Global advertising markets recorded 2.9% growth in the quarter from July to September 2008, in newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, according to Nielsen’s global advertising trends report, Global AdView Pulse.
In the three months to September 2008, the global advertising market posted a 2.9% increase versus the same quarter in 2007, mostly driven by the Asia Pacific region (7.8%). North America’s advertising market managed to bounce back to positive growth, up 3.1%, bolstered by the Olympics and the run up to the elections; however, Europe saw a drop in overall ad spend (-5.9%).
Quarter 3 2008 saw the Asia Pacific region surpass the USA to become the largest contributor to global advertising spend, accounting for 39.3 percent of global advertising dollars, up 2%.
Many of the countries covered in the report appear to have been weathering the early tremors of the escalating global economic crisis,” observes Michele Strazzera, deputy managing director of Global AdView. “In Europe, however, advertisers appear to be taking a more cautious approach, with the effects of existing economic challenges taking their toll on the region’s ad spend, particularly in Spain and Turkey.”
Among the four major media types, television and radio are benefiting most from global advertising growth. Print media, however, lost almost two percentage points to television in the year-to-date media share of spend, said Nielsen.
Television enjoyed overall growth of 8.1% in Q3 2008 compared to the same time last year, though it experienced negative growth in Europe (-6.6%). Radio growth remained fairly stable in North America and Europe, while clocking up 9.7% growth in Asia Pacific, resulting in an overall increase of 2.1%.
Newspapers and magazines saw declines in the more mature markets of USA and Europe, but continue to grow in the Asia Pacific region. On balance, advertising activity in these media has decreased, with magazines down six percent globally and newspapers down 3.8% in Q3 2008.
“There is fairly strong evidence showing that companies which increase their ad spend in a financial downturn experience exponential increases in their ROI,” said Strazzera. “With the full effects of the financial meltdown having been felt in Q4 2008, as results from this quarter come to hand it will be interesting to see the impact on the ad industry.”
The IPA’s Bellwether survey published earlier this week found that Q4 2008 annual marketing budgets were revised down to the greatest extent ever recorded in the report’s nine-year history.
The IPA said 45% of companies reported that they were cutting marketing spend compared with last year, while just 20% said they were planning an increase (see Q4 2008 Bellwether Report: Record Marketing Budget Cuts).
In December, ZenithOptimedia forecast no growth in global adspend in 2009 and reduced its overall forecast from 4.0% to -0.2% for this year, due to recent financial crisis (see ZenithOptimedia Lowers Global Adspend Forecast).
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