VaynerMedia opens full-service agency in India, capitalizing on ad revenue growth

New Delhi: US-based VaynerMedia has set up a full-service advertising agency in Gurugram, lured by India's economic dynamism that presents brands immense potential for growth.

This marks the company's sixth office in the Asia Pacific region. The company has been in the Indian market for about two years and has worked with Fortune 500 firms, providing advertising and marketing services, including strategy, creatives, media planning and buying, digital marketing, social media management, and consulting.

Previously, it operated in partnership with a local agency Step1, whose team now will transition to operate as VaynerMedia India, led by Salman Moin.

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India opportunity

The company's global CEO and co-founder Gary Vaynerchuk said India's cultural heritage, robust economy, and social media landscape present a number of opportunities for brands to succeed and that will work well with its 'social at the centre' marketing model. “India's deeply diverse cultural heritage combined with its rapidly growing economy and exploding social media landscape presents a truly unique and exciting opportunity for brands. The country's entrepreneurial spirit and diverse culture coupled with our team's passion is a recipe for explosive growth,” Vaynerchuk said in a statement.

Advertising agencies in India have been growing, helped by technology adoption and deployment of data scientists, who analyse consumer behaviour on social media channels, and connected TVs for sharply-designed ad campaigns for brands. Another advertising agency Wavemaker India's CEO Ajay Gupte recently told Mint that the company is heavily focused on hiring those in the technology and data science fields to mine social-media data.    

Also read: Rapid growth in India's ad market, China's slowing: Mindshare Asia Pacific CEO

Annual report

GroupM India's annual report This Year Next Year (TYNY), which released in February, said that the overall ad revenue is expected to incrementally grow by 10% in calendar year 2024 to ₹1,55,386 crore. The revenue was ₹1,40,963 crore in 2023. Of the total, digital media is projected to account for ₹88,502 crore, or 57%, of the total ad revenue in 2024. This growth is attributed to changes in the advertising landscape, including the diversification of search and the increasing impact of influencer marketing and retail media.

GroupM added that global advertising presents a slower but steady picture, with a projected 5.3% growth in ad revenue for 2024, reaching $936 billion, with digital (including digital extensions of all media) leading the charge at a commanding 79% share of all ad revenue.