The year 2022 has been pivotal for multiple sectors, coming on the back of two years of lull caused by the pandemic. Businesses and industries across the board have regained a lot of the lost ground through unwavering resilience and innovation. The festive season witnessed an overall positive sentiment among the audience, thereby giving a boost to brands’ advertising budgets. There has been an upsurge in on-ground activations as well as live concerts, providing brands with a sweet spot to leverage events to reach out to consumers effectively. 2023 will witness brands utilizing the strength of traditional as well as new-age mediums, on-ground activations, and digital ecosystem holistically to ensure a viable reach in the post-pandemic world.
Customers are looking for a more personalized experience, thereby, forcing marketing professionals to gradually shift away from the usual mass-market approaches to a more personalized strategy. Brands will continue to look to performance marketing to increase revenue numbers. In 2023, an increase in the need for big data analytics tools to learn more about one’s target audience is expected, via which brands can tailor their ads to get the attention of their TG and build relationships with them. Being relevant is what will make your digital marketing strategies successful. Another trend that will shape advertising in the coming year is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), which help automate many operations related to marketing.
Advertisers will continue to leverage short video ads, while considering the difference in maximum duration allowed on different platforms. In the coming year, 5G will give major boost to content consumption on Digital platforms attracting increasing ad spends. Even as the Television space saw a temporary setback post pandemic, with several big players cutting down on their ad spends on the traditional medium, television channels are expecting a mega trend in 2023 in the broadcasting space due to technological advancements, and 5G boom in the country. Diversified content gained major traction on OTT platforms and will continue to see heavy investment from advertisers, even as e-sports touched new levels of engagement in the country.
One of the features that customers want today is authenticity, wherein they don’t just want branded advertisements, but also real stories that they can relate to as individuals. The year 2022 has been epic for content creators and influencers, and 2023 will continue to be so. It will also be crucial for advertisers and brands harping on value-added solutions to utilize a holistic ecosystem in the year to come. Digital disruption in the audio industry too has created multiple touch points for advertisers and consumers alike. RJs have created a mark as local influencers, and the digital proliferation will further enable them to take centre-stage as their growing credibility and reach will be leveraged by brands, making them ambassadors and advocates in 2023 ensuring higher engagement.
MARKETING TRENDS
In 2022, marketers heavily relied on Digital marketing with short video platforms and branded content becoming a go-to-strategy for marketers. Brands heavily relied on influencer marketing with organic content grabbing major eyeballs on social media platforms. In 2023, 5G will give major boost to content consumption on Digital platforms attracting increasing ad spends. Marketers are also expecting a big jump in experiential marketing. In the upcoming year, brands will aggressively look forward to performance marketing to increase revenue numbers.
TECH AND DIGITAL ADOPTION
"I think the whole National Digital Health Mission which the government of India has announced and the ABHA ID will have a lot of impact because now with consumers starting to get their own health data in digital form, that can change the way insurance sector runs. I think the second thing is the adoption of technology that is now happening. Technology and digital adoption will change the way consumers will experience health insurance in the future both across a life cycle, whether it is buying or whether it is servicing.”
Mayank Bathwal
CEO, Aditya Birla Health Insurance
MEDIA PROLIFERATION
"For 2023 and onwards people have been talking about media proliferation for a long time, that there are thousands of YouTube channels and platforms and so on. The distribution proliferation means that the customer is so spoiled for choice. But on the other hand, he’s also very confused. So, first the proliferation wave will happen, where we will all be bombarded with choice and then because the brands will need to get business, they will all play the big card they have, which is price. But over time I see a consolidation and a curation opportunity that will come and that’ll happen the next three or five years I think where the proliferation is too confusing for customers. There will be intermediaries who will come to curate, and will provide customized services as required by the consumer.”
