India’s festive advertising market is projected to grow by up to 15% this year, reaching ₹60,000–62,000 crore during the 2026 festive season, up from roughly ₹53,000 crore in 2025, according to Datum Intelligence. The festive period is now expected to account for 34–35% of India’s total advertising market, compared with 30.5% in 2022.
The headline number matters, but the real change is structural. Digital is expected to take 67.8% of the festive ad wallet, while television is pegged at 16.1%, print at 10.7%, and out-of-home, radio and cinema together at 5.4%.
For marketing teams, that means the festive plan is no longer a single medium decision but a sequence of moments built around intent and transactions.
Budgets chase the moment of purchase
Priti Murthy, president, client solutions, WPP Media South Asia, said festive advertising should remain buoyant on healthy demand, but “the bigger shift is not just how much brands spend, but where and how they spend it.” Media money is increasingly tied to consumer intent and the transaction, not just mass reach.
That shift is visible across channels:
- Quick-commerce platforms could generate up to 40% of their annual ad revenue in the six-week festive window.
- Digital could cross 60% of festive spends when CTV, creators, retail media and quick commerce are combined.
- FMCG, e-commerce, consumer durables, auto, technology and fashion are expected to stay active.
Brands build hybrid plans
FMCG companies are expanding budgets, but they are changing the composition more than the headline. Rajeev Jain, senior vice president, corporate marketing, DS Group, said festive marketing is “not about spending more; it is about maximising the impact of every investment.” The company is increasing CTV spends as NCCS A and B+ audiences move to CTV, e-commerce and quick commerce.
epigamia and Bikaji are directing incremental money toward digital, social, creator-led content and retail media. Neha Rao, VP marketing at Bikaji Foods, said quick commerce is a key investment area because of its growing role in discovery, trial and immediate consumption.
Other categories are following. Casio India plans a significant increase over 2025, using OOH around Durga Puja and Diwali before digital-first campaigns and creator partnerships aimed at Gen Z. Cantabil Retail India is lifting its advertising and marketing investment to about 2% to ride festive and wedding demand. Platinum Guild International India is using TV and OOH for salience, digital and CTV for relevance, creators for discovery and retail media for conversion.
Fashion and lifestyle lead festive purchase intent at 73%, while consumer electronics is at 51%, with electronics intent up three percentage points, Datum Intelligence found.
Sequence spending before peaks
The old Diwali burst is turning into a nine-week marketing window. Analysts recommend testing creative from Independence Day, locking the bulk of budgets in Q2 and reserving a portion for the final three weeks, when quick-commerce ad rates can rise 30–40%. Murthy added that the smarter strategy is to “sequence the spend better, build desire early, capture intent when it peaks and convert closer to purchase.”
Measurement is tightening too. Datum Intelligence found 72.9% of programmatic mobile buyers always or usually measure channel-level returns even on CPM buys, and 63.9% have shifted budgets to independent channels in the past year. The festive opportunity is bigger, but the incremental rupee is being deployed with more precision.
Source: ETBrandEquity.com
