FMCG Ad Spends Q2 FY27: Marico Up 44%, HUL Cuts 9.3%

₹451 crore. That is what Marico put behind its brands between July and September 2026, 44% more than a year ago. Hindustan Unilever went the other way and cut advertising and promotion by 9.3%, yet still posted its best underlying sales growth in 14 quarters. Same shelves, same shoppers, two opposite bets.

We pulled the Q2 FY27 numbers for four listed FMCG companies and did the maths the earnings headlines skip: how much revenue each extra ad rupee bought. The FMCG ad spends Q2 FY27 picture is not “brands are cutting” or “brands are spending”. It is a split, and it tells agencies and brand teams where the money is heading this festive quarter.

How much did India’s FMCG giants spend on ads in Q2 FY27?

Hindustan Unilever, Marico, Godrej Consumer Products and Colgate-Palmolive India together spent about ₹2,574 crore on advertising and promotion in the July to September 2026 quarter, our sum of their reported figures. That is up only 3.4% on roughly ₹2,490 crore a year ago, while each company grew revenue by double digits.

The flat total hides a violent swing underneath. Two companies stepped hard on the pedal, two held or cut. Here is the full scoreboard.

Ratios are our calculations from reported spend and revenue. Line items differ: HUL and Marico report advertising and promotion, GCPL reports advertising and publicity.

Is more ad spend buying more growth? Our maths

Only partly. Marico earned about ₹3.24 of extra revenue for every extra rupee of ad spend this quarter, Colgate about ₹2.06, and Godrej Consumer close to ₹99, because it barely raised spend. HUL grew while spending ₹151 crore less. Spend explains less of the growth than the headlines suggest.

The method is simple. Take the rise in revenue, divide it by the rise in ad spend. Marico added ₹447 crore of revenue (₹3,450 crore to ₹3,897 crore) on ₹138 crore of extra A&P. Colgate added ₹185 crore of net sales on ₹90 crore of extra ads.

That is not a full return calculation. Ads build brands over years, and price hikes inflate revenue without any media at all. But it is a useful sanity check, and we’d call it the Extra Rupee Test: if the ratio drops below 2 for two quarters running, someone should be asking hard questions.

Why did HUL cut ad spend while sales grew 15%?

HUL did not say it cut media to save money. CEO and MD Priya Nair credited the 7% underlying volume growth to brand building and stronger distribution, according to afaqs!. With Home Care growing 22%, HUL’s reach and retail muscle appear to be doing work that pure media used to do.

There is a cost story too. HUL’s EBITDA margin contracted 140 basis points to 22.6%, so trimming A&P protected profit while input costs bit. Q2 A&P was also 10.6% lower than Q1’s ₹1,657 crore, which hints at timing rather than a permanent cut.

When the biggest spender in Indian FMCG trims media and still grows, agencies should stop selling reach by the kilo.

What are Marico and Colgate buying with the extra money?

Both are paying for momentum and margin defence through brands. Marico’s India volumes grew 10%, and its net profit rose 31% to ₹550 crore, so the spend sits on a business that can afford it. Colgate’s case is harder: profit grew just 4.3% while EBITDA margin fell 289 basis points.

Marico MD and CEO Saugata Gupta said the company will keep investing behind brands, people and capabilities. Colgate’s new MD and CEO, Manish Anandani, who took charge on 28 September 2026, pointed to double-digit topline growth for a second straight quarter alongside stepped-up brand investment, as reported by Indian Retailer.

Axis Securities analysts still rate Colgate a buy but cut their target price from ₹2,570 to ₹2,100. Read that as the market accepting the spend while doubting how fast it pays back.

Where is Godrej Consumer putting its media money?

Godrej Consumer Products grew revenue 19% to ₹4,413 crore while raising ad spend just 2.2%, so its ad-to-sales ratio fell from 8.6% to 7.4%. MD and CEO Aasif Malbari credited media and trade optimisation, plus digital investments that he said deliver higher return on investment, according to afaqs!.

This is the model most mid-sized Indian brands should study. GCPL kept share of voice range bound instead of chasing it, and leaned on digital, which its CEO says returns more. If you sell to brand managers, expect the GCPL question in your next pitch: what does each rupee return, and how do you prove it?

Related reading: our breakdown of how Meta Andromeda now scores every ad explains why creative volume, not just budget, decides digital returns.

Where the numbers could mislead you

Quarterly ad figures are noisy. Diwali falls in November this year, so a lot of festive media will land in the October to December quarter, flattering Q2 savers like HUL and making early spenders look heavy. A&P also mixes trade promotions with media, and the split is rarely disclosed.

The bulls on Marico and Colgate have a fair point too. Brand investment that looks expensive in one quarter often shows up as pricing power two years later. Our Extra Rupee Test is a dashboard light, not a verdict on a brand’s long-term health.

If you’re rethinking how you charge for this kind of accountability, see our guide to rebuilding an agency retainer after AI. For a brand that turned media into results, our Maggi Grand Effie case study shows what disciplined spend looks like, and Axis Max Life’s ChatGPT ads show where some of that budget is starting to go.

What to do now

• Work out your own ad spend as a percentage of revenue for Q2 and compare it with the 7.4% to 18.6% range above.
• Run the Extra Rupee Test: divide your revenue increase by your ad spend increase for the last two quarters.
• Agencies: add a return-per-rupee slide to every FMCG pitch before the January planning cycle.
• Split festive budgets into two tranches and release the second only after October sell-out data comes in.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• HUL ad spend declines 9.3% YoY in Q2 to Rs 1,481 crore (afaqs!)
• Marico’s Q2 ad spends rise 44% to Rs 451 crore, profit up by 31% (afaqs!)
• GCPL raises ad spends 2.2% to Rs 327 crore in Q2 FY27 (afaqs!)
• Colgate-Palmolive India Q2 FY27 Result Update (Axis Securities)
• Colgate-Palmolive India Q2 net sales rise 12.2% to Rs 1,692 crore (Indian Retailer)

Kousik BhattacharyaEditor, PingTalks

Digital Evangelist and Entrepreneur at Clickseek Digital. A results-oriented marketing leader with an 18+ year track record driving transformative growth for diverse global businesses. Expert in performance marketing, demand generation, customer acquisition, strategic partnerships, and market expansion within B2B SaaS, Consumer-Tech, Fintech, Travel/Hospitality, and CRM/ITES Solutions sectors. IIM alumnus with a strong analytical background and a string of accolades, including "Top 50 Most Influential E-Commerce Professional of India" and "Top 100 Digital Marketer of India."

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