Ad spend in 2019 to grow by 15% as India readies for general elections

Both GroupM, Zenith predict ad expenditure growth rates of 14-15%

Two of the country's top media agencies — GroupM and Zenith — have said advertising expenditure (adex) in calendar year 2019 will grow at the rate of 14-15 per cent as India readies for general elections in April-May. This is ahead of the 12-13 per cent growth rate forecast by the two agencies for 2018, pointing to the marketing effort that political parties are expected to put ahead of the elections.

Top advertising executives that Business Standard spoke to last week had indicated the same, saying spending on political advertising during the 2019 polls would double to Rs 30 billion