Banks boost ad spend in FY25: HDFC Bank leads with 72% surge, Canara bucks the trend

Banks in India have ramped up their advertising and marketing expenditures in fiscal year 2025, registering an average year-on-year increase of 29 percent, as per an analysis of five major lenders.

Among the banks reviewed, State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda (BoB), Kotak Mahindra, Canara Bank, and HDFC Bank--HDFC Bank has emerged as an outlier, reporting an average increase of 72 percent in advertisement and publicity spending in FY2024-25.

HDFC Bank recorded a 71.21 percent increase in ad and publicity expenses, spending Rs 5,917.83 crore in FY2025, up from Rs 3,456.41 crore in the previous year. The increase was driven by branding and communication efforts following the merger of HDFC Ltd with HDFC Bank in 2023.

Another private lender, Kotak Mahindra Bank, also expanded its marketing outlay, increasing spend by 3.92 percent to Rs 10,090.13 crore in FY2025 from Rs 9,709.11 crore in the year-ago period.

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SBI, India's largest public lender, reported a modest 8.4 percent rise in its ad and marketing expenses to Rs 3,742 crore in FY25 compared to Rs 3,449 crore in FY24.

Notably, Bank of Baroda spent Rs 226.13 crore on ads and publicity in FY2025, compared to Rs 178.58 crore in the previous fiscal--a 27 percent increase year-on-year.

State-owned Canara Bank adopted a more conservative approach, cutting its advertising and marketing spend by 19.3 percent to Rs 171.4 crore in FY2025. The bank had spent Rs 212 crore in the year ago period. Notably, the bank lowered its focus on high-scale digital campaigns. Instead, it emphasized financial literacy and product-level campaigns.

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'Where money went? '

Banks channeled a large chunk of their marketing budget into search engine marketing, social media advertising, programmatic ads, and influencer tie-ups to acquire customers for loans, credit cards, savings accounts, and investment products.

Additionally, the ad spending continued on traditional advertising platforms, such as television, print, and OOH media. Both public and private lenders continued to back cricket and cultural sponsorships, ran festive campaigns, and invested in financial literacy campaigns, etc, especially in rural and semi-urban markets.