Trouble. Trauma. Tumult. Tears. Tension. All words (and sentiments) that describe Indian advertising in the year gone by. So this year-ender is not about famous brand campaigns or Cannes awards. It is about a year that saw the Indian advertising ecosystem suffer some massive body blows that will most likely continue to have repercussions in 2026, and beyond.

In the last week of March, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) conducted raids at leading media agencies, including Dentsu, Omnicom, Havas, Madison, IPG, GroupM, and Publicis, as well as industry bodies such as the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), and the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF). These searches were carried out over allegations of media cartelisation, signalling heightened scrutiny on the sector.

The raids spanned multiple cities, including Mumbai, New Delhi, and Gurugram, and involved scrutiny of emails and other communications to uncover evidence of anti-competitive practices. The timing of these raids was particularly significant, occurring just before the commencement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) – a cricket tournament that attracts massive advertising budgets across TV, digital, and sponsorships. Disruption in media buying operations right before the tournament naturally, and inevitably, impacted negotiations and pricing. Most industry-wallahs blamed my erstwhile JV partners, Dentsu of Japan, for having triggered the probe because of an ill-thought leniency petition.

The probe continues. But the CCI raids have ended the years-long camaraderie........

© Free Press Journal