Karthi Marshan
President and Chief Marketing Officer, Kotak Mahindra Group
RETURN OF EXPERIENTIAL EVENTS
"The trend that has been building is how brands work with influencers to create meaningful content and use them as platforms for marketing. In 2023, I think, my feeling is experiential events are going to come back in a big way and I think it is already in progress. I think this would increase brand experiences, which hasn’t been the case for a few years now. Being able to interact with consumers and being able to tell the brand stories to an audience with amazing experiential marketing driven platforms is where it’s headed.”
Damyant Singh Khanoria
Chief Marketing Officer – OPPO India
GROWTH OF M-COMMERCE
"5G will bring more accessibility to consumers, more data speeds and more accessibility to content which will enable further video content consumption and streaming content that’s going to happen in rural tier 2 and tier 3 cities. The second one is definitely the growth of M-commerce. Again, coming from the accessibility that’ll come from new audiences coming on board to the entire internet revolution, getting access to the internet and high speeds through 5G. So, a lot of purchases that will start happening across categories.”
Shivam Ranjan
Head of Marketing, Motorola India
AGGRESSIVE PERFORMANCE MARKETING
"In terms of 2023, I think content driven marketing will be important to reach out to consumers who otherwise shut out ads. The other trend will be the emergence of micro influencers. Those who are not social media celebrities but have limited followers who trust them and find them credible. Digital will emerge as the undisputed king of all media with marketers resorting to performance marketing more than ever before to enhance revenues.”
Girish Hingorani
Senior General Manager & Head- Marketing, E-commerce & Modern Trade Cooling & Purification Appliances Group, Blue Star Limited
MEDIA TRENDS
2022 witnessed addressable TV and connected TV advertising becoming mainstream in India, so did social commerce, OTT and E-sports. There’s also the Web 3.0 tech and the Metaverse that is shaking things up on newer frontiers. While many brands have been quick to jump onto this bandwagon, being cognizant of its relevance to the consumer value proposition while allowing space for experimentation would help. In 2023, Metrics and measurement is going to be critical for brands going forward. While brands have been polarized between TV and Digital in recent times- and rightly so- it’s vital to consider taking a relook at the advantages of mediums like print, radio, and cinema. Influencer ROI, which has been a topic of debate for some time now, will continue to be in focus. There are potential opportunities in areas of underutilization that brands can play to their strength in the coming year, when used strategically.
ATTENTION METRICS WILL BECOME MAINSTREAM
"It is now well-established that attention is linked to better business outcomes and in the coming years, we will see more empathetic brand-building on the back of it – because attention, in essence, is a valuable currency and in a world full of choices, a necessary ingredient for effective advertising. Every rupee spent on marketing will be questioned, owing to factors like advertising clutter, increased competition, budget cuts and pressure to hit sales targets. In fluctuating environments as these, the consumer journey will have to be quantified on a much deeper level and sophisticated frameworks will need to be deployed for the full-funnel journey and not just last-click attribution.”
Kartik Sharma
Group CEO India, Omnicom Media Group
IT’S DIGITAL ALL THE WAY
"The year 2022 saw the full impact of the post-pandemic Digital revolution, with Digital media coming at par with TV in terms of Adex, and Digital IPL rights sold higher than TV. The year 2023 will continue to see the changing contours of Television from Linear TV to Connected TV, Cohort based planning (FTA vs Pay, HD, CTV), and impact viewership becoming rarer. Traditional Celeb-led campaigns also saw a swing in favour of Digital Influencer marketing. 2023 will witness a rise in Ad tech solutions across media. Consumers and Advertisers will need to make a choice between linear TV and OTT.”
Vanita Keswani
CEO, Madison Media Sigma
TRADITIONAL PLAYERS EXPAND THEIR MEDIA HORIZONS, SO DO NEW-AGE ONES
"There’s a lot more scrutiny going on in terms of the new way of advertising, with OTT coming in and a lot of big OTT players, including Amazon Prime and Netflix, becoming open to advertising. The ecosystem now presents more choices for marketers. Especially, the big brands will need to move away from and balance the traditional form of advertising with digital, wherein they are trying to build a reach via digital on TV, online videos etc. On the flipside, the digital-first players are realizing that they cannot rely on a digital-only media plan, and they need to expand their media horizon further.”
