When it comes to advertising and marketing, not just in India but also globally, it is the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector which comes across as a major contributor to the AdEx, short for Advertising Expenditure, and for obvious reasons.
Due to its high competition, frequent consumer purchases, and need for strong brand differentiation, FMCG players are often classified as the biggest advertisers for they not only resort to investing heavily on different kinds of media vehicles like TV, digital, print, and outdoor advertising but also in driving innovations.
In the Indian context, this navigation can be better understood by looking at the ad spends of some of the publicly listed companies from the FMCG segment- Hindustan Unilever, Godrej Consumer Products, Dabur India, Colgate Palmolive India, Marico, Emami, etc.
This time around, the ad spends of these FMCG majors represented a rather mixed sentiment with HUL declining its spending on advertising and promotions both on a quarterly and nine-monthly basis, whereas companies like Emami, Marico and Godrej Consumer Products increased it on both fronts.
As for Colgate Palmolive India and Dabur India, the case remained a bit curious as both the companies decided to curtail the quarterly spending on ads but even in doing so, upped their adspends on a nine-monthly basis in FY25.
Here is a glimpse into the AdSpends of some of India’s leading FMCG companies:
- Hindustan Unilever
In the third quarter of the current fiscal year, the parent company of Surf Excel, Pears, Dove, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Quality Walls and more- Hindustan Unilever reported a 7.32% decline on a YoY basis in its spending on Advertising and Promotion. It spent a total of Rs 1,507 crores in Q3FY25 as against Rs 1,626 crores it spent on Advertising and Promotions in the corresponding quarter, last fiscal.
With regards to nine months ended December 31, 2024, the FMCG major’s expense on Advertising and Promotion also reduced 3.78% YoY as the company spent Rs 4,689 crores on the same in the first nine months of FY25, as opposed to Rs 4,873 crores it had spent during the same period, last year.
- Colgate Palmolive
In the third quarter of the current fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, Colgate Palmolive also reduced its spending on Advertising by 2.04% YoY and spent a sum total of Rs 20,010 lakh in Q3FY25 as opposed to Rs 20,426 lakh it spent in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.
However, on a nine-monthly basis, the trend seemed to be different as the FMCG major’s advertising expense soared up 8.51% YoY to Rs 64,189 lakh between April 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024, juxtaposed to Rs 59,155 lakh it had spent in the corresponding duration of last fiscal.
- Godrej Consumer Products
In Q3FY25, the parent company of Good Knight, Cinthol, HIT, Godrej Expert, Godrej Aer, Godrej Ezee, Godrej Expert and many more- Godrej Consumer Products marginally upped its spending on Advertising and Publicity by 0.29% on a YoY basis and allocated a sum total of Rs 364.37 crores on the same, as against Q3FY24 wherein its advertising expenditure amounted to Rs 343.27 crores.
However, with regards to nine months ended December 31, 2024, the FMCG major ballooned its ad expenditure by 2.92% on a YoY basis and spent Rs 1,059.14 crores in the first three quarters of current fiscal year, as opposed to Rs 1,029.60 crores it had spent during the first three quarters of FY24.
- Marico
The third quarter of the current fiscal year saw Marico, the FMCG major which owns a number of household brands ranging from Parachute to Parachute Advanced, Saffola, Hair & Care, Nihar, Nihar Naturals, Livon, Set Wet, Mediker and Revive, up its spending on Advertisement and Sales Promotion from Rs 246 crores in Q3FY24 to Rs 293 crores in Q3FY25, depicting a rise of 19.10% on a YoY basis.
Similarly, the FMCG major also increased its spending on Advertisement and Sales Promotion on a nine-monthly basis too- by 13.36% on a YoY basis and spent a total of Rs 823 crores in the first nine months of FY25 as against Rs 726 crores it spent during the corresponding period in the previous fiscal year.
- Dabur India
Being the parent company to a slew of brands like Dabur Chyawanprash, Dabur Honey, Dabur Honitus, Dabur Pudin Hara and Dabur Lal Tail in the Healthcare space; Dabur Amla and Dabur Red Paste in the Personal Care category; and Real in the Food & Beverages category, Dabur India also dropped its spending on Advertisement and Publicity by 7.29% YoY in the third quarter of the current fiscal year to touch Rs 226.72 crores. In the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year, it spent a total of Rs 244.54 crores on Advertisement and Publicity.
However, on a nine-months basis, the FMCG major’s expense on Advertising and Publicity spiked 3.43% YoY as the company spent Rs 677.24 crores on the same in the first nine months of FY25, as opposed to Rs 665.41 crores it spent during the corresponding nine months of FY24.
- Emami
In the third quarter of the current fiscal year Emami spent Rs 17,573 lakhs on Advertisement and Sales Promotion, which is up 6.03% YoY from Rs 16,573 lakhs it had spent in the corresponding quarter during the previous fiscal year.
Similarly, the FMCG major also increased its spending on Advertisement and Sales Promotion on a nine-monthly basis by 7.02% YoY and spent a total of Rs 50,514 lakhs in the first nine months of FY25 as against Rs 47,201 lakhs it spent during the corresponding period in the previous fiscal year.
