Resurfacing a September projection: India’s festive ad market seen reaching ₹66,000 crore in 2026
According to a forecast first reported in September 2026, festive advertising spending is expected to rise about 10% in September-November 2026, with FMCG, e-commerce, auto, jewellery and durables driving demand. Digital, CTV, retail media, creators and hyperlocal activations are set to gain budget share.
What happened
CaratLane · India’s festive ad market is projected to rise about 10% to Rs 66,000 crore, led by FMCG, e-commerce, auto, jewellery and durables. Brands are
Key facts
- Festive advertising expected to grow about 10% in September-November 2026
- Festive ad spending projected at Rs 66,000 crore
- 67% of Indian consumers plan to spend 25% more than usual
- 2025 festive ad spending grew 15-16% to about Rs 60,000 crore
- Digital expected to account for 40-50% of festive ad spending
- Linear TV share projected at 35-40%
- 20-30% of traditional TV budgets may shift to CTV
- Outdoor advertising expected to grow 15-20%
- Creator-led advertising expected to grow at least 30%
- Nestle India ad spending rose 40% YoY in the June quarter
- Colgate-Palmolive ad spending rose 33.7%
- Marico ad spending rose 25%
- FMCG ad spending was Rs 31,000 crore in CY25
Why this matters
Prioritize partnerships or acquisitions in retail media, creator networks, CTV measurement and hyperlocal marketing to capture the fastest-growing festive advertising budget pools.
What to watch
- September 2026 digital-video and retail-media CPM inflation versus 2025 festive levels.
- E-commerce and quick-commerce platform traffic, conversion rates and seller ad-auction intensity.
- Jewellery, auto and durables booking trends during the pre-festive period.
- Urban versus tier-2/3 consumer-demand indicators and regional-language campaign performance.
- Retailer inventory positions, delivery capacity and discount depth ahead of major festive sale events.
- Share of budgets committed to CTV, creators and hyperlocal media versus conventional television and print.
- Changes in marketplace attribution policies, retail-media measurement standards or data-access pricing.
- Lock festive media inventory and creator partnerships early, especially in high-demand CTV, retail-media and regional-language placements.
- Build a channel-level incrementality framework that measures online sales, store visits, marketplace conversion and assisted purchases rather than relying on last-click ROAS.
- Use first-party CRM, loyalty and retailer audience data to create city-, income- and category-specific festive cohorts.
- Reserve 15-25% of festive budgets for rapid reallocation into winning geographies, SKUs, creators and retail partners.
- Pair awareness campaigns with inventory-aware promotions so media pressure does not amplify out-of-stock products or low-margin discounting.
- Negotiate retail-media packages around closed-loop sales, new-to-brand buyers and category share rather than impressions alone.