Bhaskar Jaiswal
COO, dentsu India
IMMERSIVE SHOPPING EXPERIENCES TAKES CENTER STAGE
"Social commerce boomed in 2022, playing an essential role in redesigning e-commerce advertising spends with social media platforms taking centre stage. With a sharp rise in OTT and e-sports, the focus on targeted ROIs paved way for sports marketing as an economical and foolproof way of targeting not only national but international fan base. While crafting the media plans, our planners must integrate connected and linear TV to provide optimal brand solutions for a deep dive into audiences. Today, TV viewers can be targeted at a pin code level. The trend continues from last year and Connected TV is poised to be the future, and immersive shopping experiences will take center stage.”
Priti Murthy
President, GroupM Nexus India
DIGITAL TRENDS
In FY22, Google and Meta India’s combined ad revenue had crossed 41,000 crore, which surpassed predicted projections of PMAR of total Digital AdEx of 33,070 crore. India in 2022 witnessed a surge in the emergence of Metaverse, AR and AI enabled strategies. OTT platforms gained traction like never before. Digital agencies and Ad-Tech companies are positively looking forward to increase in content consumption due to 10x speed, which 5G will provide to the consumers. Brands on the other hand are positively looking forward to innovate their strategies of brand messaging using high end technologies.
SURGE IN LIVE FIRST CREATORS
"In 2022, creator monetization was one of the biggest growth drivers for the short video and social media industry. Not only through advertising and marketing but also with virtual gifting over live streaming, creators are able to generate sustainable income. In the last few months, we have noted that creators catering to a niche audience are more successful in monetizing their content.
In 2023, live streaming will go mainstream and there will soon be creators who will be ‘live-first’ creators. More ad spends will start moving towards short format video inventory because they are snackable content and creates engaging and impactful brand storytelling through top short video influencers.”
Ankush Sachdeva
Co-founder and CEO, ShareChat and Moj
INCREASE IN 4K CONTENT CONSUMPTION
"Streaming platforms have been experimentative and innovative in bundling their offerings to suit the needs of the varied user cohorts. Premium viewing engineered with 4K and Dolby Atmos for enhanced experiences has been on demand with a seamless app experience. Smart living and Connected TVs have become a part of Indian households and are encouraging the family viewing phenomenon. In the future, this will fuel viewership for 4K content, demand for 4K plan upgrades, and increased consumption of 4K content, especially in metro and tier 1 markets. It is expected that the overall 4K content consumption will get doubled in 2023, according to industry reports.”
Manish Kalra
Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India
METAVERSE TO BE CO-RELATABLE
"For the year 2022, we saw a huge upside in the way in-game advertising was being treated. Earlier it used to be only brands which were experimenting. I think the adaptation happened to a large degree. This year also because we were able to bring in-game programmatically, the whole Metaverse will enter in a more co-relatable way, not sort of distant stuff for a lot of end users. So, that moment will happen than expected. The adaptation of gaming will continue. Gaming no more is a niche of any sort.”
Vaibhav Odhekar
COO and Co-Founder, POKKT
GROWTH IN LIVE COMMERCE
"India is poised to surpass the US to become the second-largest shopper base globally in the next two years, and Flipkart being India’s homegrown e-commerce platform in the country will be the catalyst to this growth. In our endeavour to bring the next 300-400 million untapped consumers online, we are incorporating innovative tech interventions and customer-focused initiatives in our strategies. Engaging mediums like live commerce and influencer marketing are being widely adopted and have shown marvellous results for us. Live commerce is also a key driver of the growth trajectory with more than seven million consumers and many brands participating in over 1,000 live streams.”
Prabh Singh
Senior Vice President, Growth (User & Ads), Flipkart
YEAR OF CONTENT CREATORS
"The year 2023 will be more about YouTube shorts. Content creators are looking forward to experimenting more with this tool. As of now, creators are making money from Instagram when it comes to short-form content, but the latest development by YouTube is going to give tough competition to Instagram. Agencies, marketers and tech companies will go bullish on data-enabled content as it will help in ascertaining how we can build consumer and business intelligence. Undoubtedly, Instagram Reels has been at the top of the list for this year. It acted as an effective medium for brands, businesses and creators to connect with their target audience.”
Shradha Agarwal
Co-Founder & CEO, Grapes
RISE OF WEB 3.0
"2022 has been a year of ups & downs, while the first half saw Digital Brands and the Industry on the whole, growing at a very fast pace, with a unicorn coming in every 9 days. The second half of the year saw corrections happening globally across all critical industries, thanks to the geo-political issues globally. For 2023, Web 3.0 will become a reality with Metaverse making a major impact on the Digital ad spends. While there were some cuts in the Digital Ad-Spends from startups. Both Traditional Businesses and Startups, have already started ad spending on Metaverse Platform to leverage this upcoming technology.”
Nitin Gupta
CEO, Xapads Media
PROMINENCE OF ZERO-PARTY DATA
"Still adapting from the radical, but essential digital transformation post-Covid, 2022 was a year of growth & innovation in SaaS. Brands have increasingly been identifying ways to harness the power of AI to build human connections. This has been by way of delivering 360-degree personalized Omnichannel experiences towards converting shoppers into buyers. A new era of zero-party data has dawned. With zero-party data, brands will be able to create better customer experiences, foster a profit-centric marketing approach driven by better user experience and personalized marketing campaigns, deliver sustainable and organic growth and therefore solve the problem of data accuracy. Most importantly, zero-party data will help customers perceive the value of exchanging their data.”
Kalpit Jain
Group CEO, Netcore Cloud
ADOPTION OF AVOD MODEL
"The most defining key trend for the video streaming industry was the emergence of the power of local content and the growth of unique content from Southern states. In 2023, sustainable monetization strategies will probably be identified and adopted. The next ample growth opportunity for the platforms will be through adopting AVOD models. There is a rising interest among national advertisers to reach out to hyperlocal audiences and embracing the AVOD model can allow the same. Also, increasing influence of local content will continue in 2023 and will gain more prominence among the audience.”
Ajit Thakur
CEO, aha
CREATIVE TRENDS
From a lot of talk around Metaverse and NFT which ultimately did not deliver, 2022 saw performance advertising and its creative use play a big role in various campaigns. The industry still more or less banks on buying big media spaces and influencers, even as technology is primarily used to drive revenues through Adtech and Martech, rather than to solve complex business problems for brands. However, 2023 might just change all of that. With new technologies emerging ceaselessly, and a growing market demand, the coming year promises to keep advertising professionals on their toes as they keep an eye on any change happening in the industry to thrive.
EVOLVING WITH CHANGING TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURES
"Honestly speaking, I don’t know if there were any trends that were unique to 2022 other than the return of brands to on-ground events and activation. Most of the trends are a progression of what started when the pandemic hit us. Advertising as we knew it is evolving at the speed of technology and culture. I don’t know what it is going to be in the coming year, but I do know one thing - it will be what we make of it. The traditionalists will make it what it was. The futurists will try to make it far out. Maybe, the answer lies in the middle path. I say maybe, because to quote an old phrase ‘round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows’.”
Bobby Pawar
Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, Havas Group India
CREATIVE AI AND ‘BACK TO THE BASICS’
"The big trend that worked in 2022 was MarTech. Teams that bet their energy and effort on deploying purposeful Martech saw disciplined increases in revenue. In 2023, how we perceive technology as an industry, will fundamentally change and become the core of all creative output. The intersection and integration of large-scale commercial brands using technology to build a connected and seamless customer experience will help us create truly integrated brands. Many exciting Creative-AI prospects, like Dall-E and the recently launched ChatGPT, will take shape and expand our horizons and allow us to see and understand the endless possibilities. This ‘Creative AI’ will help teams build connected journeys faster.”
