HUL stays top advertiser despite TV ad volume decline in 2024

Television ad volumes in 2024 declined by 4% compared to the previous year. While Q2 of the calendar year registered a 6% growth over Q1, Q4 saw a 6% drop from Q3, signalling fluctuations in advertiser spending.

According to TAM data, Hindustan Unilever led TV advertising in 2024 with a 16% share of ad volumes, followed by Reckitt Benckiser (India), Godrej Group, P&G, and Cadbury India. Other key advertisers included ITC, GlaxoSmithKline, Wipro, Pepsi Foods, and Reliance Industries. Collectively, the top 10 advertisers accounted for 45% of total ad volumes during the year.

Five of the top 10 brands on TV in terms of ad volume belonged to Reckitt Benckiser (India), while three were from Hindustan Unilever. Harpic Power Plus 10x Advanced saw a massive surge, jumping over 60 positions to claim the top rank. Additionally, two new brands entered the list compared to 2023.

Overall, the food and beverages sector led TV ad volumes in 2024 with a 21% share, followed by personal care/personal hygiene (16%), services (13%), household products (9%), and personal healthcare (8%). Other key sectors included laundry (6%), hair care (5%), building, industrial and materials/equipment (5%), auto (3%), and banking/finance/investment. The top five sectors retained their rankings from 2023, while laundry was the only sector to see a positive rank shift. Collectively, the top 10 sectors accounted for 88% of total ad volumes in 2024.

When it comes to categories, during the year, toilet soaps, toilet/floor cleaners, and washing powders/liquids retained their top three positions in ad volumes, contributing 6%, 4%, and 4%, respectively, similar to 2023. Rubs and balms climbed to the 8th position from 11th in 2023, marking a notable rank shift. Collectively, the top 10 categories accounted for 32% of total ad volumes during the year.

Over 180 categories recorded positive growth, with paints leading at 51%, followed by washing powders/liquids (11%), rubs and balms (20%), two-wheelers (24%), and e-commerce - online shopping (16%). Other high-growth categories included cement (19%), sanitary napkins (39%), vitamins/tonics/health supplements (25%), travel & tourism (100%), and beauty accessories/products, which saw an unprecedented 303x increase in ad volumes.

There were also 4.0K+ exclusive advertisers on TV during Y 2024 compared to Y 2023. Among them were Velnik India, Canva, Express Broadcasting, Comfort Grid Technologies, Kirloskar Brothers, L N Gym, PhonePe Wealth Broking, Waterways Leisure Tourism, TravelXP India, and Reliance BP Mobility, reflecting a diverse mix of sectors investing in television advertising.  

General Entertainment Channels (GEC) remained the leading TV genre, maintaining a 30% share of ad volumes in 2023 and 2024. The top five channel genres collectively contributed over 92% of total ad volumes during both years, highlighting their dominance in television advertising.