India's advertising seers are predicting a continuing improvement in the industry's fortunes for the coming year. Growth of between 13% and 14%, a rise of 4% on 2004, is optimistically forecast, driven by a boost in fmcg marketing.
Says Arvind Sharma, chairman/ceo of advertising agency Leo Burnett in the sub-continent: "While telecom, insurance, auto and durables will continue as big advertisers, fmcg spends will pick up. Retail and finance will join the big league."
Cellphone firms' spending rocketed by an immense 167% in 2004 and the industry is confident this is an ongoing trend.
Media spend will continue to favour television for fmcg advertising but other formats will claim their share.
India media researcher TAM Adex says TV advertising grew by 13% while print spends rose 14.7%, fuelled by "elections, IPOs, coaching centres [and] retail stores".
Data sourced from The Times of India; additional content by WARC staff