Harshil Karia
CEO & Founder, Schbang
AI, METAVERSE AND HOPEFULLY HUMOUR
"While Celebrity Comebacks, Purpose and Manifestos defined the Creative space in 2022, the trends that will dominate the segment in 2023 are AI – They’ve already started creating art, music, and conversations. I shudder what’s next? Metaverse, 2022 was just the sampler, and the main course will be served in 2023. Lastly, humour – more a hope than a prediction. We could always do with more laughs.”
Rahul Mathew
Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group
BETTING BIG ON CREATIVITY
"Indian advertising feels ALIVE. 2022 saw so many large brands taking big bets on creativity and I expect that to continue into next year. Creativity is not a game of error prevention and I’m thrilled to see agreement on that from across the board. It was India’s biggest year at Cannes Lions and the positive rub off of that event is being seen through the work that’s followed it. 2023, I hope, will be more of this, plus work that’s influenced by the changing internet, especially Generative AI and social tokens.”
PG Aditiya
Co-founder, Talented
MARTECH SOLUTION AND AUTOMATED ADVERTISING PLATFORMS
"2022 was a banner year for purpose-led advertising that harnessed new technology to tackle age-old problems, while creating new platforms along the way. It was also the year when brands began to tap into the full potential of AI. In 2023, MarTech enabled solutions will lead the way with a host of new tools and approaches. Automated advertising platforms will also be hard to ignore in the coming year as more brands opt for the latest developments in the space. And lastly, we will see more innovations on the metaverse.”
Vikash Chemjong
CCO, Cheil India
TELEVISION TRENDS
The Television industry witnessed a major shift post pandemic with OTT platforms taking over the viewership. Several FMCG brands cut down advertising spends on television while in 2023, television channels are expecting a shift in trends in the broadcasting space due to technological advancements and 5G boom in the country.
PERSONALIZED TV CONTENT
"The TVOD trend has made most consumers used to a viewing that is at their convenience and more personal. Hence, a move towards personalization in the broadcasting space would be a growing trend that the industry would be looking out for. With an aim to provide a more on demand content viewing experience to the audience, innovations in this respect would build some salience in the upcoming years. With the growing technological strength and the 5G boom, the broadcast industry will also move towards digitally backed operations where AI will give insights into deeper consumer behaviour helping the industry further build sound content strategies.”
N.P. Singh
Managing Director and CEO, SPNI
NEED FOR BIG TICKET IPRS
"The content on television is constantly evolving. In 2022, we saw a lot of growth in the free-to-air channels and they have a different mix of content as compared to paid TV. Sports is still consumed largely on TV. For 2023 what I see happening is that in terms of paid TV, there has to be a lot of big ticket content IPRs like KBC which is compelling and engaging the audience, and in terms of free TV, there needs to be better investments in content. Television is at the heart of Indian audiences, and a television set is very dear to them.”
Kailasnath Adhikari
Promoter and Business Head, Sri Adhikari Brothers
TV NEWS TO BE SUPREME
News is all about putting the five Ws to work every day in the most honest way. There will always be talks about competing media and how people are spending a lot of time watching content on their phones. But with OTT channels such as Netflix, you watch your favourite show all by yourself. But TV news sparks discussions and is thus best watched on the big screen with others. It is not something to be watched in isolation, in most cases. Thus, news on TV will always be relevant.”
Rahul Shivshankar
Editorial Director & Editor-in- Chief, Times Now
IMPACT ON REVENUE
"Distinct trend that I have noticed
in 2022 is that some fairly major Direct To Consumer category brands have pruned their spends on television. While I think in 2023, economic environment is likely to continue to have an impact on revenue. As regional OTT platforms grow, time spent on social media platforms will also significantly increase. YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Instagram, Facebook will keep content viewership fragmented even more.”
