India’s ₹2-lakh-crore ad market is being rebuilt by AI, commerce and culture: WPP Media

India’s advertising market is on track to cross ₹2 lakh crore in 2026, but the bigger shift is not the size of the pie. It is how the pie is being baked. 

According to WPP Media’s This Year Next Year 2026 report, the next phase of growth in Indian advertising will be shaped less by incremental spending and more by structural rewiring — where artificial intelligence, commerce platforms, cultural ecosystems and data infrastructure increasingly operate as one system rather than separate levers. 

The report projects the market will grow about 9.7% year-on-year to roughly ₹2.02 lakh crore, keeping India among the fastest-growing large advertising markets globally. But beneath that headline growth, the nature of advertising itself is changing. 

From campaigns to operating systems 

One of the clearest signals in the report is the shift from isolated AI tools to what it calls “agentic ecosystems” — interconnected AI systems that can manage large parts of marketing execution with minimal human intervention.  

This implies a structural change in how marketing teams function. 
The role of marketers, WPP Media suggests, will increasingly move from execution to orchestration — defining strategy, cultural narrative and governance, while automated systems handle scale. 

The implication is significant: competitive advantage may depend less on creative output alone and more on whether brands build the internal data architecture that allows these AI systems to function effectively. 

In other words, the future battle in advertising may be fought in infrastructure, not just storytelling. 

Search is becoming answer ownership 

The report also points to a deeper shift in how consumers discover brands. 

Search is moving away from keyword-driven browsing towards AI-generated answers, creating what WPP Media describes as a “zero-click environment”.  

In such a landscape, visibility is no longer measured primarily through traffic or impressions, but through whether a brand becomes a trusted source that AI systems draw upon. 

For marketers, this changes the definition of SEO itself. 
Authority, expertise and trustworthiness become not just branding goals but distribution strategies. 

Digital is dominant, but commerce is the real disruptor 

Digital advertising already accounts for well over two-thirds of India’s ad revenue, but the report suggests the more meaningful transformation is happening within digital itself. 

Commerce media — advertising embedded in retail and transaction platforms — is emerging as one of the fastest-growing segments. This reflects a broader shift where marketing and sales infrastructure are merging. 

Quick commerce platforms are no longer just fulfilment channels but increasingly function as media ecosystems that generate consumer insight, influence discovery and drive conversion simultaneously.  

For brands, this means the question is no longer whether to invest in commerce media, but what role it should play: demand generation, demand capture, or both. 

Culture is becoming performance marketing 

Beyond technology and platforms, the report highlights a parallel cultural shift in where attention is moving. 

Women’s sports, short-form micro-dramas, regional creators and live experiences are all emerging as spaces where brands can build long-term cultural ownership rather than short bursts of visibility.  

In women’s sports, for instance, the opportunity lies in entering early while sponsorship inventory is still relatively affordable and narratives remain open for brands to shape. 

Similarly, the rise of micro-dramas signals a new model of entertainment that blends storytelling, algorithmic distribution and frictionless commerce. 
Here, the report suggests, brands may need to behave less like advertisers and more like showrunners. 

Influence is shrinking in scale but growing in depth 

The report also signals a shift in influencer marketing from mass reach to community-based credibility. 

Regional creators, niche communities and measurable commerce outcomes are increasingly replacing the earlier emphasis on celebrity scale.  

For marketers, this means success may depend less on one-off collaborations and more on sustained partnerships that build trust within specific audiences. 

Data and privacy move to the centre of growth 

Perhaps the most structural shift identified in the report is the repositioning of privacy. 

Rather than being treated as a compliance obligation, data governance is becoming a core component of brand trust and competitive advantage.  

In a market moving towards signal-based marketing and AI-driven decision-making, access to reliable first-party data — and the ability to use it responsibly — could determine which brands scale effectively. 

Advertising growth will come from integration, not expansion 

Taken together, the report suggests the next phase of India’s advertising growth will not be driven simply by higher media spends. 

Instead, growth will come from integration — where creative, commerce, data, technology and culture operate as a unified system. 

As the report notes, demand generation increasingly occurs when the whole marketing ecosystem works together rather than through isolated tactics. For the industry, this signals a transition from advertising as a series of campaigns to advertising as a continuously optimised operating model. 

And for brands, the challenge may no longer be how loudly they can speak, but how intelligently their systems can listen, learn and respond.