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Diageo India Ad Spend Rises 57% In Q2 To Rs 378 Crore

Ad Tribe! Bureau2 min read
A whisky tumbler with ice and a stage spotlight as halftone cutouts on teal, for Diageo India's higher Q2 marketing spend

Diageo India ad spend rose about 57% in the September 2026 quarter, with marketing spend of Rs 378 crore against Rs 241 crore a year earlier. The company, listed as United Spirits, reported its results on 28 October. All figures are standalone.

  • Marketing spend: Rs 378 crore, 11.6% of net sales value, against 7.6% a year earlier
  • Net sales value: Rs 3,258 crore, up 2.8%
  • EBITDA: Rs 643 crore, down 4.3%, at a 19.7% margin
  • Profit after tax: Rs 462 crore, down 2.1%

Where The Extra Diageo India Ad Spend Showed Up

The higher marketing spend took 400 basis points off EBITDA margin in the quarter, which fell 146 basis points overall to 19.7%. Gross margin improved 88 basis points to 48%, and staff costs fell to Rs 153 crore from Rs 175 crore, with other overheads down to Rs 389 crore from Rs 405 crore.

For the half year, marketing spend was Rs 690 crore against Rs 479 crore, again 11.6% of net sales. Net sales value for the half grew 4.2% to Rs 5,961 crore, and EBITDA was down 1.1% at Rs 1,075 crore.

Prestige And Popular

The Prestige and Above portfolio grew 6.3% to Rs 3,065 crore, 94.1% of net sales value. From this quarter, McDowell's No.1 brandy has moved from Popular into Prestige and Above, with past periods restated; excluding it, the segment grew 6.5%. The Popular segment fell 22.7% to Rs 181 crore, and total volumes were down 5% at 15.77 million cases.

What Diageo India Said

"We delivered a resilient quarter despite a strong prior-year base and regulatory headwinds, while continuing to invest behind our brands for long-term growth," said Praveen Someshwar, CEO and managing director. "The relaunch of J&B Scotch, enabled by the India-UK FTA, offers consumers a compelling proposition that will help recruit and deepen Scotch penetration. We also continue to unlock new avenues for growth, most recently, entering the Ready-to-Drink (RTD) segment with Smirnoff Ice."

The figures are in Diageo India's results announcement.

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#alcobev marketing#diageo india#quarterly results#quarterly results adspend
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