FMCG 2024 adex wrap: HUL, Dabur scaled back ad expenses, Marico sees 35% jump in Q4 FY25

India’s leading Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies witnessed a moderate growth in advertising and marketing expenditures in Q4 year-on-year in fiscal year 2025, reflecting the pressures of food inflation and sluggish demand in urban markets.

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), the maker of household names like Dove, Horlicks, and Closeup, trimmed its advertising spend by 6.5% to Rs 1,510 crore in Q4 FY25, down from Rs 1,616 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal , according to quarterly data released to the stock exchange.

However, HUL has intended to elevate its media spending and boost digital advertising to drive the growth of key brands. According to Managing Director and CEO Rohit Jawa, brands like 'Lifebuoy, Glow & Lovely, and Nutrition Drinks' are the three brands in the core portfolio that require improvement in performance.

FMCG giants scale back traditional advertising as digital channels gain favor

Jawa added that HUL has taken initiatives such as heavy media spending, extensive digital advertising, and product relaunching to improve brand performance in fiscal year 2026.

Dabur Ltd also scaled back its advertising budget spending to Rs 176.40 crore in Q4 FY25, down from Rs 183.6 crore in Q4FY24.

In contrast, Godrej Consumer Products, known for its Good Knight brand, witnessed a marginal increase in its ad spending to Rs310.07 crore in Q4 FY25, compared with Rs306.29 crore the same period last fiscal.

Additionally, Marico, the company behind Saffola and Parachute oils, ramped up its advertising and promotional spends by 35% year-on-year in Q4 FY25. The ad and promotion (A&P) outlay stood at Rs 305 crore, accounting for 11.2% of sales, the highest in over a year.

FMCG giants defy consumption slowdown, increase ad spend in Q3 FY25; HUL, Dabur buck trend

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev-owned Patanjali Foods claimed that its advertisement and promotional spending in Q4 FY25 stood at Rs 325.66 crore and accounted for 3.36% of the revenue from operations.

Notably, the consumer goods company have scaled back their presence in traditional advertising media over the past fiscal year, favoring more targeted and digital channels instead.

According to data from TAM AdEx, a division of TAM Media Research, Television advertising for FMCG brands declined 12 percent in FY25 while in print media, the ad space trimmed by 20% YoY.

Dalal noted a growing preference among marketers for “high-impact, measurable platforms,” including Connected TV. “Brands are no longer chasing visibility for its own sake,” Vaishal Dalal, Co-founder & Director, Excellent Publicity said. “They’re choosing relevance and effectiveness, and the Q4 uptick in ad spending highlights a more strategic approach.”