Around this time last year, I was wondering where all the FMCG ads had gone. As a student of advertising and a follower of consumer companies, it was painful to see boring and ordinary advertisements from some of the best advertisers of the consumer space.

Being a FMCG analyst, in a blog- Hey FMCG, Where's my Ad?, I had pointed out at how old these ads were, with none of companies coming up with memorable campaigns as they once did.

A year ago (excerpts from the blog)

As an FMCG analyst, it's a joy to witness a great campaign from an industry leader and it can actually do wonders for brand sales. While, it's difficult to pinpoint the exact correlation between a successful campaign and rising sales, it's anecdotal evidence that suggests the best years for Pepsodent were during the Dishoom Dishoom campaign, for Jubilant Food were during the Paresh Rawal's '30 mins nahi to free' ads and for HUL were during the various Surf, Lux and Dove ads.

So here's a plea to all the moguls of FMCG and sultans of advertising - The Ogilvies, the Mathers, the Prasoons, The Piyushes, The Lowes & the Lintases!!!! Bring out a great campaign!

The FMCG companies we speak to, talk about great tailwinds for the sector, especially post the current Demonetisation and GST disruption. They say, "rural recovery, monsoons, GST and increased premiumisation are going to sail us through." I say, get a great campaign going and blow some wind beneath those sails!

The last time a great campaign took away the nation's breath resulted in Mr Modi garnering the biggest electoral mandate in recent times. So for the next leg of great campaigns I'd say, "Abki baar, good FMCG ads, yaar!"

A year later- optimism in the air

Most FMCG stocks are at record highs.

Managements have made positive observations about the demand scenario.

Brokerages have written about increasing innovation in the sector that usually precedes a demand surge.

Retailers have made public statements about the explosion of interest and demand from Indian consumers.

In an environment as favorable as this, how could good advertising be far behind? It’s very heartening to see FMCG ads in the last one year. Be it Asian Paints, Nestle, Horlicks, Hindustan Unilever or Jubilant Food-they all came to the party.

Oh, even ITC’s Bingo made a grand comeback along with the usual excellence from Pidilite. It was also interesting to see longer ads as they adapted to the fact that most of them will now be consumed on a phone or a computer rather than a TV screen at home.

To my question-hey FMCG, where are my ads, the response looked something like this: