IAA Retrospect & Prospect: Media agencies bullish on ad spends in 2016

The IAA-India Chapter, as part of its Retrospect and Prospects 2016 event, brought together Anupriya Acharya, Group CEO, ZenithOptimedia; Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands; and Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Madison Media, to present their ad spend forecasts for 2016. Ashok Venkatramani, CEO, ABP News Network, moderated the discussion.

Cautiously optimistic

Speaking at the event, Anupriya Acharya said that ZenithOptimedia believed in a cautious and measured approach to forecast. At the same time, she said that outlook on the advertising industry in India was optimistic. She pegged the digital growth at 25 per cent, with spends seen as increasing to Rs 4,583 crore in 2016 as against Rs 3,667 crore in 2015.

Acharya further observed that upcoming sports events such as the ICC T20 World Cup and Indian Premier League Season 9 as well as state assembly elections would give a boost to television’s growth in India. She pegged TV’s growth at 15 per cent in 2016.

Contrary to the global trend, print remained a significant element of the media mix in India. Acharya predicted an 11.5 per cent growth for print in India in 2016. She further said that localised content would be the key for the growth of print and TV in the country.

FMCG to lead advertising spends

Shashi Sinha saw FMCG as the largest contributor to ad spends in 2016. The other sectors contributing to the ad spends include auto, telecom, and e-commerce. He pegged the growth of digital in 2016 at 67 per cent. According to him, traditional media is slated to grow 18.3 per cent in 2016, as against 16.3 per cent last year. He saw small and middle sized enterprises (SME) playing an important role in the country’s growth.

Invest in driving outcome

Vikram Sakhuja pegged the growth of Indian advertising in 2016 at 16.8 per cent. According to him, digital is slated to witness a growth of 30 per cent. At the same time he called for a mechanism to take stock of the inventory that went in digital such as search, videos, apps, mobiles and so on. He, too, saw the upcoming cricket events and the state assembly elections giving a boost to ad spends. TV’s growth has been pegged at 40 per cent, while print is slated to grow by 11 per cent in 2016.