Rani Reddy
Director TV & Digital Business and Brand Communications, Sakshi Media Group
PRINT TRENDS
The year 2022 was a difficult one for the print industry, with newsprint prices reaching as high as US $ 1,050 per tonne, increase in fuel, metal, and energy prices, and sanctions imposed on Russia making the newspaper business unprofitable. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulation [ABC] figures, regional/vernacular newspapers suffered lesser damage from the Covid-19 pandemic than English language newspapers. However, with newsprint prices falling slightly in the last quarter, the print industry is expected to recover to pre-covid numbers in circulation in the year 2023.
THE RETURN OF SMALL ADVERTISERS
"I think consumer spending would rise in physical experiences, which would translate to higher spends by categories such as Real Estate, Automobiles, Travel & Tourism, Retail, Clothing, Appliances and consumer durables. The year 2022 saw the return of advertisers with deeper pockets and 2023 would see the return of the smaller advertisers, as well, i.e. local retail, travel, salons, restaurants coming back to mainstream print advertising. The current flux in social media and the growing trust deficit around existing digital platforms, will further strengthen the need & relevance for print in a marketing and consumer context. Print industry would see the return of the prodigal son, i.e., the tech layoffs would result in home coming of talent.”
Sivakumar Sundaram
Chairman, Executive Committee, BCCL
HYPERLOCAL ADVERTISING OPTIONS
"There has been a marked shift from new age advertising media to traditional media, particularly Print Media due to the hyperlocal and bespoke advertising options it provides. Within Print, the Indian Language newspapers have been dominating the landscape. We believe that the advertising ratio of newspapers will tilt towards Indian language newspapers in 2023. The start-up ecosystem, of late, is witnessing reduction in funding and thereby new age companies look to reduce cash burn and as a result, we are hopeful of tech professionals gravitating towards traditional sectors. Print media, with its omni-channel presence is looking to be a beneficiary of this shift.”
Girish Agarwal
Promoter and Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group
NEWSPRINT PRICE STABILIZATION
"Print industry is buffeted by a steep rise in newsprint costs which is affecting business models in the past one year. Going forward in 2023 though newsprint prices are expected to stabilize, yet I feel publishers will try and increase the reader (subscription) revenue share as advertisement revenue will continue to be volatile in uncertain market conditions. I also see an increasing focus on integrated selling - offering solutions across media platforms.”
Dhruba Mukherjee
Chief Executive Officer, Anandabazar Patrika
PROFITS TO REMAIN UNDER PRESSURE
"In the aftermath of COVID, the notion that print death is imminent had accelerated. While the sharp drop in circulation in India’s metros could have had a part to play in this, the media fraternity must look beyond metros and assess markets separately. A take away for business during the pandemic was the need for diversified revenue. Media companies will have a renewed focus on media properties, events, webinars and solution based offers. In 2023, Print profits will continue to be under pressure. From the revenue side, it has been challenging to improve advertising yields.”
Varghese Chandy
Vice President Marketing and Advertising Sales, Malayala Manorama
INTEGRATION OF PRINT AND DIGITAL
"Integration of print and Digital would be the key. Comparing print to digital or social media alone, print scores remarkably high in audience attention and brand memory. Print’s significance has grown as a reliable alternative. The container holding the content is the media. As a result, a media organisation has a number of buckets that contain various sorts of content that cater to various audiences. Total revenue is to be assessed aggregating the revenues of all revenue streams.”
