.webp)
India’s advertising industry grows with digital marketing, data-led strategies, and AI-based ROI focused campaigns.
India's advertising industry is expected to experience low- to mid-single-digit growth in 2026, primarily because of the strong growth of the digital ecosystem. After a lackluster advertising year, 2025 is likely to be hindered by regulatory changes like the banning of real money gaming (RMG) ads, as advertisers shift to digital advertising strategies for brands. The digital segment now represents about half of all advertising spend in the country and will continue to have a double-digit growth trend in digital marketing spend. Digital advertising will be prioritized (45-55%) by many corporate firms and reflect a move toward purpose-based content marketing and data-led advertising solutions.
"For 2026, we expect to see a slight uptick in growth with increased consumer confidence and brand activity in sports advertising, and the establishment of cross-platform content ecosystems," said Uday Mohan, COO of Havas Media India. Traditional media like linear TV, OOH, radio, and print is expected to grow at low to mid-single-digit rates, with regional television advertising growing due to high-visibility events.
Advertising volumes are heavily driven by key sectors like FMCG, retail, e-commerce, automobile and BFSI. The e-commerce industry is projected to have growth over 20% due to optimizations in performance marketing and quick commerce customer acquisition strategies. The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act will also improve first-party data use and the creation of privacy-safe marketing models. This suggests that 2026 may be the transformative year when AI-based digital marketing analytics and digital campaigns that focus on ROI will be the new normal and a new era of accountability and results-based growth for the Indian advertising industry.
.webp)
.webp)
