How will the shift in South Asia's advertising market affect India?
India's advertising market is projected to grow to Rs 2 lakh crore by 2026 India's advertising market is expected to experience strong growth, with total expenditure projected to rise from Rs 1.85 lakh crore in 2025 to approximately Rs 2 lakh crore in 2026. This expansion is heavily driven by the digital sector, which currently accounts for 60% of the market. Key growth areas include quick commerce advertising, which is growing at around 50%, and retail media, which now accounts for nearly 20% of ad spend.
- Effect
- Strong positive
- How direct
- 2 steps, all reported
- When
- Within months
- The story
- Gone quiet
How it reaches India
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Rajeev Jain, senior vice president of corporate marketing at DS Group, discussed the current advertising market context in South Asia. He stated that digital media now accounts for 60% of India's advertising market. The total advertising expenditure in India is projected to rise from Rs 1.85 lakh crore (approximately $19 billion) in 2025 to around Rs 2 lakh crore (approximately $21 billion) in 2026.
The full event1independent outlet -
Rajeev Jain, senior vice president of corporate marketing at DS Group, analyzed the evolving advertising landscape in South Asia, noting that the consumer journey has become extremely fragmented and attention spans are reducing.
1 report connects these two. Brind only summarizes; follow a link to read the reporting itself.
- afaqs.com Sep 19
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Everything about Rajeev Jain -
Based on the DCODE 2.0 playbook, Jain's analysis estimates India's total advertising expenditure will rise from Rs 1.85 lakh crore in 2025 to around Rs 2 lakh crore in 2026. Digital advertising is specifically expected to grow 11.1% in 2026, compared to 3.1% for television.
1 report connects these two. Brind only summarizes; follow a link to read the reporting itself.
- afaqs.com Sep 19
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The facts so far
As reported. Each one links to where it comes from.
- Digital media accounts for 60% of India's advertising market.afaqs.com
- India's total advertising expenditure is estimated to rise from Rs 1.85 lakh crore in 2025 to around Rs 2 lakh crore in 2026.afaqs.com
- Digital advertising is expected to grow 11.1% in 2026, compared with 3.1% for television.afaqs.com
- Quick commerce advertising is growing at around 50%.afaqs.com
- Around 42 crore Indians, or 29% of the population, are now using AI tools.afaqs.com
Why it matters
The advertising market is a critical barometer of consumer confidence and digital adoption within India. The projected growth indicates a significant expansion of the digital economy, driven by shifts toward retail media and quick commerce platforms. This growth suggests increased investment opportunities and a fundamental restructuring of how brands interact with Indian consumers.
This trend is part of a larger regional shift where the consumer journey is collapsing into a single digital session, forcing marketers to move away from traditional channel-led planning. The rise of AI tools among Indian consumers also signals a major technological transformation that will redefine search and content discovery across the country.
What we don't know yet
- How will the increasing reliance on AI platforms affect the cost of acquiring traffic for brands?
- What specific regulatory changes might accompany the growth of retail and quick commerce advertising in India?
What would change this answer
Reporting
- afaqs.comSep 19
Keep going
Brind's analysis is written by AI from the reporting linked above and can be wrong. It explains possible effects; it is not investment advice.