Devika Shreyams Kumar
Vice President- Operations, Mathrubhumi Group
RADIO/ OOH/ EXPERIENTIAL TRENDS
The OOH, Experiential marketing, and Radio industries have been evolving, showcasing resilience and adaptability to stay relevant. The year 2022 saw the OOH, Experiential marketing, and Radio industries come back with a bang with participation from different categories of brands as the post-pandemic ‘digital fatigue’ took a toll on brands. Brands emerged out of the pandemic-induced virtual events shell with a renewed appetite to accept, embrace, and integrate advanced technology in their marketing efforts. Whether it’s an anamorphic billboard showcasing different facets of a product, virtual reality driven interactivities to engage attendees at conferences, or using hundreds of synchronized drones to unveil a product, we’ve seen brands harness the power of advanced technologies recently and this trend will only get stronger in the coming year.
The year also saw the Radio industry build a robust repertoire for itself by leveraging regional & local advertising on the back of various innovations. In the Outdoor space, brands experimented with different innovations, ideas and concepts across properties i.e. digital billboards, airports and metros, establishing that OOH will remain relevant and the pandemic was just a glitch.
GOING VOCAL WITH LOCAL
"2022 saw a definitive shift towards brands, both big and small, harnessing the power of going local and regional in their approach. Remarkable volume of growth was driven by Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. National brands are also beginning to use radio like a local medium. In the New Year, Audio digital will no longer remain as an afterthought for all the stakeholders and its continued upsurge in consumption is testament of it. Programmatic advertising will gain momentum as well. The digital proliferation will further enable RJs to take centre stage as local influencers, even as their growing credibility and reach will be leveraged by brands, making them ambassadors and advocates in 2023.”
Abraham Thomas
CEO, Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd.
THE FUTURE IS DIGITAL
"Radio has the power to reach the last mile, even as it imparts information to the masses. Especially with elections, radio can assist mobilize voters. Lately, the Indian music trend is shifting towards independent artists and new sounds in music, which is growing tremendously in the country, away from Bollywood. The trend will carry over into 2023. There has been an incessant demand and supply for the non-film genre, and radio will continue to be an enabler to the indie artists and non-film related music. Radio must not remain the only analogue medium in a digital world. The future of radio is digital.”
Nisha Narayanan
COO & Director, Red FM & Magic FM
RJ INFLUENCERS ON THE RISE
"One of the trends that re-defined radio in 2022 and will carry forward into next year is a deeper amalgamation of radio plus digital offerings. The pandemic provided the radio industry with a much-required opportunity to strengthen its presence across digital platforms and social media to build more profound connections with the audience. With a rising number of brand marketers harping on influencer engagement strategy, RJ influencers have played a key role in amplifying audience engagement, and have added new revenue streams for the radio industry. This is an opportune time for content creators and radio stations to augment their reach among their audience using the power of radio and vice versa.”
Ashit Kukian
CEO, Radio City
LEVERAGING PROGRAMMATIC DIGITAL OOH
"The biggest trend for 2022 was ‘Re-bounce & Revive’ as the OOH industry returned with marketing budgets. We have experienced the finest festive season after the pre-covid scenario with greatest ever boost in ad spends. As people eagerly stepped out of their home, brands understood that their digital fatigue is for real. The big trend of 2023 will be Programmatic Digital OOH (pDOOH). As there is an increase in the Digital OOH inventory across the country, there is a need for standardization to enter the next level of growth. The standardization will come with a systematic selling and buying approach for digital outdoor media with the help of pDOOH.”
Aman Nanda
Chief Strategy Officer, Times OOH
MINDFUL EXECUTION OF EXPERIENCES
"This year, apart from advanced technologies such as AR and VR, relatively smaller yet meaningful interactive digital experiences that included audiences were highly appreciated. Such digital touchpoints will remain a fixture for the next few years. One theme that remained consistent throughout 2022 was executing experiences mindfully. COVID may have sent usage of the QR Code into top gear, but this year, experiential has proven that QR Code’s practicality is not just limited to retail and restaurants. It has been a highly effective medium to go paperless and digitize branding, as well as enhance interactive experiences. The audience wants more authentic relatable engagements, and brands will have to become more human, empathetic, and accessible.”
Sameer Tobaccowala
Chief Executive Officer, Shobiz Havas
GREATER STRESS ON ECO-FRIENDLY GREEN EVENTS
"2022 saw a return to on-ground events with a digital variation. More niche and focused events across sectors including launches, corporate as well as weddings, with budget conscious spending. In 2023, events will go green and there will be a greater awareness to ensure eco-friendly practices. Bigger and brighter will continue to be staved off by the need for more meaningful engagement with a high accent on design and production values. Government driven activity will step up given G 20 and the elections scheduled for 2024.”
Sanjoy Roy
Managing Director, Teamwork Films
ESPORTS TRENDS
Esports in India touched a new benchmark in 2022, BGMI tournament was telecasted live on Star Sports which gained high viewership on TV. For the very first time, an Indian esports team, Global Esports, has been listed as a franchise with Riot Game’s new initiative under its prominent FPS game Valorant. The e-sports industry in India is looking for a major push, with The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting setting up an Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) Promotion Task Force to enable Indian players in the sector to tap at least 5% of $800 billion industry. Esports was officially recognized in the country and will now be under the “multisports event” category in India under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and sports.
AI & AR FOR GAMING
"For 2023, we are all waiting to see how better speed, accuracy and the quality of gaming will elevate the consumer experience with the extensive roll out of 5G across India. We’re looking at digging deeper into AI, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) for a seamless immersive experience for players, and of course, we have the revolution the Metaverse is waiting to bring about. We have already seen a glimpse of the many innovative ways brands from the automobile and FMCG sectors as well as service aggregators are adopting to target esports athletes. Going forward, we expect a huge surge in this, so, definitely, interesting times ahead.”
Akshat Rathee
Co-Founder and Managing Director, NODWIN Gaming
E-SPORTS IN SCHOOL CURRICULUM
"With e-sports becoming more mainstream, we will see it growing at the grassroots levels with many schools and colleges adopting e-sports at competitive and representative levels. Lastly, we expect to see many more Indian esports teams participating in international tournaments and winning globally. 2023 will be a truly breakout year for the Indian esports ecosystem. The year 2022 was perhaps one of the biggest years for Indian Esports, recording multiple tournaments around popular games like BGMI and Valorant. Game publishers, Streaming Platforms, Esports organizers and Esports teams came together to create a very healthy ecosystem, collectively driving the segment’s growth.”
Piyush Kumar
Founder & CEO, Rooter
5G TO BOOST E-SPORTS
"2023 is going to be a massive year for the e-sports industry with the market expected to touch USD 2.5 billion. 5G will be beneficial for gaming and live streaming as it will provide mobile devices with faster speeds, ultra-low latency, better reliability, and optimized battery usage. All of these will elevate the gaming experience and further help transition the esports sector. Another trend would be that publishers have already started organising more nation specific official tournaments. For instance, currently, we are helping NBA build grassroot activations to eventually develop a league.”
Ashwin Suresh
Founder, Loco
NON-ENDEMIC BRANDS ENTER GAMING
"For the year 2022, the key point for me would be the AVGC set up by the government and most of the top media houses accepting e-sports as a market. I think non endemic brands have started entering e-sports field and this would continue to grow in 2023. Lot of FDI is being pumped directly or indirectly into the Indian e-sports sector, which is bound to grow. For the first time in the history of FPS and Indian esports, a team (Global Esports)got selected for franchise and the results in that tournament will impact Indian esports in a huge way.”
Manoj Kasyap
Owner of Velocity Gaming
HEAVY GROWTH IN PC AUDIENCE
"Firstly, we saw the growth of PC games and the PC audience. It was not just on the e-sports side with VALORANT but also on the content creation side with games like GTA V, Modern Warfare, and Minecraft. The year also exposed the industry’s dependency on just a few mobile esports games. After a period of certainty we will see new games rise up in India next year. We at Skyesports are already looking to focus on multiple games like Pokemon Unite, Dota 2, and CSGO.”
Shiva Nandy
Founder and CEO, Skyesports
