. Over the years, we have been building these spaces by shaping great solutions for our clients. While we will continue to build on advertising technologies that will add speed and scale, we are equally committed to enhance our creative process and enable larger solutions in the content space. We are fortunate to witness leadership grow within as they bring in experience, adaptivity and inventiveness for being fit for the future. These leadership appointments signify our commitment to the journey and I am confident in both Vinit and Karthik’s abilities and together we look forward to creating great solutions and opportunities for our clients as well as our partners.”

     

    Added Karnik: “The new-age consumers have a better understanding of advertising and this can be seen by their ongoing interactions with brands and readiness for participation.  The demand for higher personalization shows that. Data indicates that delivering high-quality personalized content is what sets successful brands apart from their competitors. Today a brand has various means to reach out to its audience be it via sports, social media, eSports, influencers etc. Hence by strengthening our offerings and by bringing together creative optimization and data, we want to ensure that the brands get to reach their consumers with content, which is highly personalized, effective and relevant for them.”

     

    Karthik spent a significant part of his early career in consulting, as a practice head for Frost & Sullivan in the United States. Before joining GroupM in 2011, Karthik set up Nielsen’s online division and was also the India Country Head for NM Incite, the joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey for social media consulting in India. He set up the social media practice for GroupM India, which also included its foray into advocacy. Karthik also evangelised the data agenda for GroupM by building its social analytics practice, products like Radar and the command centre offering. In 2015, Karthik conceived and launched Brew, which became the premier content up-front event for not just GroupM but the industry as well.

     

    Said Nagarajan: “Content is a cultural intervention for a brand and the need to be authentic has never been more critical. Hence the journey of an idea today is seeped in data-led audience truths as much as it is in creativity. From an era when brands rode the trend waves, we are well and truly in a phase where brands author their sub-cultures. This is what makes it an extraordinary time to be in this industry. I am looking forward to taking on this additional responsibility at GroupM, at a time when the lines between content and commerce are blurring”.

     

    In their new roles, Karthik & Vinit will report to Prasanth Kumar, CEO of GroupM South Asia.

     

     

  • Achche Din… GroupM forecasts 23.2% in CY2021

    GroupM share of adspend

     

    By Our Staff

     

    GroupM India has announced its advertising expenditure (AdEx) forecasts for 2021. As per the GroupM futures report ‘This Year, Next Year’ (TYNY) 2021, India will see a major ad recovery in 2021 given the downfall of ad spends in 2020 due to the pandemic.

     

    TYNY forecasts India’s advertising investment to reach an estimated Rs. 80,123 crores this year. This represents an estimated growth of 23.2%, for the calendar year 2021. India is the 2nd fastest growing market in the top 10 countries and will be the 6th largest contributor to incremental ad spends in 2021 globally. While India was ranked 9th in the global ad spend rank in 2019, it dropped to 10 in 2020 and is likely to regain its 9th rank this year.

     

    Prasanth Kumar, CEO - GroupM South Asia
    Prasanth Kumar

    Commenting on the TYNY 2021 report, Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia said, “2020 was an unprecedented year. The pandemic impacted across sectors and it, therefore, affected the media investments too. As we are aware, the year that went by had a mixture of lockdowns, many restricted market momentum and overall threw a challenge and impacted multi-industry economies. The ad industry too had its challenges and 2020 witnessed a steep drop in the overall media investments. However, we have witnessed a month-on-month upturn in the industry starting Q3 last year and we are quite optimistic about the revival that 2021 will see. With the gradual easement of the lockdown backed by seasonal spends and big-ticket events like IPL, we expect 2021 to continue to build on that momentum. While the global ad spends are estimated to see a rise of 10% in 2021, digital is expected to take 67% of ad spends. With the help of technology, marketers have adapted to pandemic-proof ways by constantly innovating, staying relevant and offering digitally charged solutions to brands.”

     

    Digital was the only medium to witness a gain of USD 27bn globally in 2020. Digital as a media vehicle will continue to skyrocket due to the increase in digital dependency and changing consumer patterns.

     

    Tushar Vyas, GroupM
    Tushar Vyas

    Added Tushar Vyas, President – Growth and Transformation, GroupM South Asia: “2021 will see 90% incremental ad spends on digital globally. The massive switch to digital reliance over the past 1 year has been a major driver for this shift. Brands have been forced to think big and different to transform their businesses, match the newer expectations and overcome the challenges faced. The post-pandemic era will continue to see this upsurge in digital demands. The crisis has brought about a sea change in mindset, adoption, and role of technology in doing business. Brands are seen renewing their business models and are constantly ideating to find better ways to connect with the consumer on a digital tangent.”

     

    Ashwin Padmanabhan
    Ashwin Padmanabhan

    While Covid-19 resulted in an overall slowdown in the global economy, Indian adspends will continue to see a month-on-month recovery considering the overall media landscape. Said Ashwin Padmanabhan, President – Partnerships and Trading of GroupM India: “Based on a strong foundation built on the back of FMCG and e-commerce, 2021 is expected to see growth across sectors like auto, telecom, consumer durable, retail and education. Manufacturing, which was severely impacted by the pandemic, is now stabilising and moving toward a positive outlook enabled by automation, technology and supply chain optimisation. 2020 has accelerated the adoption of agile, cost-effective business models, which will help brands and marketers offer better products, services and experiences to consumers.”

     

    Sidharth Parashar, President - Investments and Pricing, GroupM India
    Sidharth Parashar

    Added Sidharth Parashar, President-Investments and Pricing of GroupM India: “Along with digital, television saw a spike in consumption during the lockdown. With acceptance on the subscription bandwagon increasing, OTT will continue to witness a constructive growth and is likely to develop with more players attracting users by investing in content. Print & Radio expected to be backed by local advertisers and certain categories with marketeers leveraging the brand solutions that these media offer. We expect OOH and cinema to see double-digit growth after a difficult year. Given the uncertainty and cautiously spending consumer, brands are realising the importance of being present wherever consumers are. Hence along with continued relevance of television & other mass media, we will witness advertisers leveraging relevant platforms to reach out to its audience.”

     

    GroupM TYNY Key Highlights