Jakarta, Indonesia – Unilever has retained its position as Indonesia’s top advertiser in the first half of 2025, according to new data from Nielsen Ad Intel, as the nation’s advertising landscape sees fresh momentum from fast-growing service sectors.
FMCG leaders Wings and Mayora followed closely behind, while tech-driven companies such as Goto (Gojek Tokopedia) and Garena (Shopee) secured spots in the top ten—reflecting Indonesia’s increasingly digital consumer economy.
Other heavy spenders included Nestlé, Indofood, Ajinomoto Indonesia, Aqua, and Tempo Scan Pacific, underscoring the continued dominance of FMCG in national ad budgets.
Beverages emerged as the country’s largest advertising category for the first half of 2025, trailed by laptops and smartphones, then food.
Nielsen’s managing director for Asia, Adrienne Wong, said, “Advertisers are increasingly recognising the value of real-time competitive visibility. In a market as diverse and fast-moving as Indonesia, the difference between leading and lagging often comes down to intelligence.”
However, the sharpest rises came from the service sector, with personal services up 108% and property advertising doubling by 101%—signals of renewed consumer confidence and heightened competition in leisure, housing, and lifestyle segments.
Transport, travel and recreation advertising climbed 39.7%, as the travel sector continues to rebound post-pandemic, while apparel and personal accessories (up 21.3%) and smoking and accessories (up 17.1%) also saw notable increases.
Toiletries and cosmetics, along with medicines and pharmaceuticals, rounded out the top five categories as health and self-care remain key consumer priorities.
“Knowing how much your competitors are spending, and where they’re spending, leads to smarter media strategies, sharper negotiations, and stronger ROI,” Wong added.
Nielsen’s Indonesia director, Tejendar Singh, pointed out, “Indonesia remains one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic advertising economies, fuelled by a young, digital-savvy population and strong brand competition across both traditional and online media.
“Nielsen’s latest findings highlight a market balancing established FMCG dominance and emerging investment from service-led industries,” Singh concluded.
