Festive Ad Budgets Rise 10–15% at FMCG Brands, but Spending Gets Sharper

With urban demand soft and costs high, advertisers are asking each rupee to work harder, according to agency and brand executives.

Indian FMCG brands are raising festive advertising budgets by around 10–15% over last year, with some of the biggest advertisers going up to 20%. The increase comes even as input costs rise and consumer spending stays cautious. The message from executives is that brands want to stay visible but are far more selective about where and how they spend.

Who is spending more

The September-quarter results of several FMCG majors show the trend, according to the report:

Anil Solanki, Media Lead at dentsuX, expects the sector’s festive ad spends to grow 10–15%, with some leading brands at up to 20%. He said the approach is more calibrated, with tighter media allocation, regional targeting and a focus on campaigns that lead to sales.

Where the money is going

E-commerce and quick commerce now shape how budgets are split. Rajeev Jain, Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing at DS Group, said the company raised festive investment modestly, especially in spices, where cooking products suit quick-commerce buying while items like Pulse candy still lean on physical retail. Television, connected TV, digital video, influencers and paid social are being used together, and AI is helping brands scale festive content and adapt it to regional languages.

Brands are also pairing premium products with value packs and offers to reach buyers across income groups. Shradha Agarwal, Co-founder and CEO of Grapes, said the emphasis is shifting from reach and impressions to consideration, branded searches, repeat purchases and incremental sales.

An uneven market

Worldpanel’s fourth annual Kharcha report, cited in the report, says urban FMCG spending fell 4% year on year in the first quarter of FY27, against 14% growth a year earlier, with affluent and less affluent urban households both down 4%. Rural spending rose 15% to INR 53,760 crore. Higher food and fuel costs and cutbacks on non-essentials have made urban shoppers more cautious. For advertisers, that points to regional campaigns tailored to local consumption instead of one national plan.

Creators and trust

Aalap Desai, CCO and Co-founder of tgthr, said festive spending is resilient in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, where micro and nano influencers help brands reach small-town audiences in a relatable way. At the same time, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has reportedly issued notices to food and beverage makers, e-commerce platforms and food-service businesses over alleged misleading claims, which puts more weight on advertising claims being backed by product quality.

Better returns, not just bigger budgets

Mohit Ghate, CEO of Wit & Chai, noted that some FMCG brands move more than half of their annual inventory in the three festive months, but said festive marketing works best when brands stay visible all year. Nisha Singhania, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Infectious Advertising, pointed to the push to get more from every marketing rupee, with sharper targeting and closer integration across digital, e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms.

The test this festive season is not who spends the most. It is whose spending produces engagement, sales and lasting brand preference in a market where relevance, timing, trust and measurable returns count most.