The mere fact that the Finance Minister has banked on an increased GDP to take care of his fiscal deficit means that he is fairly sure that the overall GDP has to go up. Very simply, this means that we will produce more, and hence will have to sell more. Overall, it is good news for marketers and advertising agencies that the entire budget is pivoted on GDP increase.

Fortunately, there have been no increases in duties anywhere that will have a direct negative effect on marketing and advertising.

In certain categories, we can expect a little more competitiveness and increased visibility. Hybrids, for example: cars such as the Prius and the Reva will now become a little more competitive by being more affordable. This also means more work for marketers, of both hybrids and the regular cars.

The service tax increases on hospitality and aviation could have some significance. Medical care costs will also go up but I don't know how big a category they are for advertising.

For hospitality players, this signals a price hike. And price hike could face consumer resistance, even if for a short while. The timing is particularly bad for hospitality players as they are going into a traditionally lean period – with the exception of May, the period up to August is a lean period for hotel rooms in general.

There has also been a rapid expansion in this sector with many new players coming in. Therefore, the pressure on marketing is more, and reliance on advertising will go up.

On the whole, marketers have competitiveness as the real challenge. However, there are larger markets to look at thanks to the GDP growth. And for advertising, it looks to be a bountiful year ahead.

(Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant.)

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