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Just last November, Publicis Groupe South Asia announced the elevation of Lalatendu Das, popularly known as LD among friends, colleagues, and peers to the newly created role of CEO of Publicis Media South Asia. An expert in all things media, LD has spent years mastering digital-first marketing.
In an exclusive tête-à-tête with e4m, LD shared his insights on the declining share of TV in ad spends, the fragmented yet promising space of influencer marketing, the persistent challenges of digital measurement, and why IPL remains a strong bet for advertisers despite inflation.
He also highlighted how brands are shifting focus from awareness to engagement, why CTV is growing but still lacks scale, how retail media is set to become a game-changer and more.
Excerpts from the conversation:
Looking back at 2024, what were the biggest shifts in advertising and marketing spends? Which sectors led the growth of AdEx in 2024, and do you anticipate the same momentum continuing into 2025? Were there any unexpected winners or losers in sector-wise growth?
In 2024, advertising and marketing spends reflected a dynamic interplay between traditional strongholds and emerging categories. While eCommerce, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Automobiles, BFSI, and Consumer Durables remained key drivers of AdEx growth, sectors such as Real Estate, Tourism, Media, and Entertainment gained momentum. This surge was fuelled by rising urbanisation, higher disposable incomes, and the post-pandemic revival of travel and leisure activities.
Although startup ad spends experienced some softness over the past few quarters, we anticipate a recovery led primarily by fintech players. As competition intensifies in financial services, brands are expected to prioritise consumer engagement, driving renewed investments in this space.
On the media front, digital continues to expand its share of overall ad spends, with retail media and influencer marketing seeing sustained growth. These formats are gaining higher traction as brands prioritise performance-driven, highly targeted strategies.
With IPL 2025 around the corner, ad rates have reportedly surged by up to 30%, with TV seeing a 10-15% hike and CTV leading the race. What are the key factors driving this aggressive pricing, and do you think it is sustainable in the long run? How are brands responding?
The ever-growing popularity of cricket, particularly IPL’s status as a marquee sporting property, continues to drive premium pricing. The tournament’s ability to draw massive viewership across demographics, both on traditional TV and digital platforms, makes it an unmissable opportunity for advertisers. Additionally, recent consolidation in the broadcast media landscape has strengthened the negotiating position of rights holders, allowing them to command higher rates.
Despite this inflationary trend, JioStar remains open to strategic negotiations, particularly for brands willing to commit to long-term partnerships or volume-based deals. Advertisers can leverage these options to optimise their media investments while ensuring sustained visibility in the high-impact IPL ecosystem.
How big can IPL 2025 advertising really get? Are we reaching a saturation point where brands might start pulling back due to diminishing returns?
IPL advertising continues to scale new heights, given the sustained growth of digital platforms and influencer-driven marketing. With a reported 13% year-on-year increase taking its brand value to $12 billion in 2024, IPL remains the largest property in terms of viewership across linear TV and digital platforms.
While larger advertisers can justify the premium investment for full-tournament visibility, mid-sized and emerging brands might struggle to balance the high cost and actual conversions. As a result, smaller brands are increasingly shifting to digital, where they can allocate budgets more efficiently by targeting priority markets. This shift is also driving up CPMs, particularly on Connected TV (CTV), as demand intensifies.
As digital ad spends continue to surge in 2025, how crucial is measurement in ensuring ROI? How do brands balance performance marketing with brand-building initiatives in this evolving landscape?
Clients today expect clear visibility on returns across all media investments. While bottom-funnel performance campaigns offer direct measurability, upper- and mid-funnel initiatives require a more nuanced approach.
To address this, we leverage multiple surrogates that provide a comprehensive view of ROI beyond immediate conversions. Our proprietary tool Publicis Audience Manager, a first-of-its-kind platform in India, enables deterministic measurement of upper-funnel campaigns.
Balancing performance marketing with brand-building requires a strategic mix of short-term conversions and long-term equity. By integrating data-driven insights with innovative measurement solutions, we help brands optimise their investments while driving consistent growth.
Despite digital’s rapid growth, measurement remains a challenge. Unlike TV, which has BARC, digital still lacks a standardised currency. Do you see the industry finally moving toward a universal measurement system in 2025, or will fragmentation persist?
Unlike television, which benefits from BARC’s unified framework, digital remains fragmented, and this fragmentation is only deepening with the rise of newer platforms in social and retail media. While a universal measurement system remains elusive, we are actively helping our clients and teams navigate this complexity through new-age, proprietary measurement and reporting tools.
Notable among these are, Scenario Planner, which optimises budget allocation across traditional and digital channels based on reach and frequency goals. CX Loop, which provides insights into the influence of different media channels on specific audience groups.Advanced analytics models on our Publicis iGrowthOS platform, leveraging Marketing Mix Models (MMMs) across Bayesian and Frequentist methodologies to assess media effectiveness. Lastly there is Publicis Audience Manager, our proprietary data clean room, which integrates offline retail sales data with clients’ first-party data for enhanced targeting and richer insights.
