Auto sector led print ads with 15.2% share in 2024: TAM AdEx

The ad space in print media saw a marginal 1% rise in 2024 compared to 2023, with more than 78,000 advertisers and 1.04 lakh brands investing in print advertising, according to the latest TAM AdEx report. Titled ‘TAM AdEx Print: A Glimpse into Advertising Trends for Year 2024’, the report examines the top trends in advertising space, key sectors, top advertisers, and the ad space innovations introduced by print media during last year.

The indexed ad space per publication clocked a 9% increase in Q4-2024 (October-December 2024) as against Q1-2024 (January-March 2024). The jacket-full page (JFP) was the most preferred ad position among print media advertisers during the year 2024. The sales promotion advertisements controlled 32% of the total advertising space in print media during the year 2024. Diwali continued to be the most popular festival among print advertisers from ad space volume perspective, controlling 28% of the overall ad space volume during 2024.

The top 10 advertisers combined controlled about 14% share of ad space volume, with Maruti Suzuki India emerging the top ranker in the year 2024. While nearly 1.81 lakh brands actively invested in print advertising, Honda Activa H Smart emerged as the top brand in terms of total ad space during 2024.

Top sectors and categories

The top 10 sectors combined controlled an 84% share of total ad space volumes in print in 2024. Among these, the auto industry jumped two spots to emerge as the top print advertiser from ad space perspective during 2024. The auto industry led print advertising with a 15.2% share of total ad space, followed by services, which held a 14.9% share during 2024.

The next three sectors in 2024 among the top sectors list were education (No 3 — 14%), banking/finance/investment (No 4 — 10%), and retail (No 5 — 9%). While most other sectors changed their 2023 positions in 2024, two sectors, personal accessories and durables, retained their respective positions as No 7 (7% share) and No 9 (4% share).

Among categories, cars stood as the No 1 category, controlling an 8% share of ad space, followed by two-wheelers with a 6% share in the year 2024. When it comes to print advertising, the category (cars) has retained its top rank throughout 2022, 2023, and 2024. Out of the top 10 categories, three belonged to the education industry and two each from the auto, services, and retail industries during the year 2024. The top 10 categories combined controlled a 44% share of the total ad space volume during the year 2024.

Among the top 10 growing categories of 2024, ecom-wallets saw 160% growth in ad volumes, ecom-education saw 120% growth, and the cellular phones-smart phones category posted 93% growth, according to the TAM AdEx report.

Top advertisers and brands

Among top advertisers, Maruti Suzuki India retained its No 1 position year 2024 compared to 2023. The No 2 and 3 ranks were grabbed by Hero Motocorp (2023 rank: 4) and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (2023 rank: 6), both exhibiting a strong positive change in their rankings from the previous year.

While over 73,000 advertisers and over 97,000 brands exclusively advertised in print medium during the year 2024 compared to 2023, more than 265 categories registered a positive growth during this year. Reliance BP Mobility and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra emerged as the top exclusive advertiser and top exclusive brand, respectively during this time-frame.

Samsung India Electronics, TVS Motor Company, and Tata Motors were the new entrants to the top 10 advertisers list, winning No 6, No 8, and No 9 spots during 2024 compared to 2023. The top 10 advertisers controlled nearly 14% of share of total ad space in print media.

Innovations and positions

TAM AdEx report lists out top innovations in print medium that advertisers leveraged in the year 2024. Among these, ‘Figured Outline’ emerged was the top innovative layout (0.2% share) followed by ‘French Window’ (0.1% share). Tab (0.1%), masthead integration (0.1%), and maskhead flap (0.1%) were the next top innovations ranked No 3, 4, and 5, respectively. Besides these top 5, the print media introduced 27 more ad innovations with a combined share of 0.23%.

As mentioned earlier in this report, jacket-full page (JFP) was the most preferred ad position among print advertisers during the year 2024, with more than 8,400 brands opting for a JFP position for newspapers and magazines. Among these, Allen Career Institute emerged as the top brand that used the JFP position the most during 2024.

Among types of advertisements, sales promotion advertising controlled nearly a 32% share of total print ad space volume in 2024. Within sales promotions, ‘multiple promotion’ emerged as the leading type, controlling 48% share of ad space (of 32%) followed by ‘discount promotion’. The top two promotion types controlled 86% share of ad space during the year 2024.

Diwali emerged as the top festival, controlling 28% share total print ad space volume in 2024, followed by Navratri/Durga Puja and Christmas/New Year with 21% and 15% share, respectively. The Independence Day and Republic Day advertisements controlled nearly 6% and 4% shares, respectively.