Ad spends to grow only by 7.4% in 2013: Pitch

“You might wonder why not less than 7.4 per cent?” asked Sam Balasara, Chairman and MD, Madison World while he presented the top lines of the report. “Because we are not pessimist. We expect new advertisers, new marketers and new categories to enter the media advertising space. Rural consumption is going up and modern trade has increased.” Balsara further said that advertisers have now understood that sacrificing on brand building in a tough year is not the right option. Balsara pointed out that since the word for 2013 too is ‘Cautious’.

Balsara pointed out that India is the 12th largest advertising market in the world and the fourth fastest growing market on advertising grounds. However, the country still continues to be under advertised. Indian advertising contributes only 0.4 per cent to the annual GDP. Global economy has been slow and some categories individually witnessed a slow down too thus affecting their share in media advertising. “High advertising spends in last quarter failed to drive sales. Also, we expect advertisers to divert money in discount sales and promotions,” added Balsara.