India emerges as global growth engine in WPP’s advertising outlook

New Delhi: WPP Media has published two significant reports that together aim to frame the future of advertising, the Advertising in 2030 update and the This Year Next Year Mid-Year Global Ad Forecast 2025. 

Taken together, they present a narrative of both long-term transformation and near-term recalibration. The findings make clear that while global advertising is slowing from earlier growth expectations, India stands out as one of the most important engines of ad spend growth and digital adoption.

India the growth engine

The This Year Next Year Mid-Year Forecast 2025 highlighted regional performance, and India stood out as one of the fastest-growing markets worldwide. As per the report, India’s ad spend will grow 8.4% in 2025, making it the second-fastest market after Brazil. By comparison, the US will grow 5.6%, China 6.8%, and the UK 6.5%. This positions India as a critical growth driver in global advertising. Its growth is anchored by three factors:

1. Mobile-first digital consumption: With affordable data and high smartphone penetration, India is driving digital ad growth faster than many mature markets.
   

2. Retail media expansion: The rise of e-commerce platforms has fueled retail media, one of the fastest-growing ad categories.
   

3. Creator-driven ecosystems: India’s vibrant influencer economy aligns with the report’s prediction that user-generated content will dominate spend by 2030.
   

The TYNY forecast also confirmed these category shifts globally. Retail media is projected at $169.6 billion in 2025, rising to $252.1 billion by 2030. User-generated content is expected to reach $184.9 billion in 2025 and more than double to $376.6 billion by 2030. For India, both categories are already seeing momentum, making the country a frontline market for these global shifts.

The broader global picture

Globally, ad spend is projected at $1.08 trillion in 2025, with growth revised down to 6.0% from 7.7%. The CAGR for 2025–2030 is now forecast at 5.4%, lower than the 6.4% expected a year earlier. Digital’s dominance is clear: 73.2% of ad revenue in 2025 will come from pure-play digital, rising to 81.6% when including digital extensions such as streaming TV and DOOH.

These topline numbers confirm a slowdown in overall growth but do not diminish the centrality of advertising to economic activity.

Advertising in 2030

The Advertising in 2030 report was built on research first conducted in 2020 and later refreshed in 2021. WPP asked whether advertising would even exist by the end of the decade. In 2025, the report revisited the question by asking more than 60 experts across media, marketing, technology, and publishing to rate the likelihood of 20 scenarios for the industry’s future.

The accompanying announcement sets the context clearly: “The report’s findings highlight where expert attitudes have changed over the last 4-5 years in response to evolutions in technology and consumer behaviour, and reveal an acceptance of rapid AI progress coupled with a more cautious outlook on broader industry transformation.”

The key outcome is straightforward: optimism about AI has soared, while expectations around hardware adoption, regulatory shifts, and sweeping consumer behavior changes have dimmed.

AI is the new creative driver

Among the 20 scenarios tested, the most striking shift is confidence in AI’s role in advertising and creative production. The report noted that “companies rely on artificial intelligence to produce the majority of creative content including music, TV, movies, and art.” More than 70% of experts considered this likely by 2030.

For advertising, this means AI will underpin workflows, automating repetitive tasks and accelerating production cycles.

As the study explained: “As AI technology has improved and more companies bring it into the workplace, many executives have gone out of their way to say it won’t replace jobs but rather help humans get better at their jobs or free them from menial tasks so they can focus on the things humans are good at, like strategy and creativity.”

Price over purpose

Another reversal since 2020 lies in consumer priorities. Early predictions had assumed environmental impact would weigh as heavily as price in purchasing decisions. The 2025 update shows otherwise. As the report observed: “In a striking reversal, this scenario is now overwhelmingly considered unlikely. While acknowledging growing awareness and importance for some consumers, experts believe price sensitivity, economic pressures, and convenience will continue to dominate purchase decisions for the majority.” 

Advertising, data, and privacy

The 2030 report also looks at the intersection of advertising and data. Biometrics are expected to become standardized for personalization, while the hope of a single global privacy law is dismissed as unrealistic. “Zero percent chance. The odds of the EU, the UK, the USA, China, India, and Africa setting global standards is remote. It’s about as likely as an Alphabet, Meta, Apple, ByteDance consortium,” One respondent put it bluntly.

Media and platform evolution

Despite shifts in consumer technology, experts remain convinced that major advertising platforms will retain dominance. “Today’s leading internet-based service providers, platforms, and social-media companies remain intact as global consolidated entities,” the report suggested.

At the same time, the content ecosystem is changing. “The majority of news consumption is of individual ‘creators,’ citizen journalists, and AI-generated bots,” the report stated, with experts leaning toward this being likely.

Traditional media struggles to keep pace

Globally, television (including streaming) will remain flat at $162.5 billion, with streaming itself growing to $71.9 billion by 2030. Out-of-home stays steady at $52 billion, with digital formats accounting for 41%. Print continues its decline, falling 3.1% to $45.5 billion, and audio remains flat at $26.5 billion. 

Advertising’s ubiquity

One conclusion from the 2030 study sums up the state of play: “Advertising will continue to be ubiquitous and the quality of the advertising will continue to be the prevailing factor in gaining consumer attention.”

Even as consumers adopt new technologies, seek affordability, and move into creator-driven ecosystems, advertising remains embedded in daily life. Experts are unanimous that there will be no escape from it, whether through AI-personalized feeds, retail platforms, or live creator commerce.

India at the center of the future

The dual lens of WPP’s Advertising in 2030 and This Year Next Year Mid-Year 2025 revealed a pragmatic but optimistic outlook for the industry. Globally, growth is slowing, and expectations around hardware, regulation, and sustainability have softened. Yet AI is advancing faster than anticipated, and advertising is adapting around it.

For India, the message is even more powerful. With 8.4% growth in 2025, one of the fastest worldwide, India is not just a participant but a driver of the global advertising story. Its mobile-first consumers, thriving retail media platforms, and dynamic creator economy embody the very shifts WPP’s experts see defining the decade ahead. Advertising may look different by 2030, but as these reports make clear, it will remain indispensable. And in that future, India will be central, not peripheral to advertising’s evolution.