The Rs 30k crore question: What explains FMCG's continued reign over Indian advertising?

Statista's latest figures peg FMCG's contribution to Indian ad spends at over Rs 30,000 crore this year—accounting for 31% of total advertising expenditure. That’s not a market trend; it’s a market establishment. In an era where everyone’s chasing performance metrics and AI-driven optimisation, the sector that sells soap and snacks is quietly running a masterclass in visibility, adaptability, and ROI.

And the numbers back it. India's total advertising industry touched approximately Rs 1.2 trillion in 2024. Digital, unsurprisingly, led the charge at 49%, followed by television at 28%, and print at 17%. While the media mix diversified, one thing stayed constant—FMCG was spending the most, and that by a long run.

Pulkit Narayan, Founder and CEO of DangleAds, breaks it down, saying, “With FMCG brands leading the way in ad spends by investing over Rs 30,000 crore and accounting for 31% of India’s total advertising spend in 2024, the sector is seeing measurable returns. Many brands achieve 2-3x ROI by combining programmatic advertising with regional customisation, influencer marketing, and omnichannel touchpoints.”

According to Narayan, the growth isn’t just spending—it’s strategic. “Digital is definitely leading the way. This includes social media platforms, digital video, and programmatic advertising, which are highly important for FMCG brands. Mobile traffic now makes up 80% of engagement, and regional language content is becoming key to deeper market reach.”

That reach is translating into something more valuable: resonance. “There’s a shift happening. It’s no longer about just casting a wide net. FMCG advertisers are seeking to resonate with audiences on a deeper level—through personalised, interactive and targeted ads. Engagement is the new reach,” says Narayan.

Shradha Agarwal, Co-founder and Global CEO of Grapes Worldwide says that FMCG brands are leveraging opportunities for sustained visibility, category growth and brand recall rather than solely focusing on immediate sales.

"They aim to drive consistent visibility across markets, which in turn appears to support steady sales growth and stronger distribution outcomes. When media strategies are formed by data-led targeting, cultural relevance and planned storytelling, the returns might not be instant but they build sustained brand preference over time," she says.

It's a sentiment echoed across the ecosystem. Gopa Menon, Chief Growth Officer at Successive Digital, points out that while average ROI numbers are useful, they're also reductive. “To talk about an aggregated ROI figure for the entire FMCG sector’s advertising spend is challenging. It's a complex interplay—brand building, sales uplift, market share, and customer lifetime value.”

Still, some directional insights emerge. “Sales uplift remains a crucial metric. For instance, a beverage company might see a 12-15% increase in sales during a summer campaign that combines heavy TV and digital outreach. Similarly, advertising contributes to 1–2% market share gains in competitive subcategories. And for new product launches, ROI is often about adoption, trial, and repeat rates,” Menon explains.

He adds that the best FMCG marketers aren’t choosing between reach and engagement—they’re building ecosystems that deliver both. “Performance marketing campaigns now represent 54% of digital spend. The rest still goes to brand-building, but that too is becoming more accountable. Social commerce and quick commerce channels are showing especially strong conversion metrics, particularly in impulse categories,” says Menon.

In essence, the new FMCG playbook reads like this: lead with awareness, convert with precision.

And convert they have. According to an anonymous media planner working with multiple large FMCG accounts, average sector ROI ranges between 2.1x and 3.4x, with personal care products leading the pack (3.2x–3.8x), food and beverages in the mid-range (2.4x–2.9x), and home care products delivering more modest returns (1.9x–2.5x).

Rahul Vengalil, Co-founder & CEO of tgthr, highlights that FMCG brands will continue to be the dominant spenders in Indian advertising across 2024 and beyond, driven by the category’s high consumption frequency and competitive intensity. “Unlike auto, jewellery, or fashion—where ad spends peak around specific seasons or events—FMCG is an ‘always-on’ category,” he says. "Whether it’s biscuits, shampoos, soaps, or cleaning supplies, these are monthly or even daily-use products, and the battle for mindshare is constant.”

He notes that even within a single category like biscuits, there are “five major brands and many smaller players,” each targeting multiple price points—premium, mid, and value. “This makes it essential for brands to advertise consistently across the year to maintain saliency and consumer consideration,” he adds.

Indeed, what’s remarkable is how this transformation has mirrored the structural evolution of Indian advertising itself. Back in 2019, television ruled with over Rs 30,000 crore in ad revenues. Today, digital is projected to have surpassed Rs 53,000 crore by FY 2024, and is expected to touch nearly Rs 99,000 crore by 2025. The tectonic plates have shifted—and FMCG brands aren’t just riding the wave, they’re surfing it on AI-powered boards.

As previously reported by exchange4media, brands like HUL and Reckitt Benckiser, who continue to dominate top advertiser lists, are blending the old and the new with flair. HUL’s ad spend hit an estimated Rs 4,400–4,600 crore in 2024. Reckitt upped its own budget from Rs 1,300–1,500 crore in 2023 to Rs 1,900–2,100 crore this year. And while TV still gets a healthy chunk of these budgets—especially in heartland India—digital is where the payment options are swooshing across notifications.

“Mobile advertising and CTV are becoming central to FMCG's advertising strategies. Both allow for accurate balancing of reach and engagement,” Narayan says. The holy grail is no longer just visibility. It’s actionable visibility—ads that aren’t just seen, but clicked, shared, and remembered.

FMCG’s scale also allows it to do what many sectors can’t: experiment at volume. Several brands are already using generative AI to spin hundreds of hyper-local ad creatives per campaign cycle. And these aren’t shot-in-the-dark creatives. They're being A/B tested in real time, optimised on performance, and refined into tighter, higher-performing cohorts.

As Menon points out, “The most mature FMCG players are not choosing between reach and engagement but rather crafting ecosystems where broad awareness campaigns feed into highly targeted engagement opportunities, creating measurable pathways to purchase across the consumer journey.”

But even the best-oiled machines can overheat, and pathways can go astray. As with every other thing in the world, advertising is becoming more expensive. With everyone bidding for similar inventory, especially during seasonal peaks, the cost per outcome is rising. And attribution is a mess. FMCG brands are now demanding clearer, platform-agnostic measurement.

In other words, 2025 may be the year of accountability. With over Rs 30,000 crore  on the table, no brand can afford fuzzy outcomes.

The bigger story, though, might be this: while tech companies, apps, and ecomm giants are still wrestling with their post-pandemic identities, FMCG has doubled down on what it does best—being everywhere, all the time. And now, being intelligent about it too.

Vengalil emphasises that FMCG spend is also a barometer of consumer sentiment and economic health. “Everyone needs food, hygiene, and household supplies. The ad spends from these sectors reflect not just marketing priorities but broader national demand patterns,” he concludes, reinforcing FMCG’s role as both a business engine and an economic indicator.