Moreover, the rapid proliferation of affordable mobile data and handsets has reshaped Indian consumers' media consumption habits. Digital platforms have evolved beyond social connectivity, becoming primary hubs for content consumption and eCommerce. Consequently, media planning strategies have had to adapt, with advertisers increasingly allocating budgets to digital and retail media to achieve greater reach and precision.
The future likely holds a hybrid ecosystem where TV and digital converge, driven by simultaneous consumption across platforms. This evolution will allow brands to engage audiences through cohesive campaigns, blending the wide reach of traditional media with the precision and interactivity of digital.
AI-driven ad targeting and programmatic advertising saw major advancements in 2024. How significantly have these technologies reshaped media buying strategies, and what’s next in this space?
AI-led ad targeting and programmatic advertising have enabled brands to achieve greater levels of efficiency, precision, and scalability. It has unlocked new opportunities for advertisers, particularly with custom algorithms. Moving forward, we are going to see more and more applications of custom algorithms to optimise campaign effectiveness across multiple programmatic demand-side platform (DSP) channels.
One notable example is our multi-DSP campaign, launched this year, which integrates AI-driven optimisation to enhance media efficiency across platforms. At the core of this innovation is YT-Sensei, a proprietary algorithm designed specifically for YouTube campaigns. By leveraging real-time data analysis and predictive modelling, YT-Sensei optimises bidding strategies and audience targeting to deliver around 12-15% incremental savings. This ensures maximum return on investment while maintaining high engagement rates.
As AI continues to evolve, we anticipate even more innovation in this space, with advanced models enhancing bid strategies, dynamic creatives, and cross-platform optimization.
Moving on to the next trending topic that is influencer marketing- With influencer marketing and content-driven advertising becoming mainstream, do you see brands shifting budgets away from traditional ad formats toward creator-led campaigns?
Yes, influencer marketing has become a key component of brand strategy, seeing application across the entire marketing funnel. More brands are allocating dedicated budgets for creator-led campaigns, recognising their impact on engagement and consumer trust. Additionally, the rise of automation platforms has streamlined influencer discovery, campaign execution, and performance tracking.
At Publicis Groupe, our global acquisition of Influential, the world’s pre-eminent influencer marketing company and platform, gives us a strong edge in this space. We go beyond standard influencer discovery, activation, and measurement, pioneering new approaches to integrated media planning that seamlessly incorporate influencers and advocacy. Furthermore, we are refining structured processes for commercial management, ensuring more effective and scalable influencer partnerships.
Many brands have begun experimenting with retail media networks and first-party data strategies. How do you see these trends reshaping ad spends in 2025, especially in a post-cookie world?
Retail media networks are emerging as one of the key investment areas in the overall media mix, offering brands access to rich, consented first-party data that enhances targeting precision and measurement. Over the next few years, retail media will continue to evolve, offering innovative solutions on two key fronts:
There is onsite advertising.These are the advertising capabilities available on retailer websites, marketplaces, and quick commerce platforms. While established players like Amazon and Flipkart have built robust advertising ecosystems, mid-sized retailers and quick commerce platforms are rapidly expanding their capabilities. These platforms are transforming into high-intent advertising destinations, enabling brands to engage consumers at critical points in their purchase journey.
Then there is offsite advertising: With access to rich consumer data, retailers and marketplaces are empowering advertisers with wider reach. By leveraging Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) and Data Clean Rooms (DCRs), brands can advertise across digital channels, including Google, Meta, and the open internet.
Retail media will gain further momentum as quick commerce players add more categories. eCommerce platforms will continue to refine their full-funnel capabilities, introducing product sampling, trials, and sophisticated audience segmentation. Additionally, the rise of advanced data platforms will enable brands to seamlessly integrate first-party data into broader media strategies.
Are there any specific global advertising trends from 2024 that you believe will shape India's ad landscape in 2025?
eCommerce + offline activations are to be looked out for. Brands are increasingly integrating online and offline experiences by leveraging technology to bridge the gap between digital engagement and in-store conversions. Looking ahead, interactive retail experiences, phygital pop-ups, and AI-powered personalisation in offline activations are likely to drive deeper consumer engagement.
Then there is influencer management. The shift from mass influencers to niche creators is becoming more pronounced. Brands are focusing on long-term partnerships, performance-based collaborations, and leveraging regional influencers to drive authenticity and hyperlocal engagement.
Last but not the least, content and mid-funnel strategies will get bigger. Content is playing a key role in nurturing brand consideration, with brands investing in AI-driven storytelling, interactive formats, and shoppable content. There’s a growing emphasis on platform-specific storytelling, community-driven engagement, and a balance between brand-building and performance marketing.
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