Asia’s ad spending rises sharply in first half

SINGAPORE — Advertising spending in the Philippines and in 11 other key Asia-Pacific markets rose strongly in the first half as economies emerged from recession, research firm Nielsen said on Thursday.

Advertisers spent $67.69 billion in the six months to June, up 17% from 2009 and 20% higher than the amount recorded for the same period in 2008 before the onset of the global downturn, a press statement said.

“With consumers already spending, many high-profile global and regional marketers have identified the opportunity and already launched ‘back to business as usual’ advertising strategies,” the statement quoted Richard Basil-Jones, regional managing director at Nielsen Media, as saying.

Media companies suffered during the global recession as consumers tightened their belts and firms cut back on advertising.

“Our latest ad spending results confirm that the majority of regional and global marketers have quickly returned to converting consumers’ spending intentions into real growth in sales during 2010,” Mr. Basil-Jones said.

He added that despite lingering cautiousness in the United States and Europe, “the outlook for continued growth in advertising for the remainder of 2010 appears extremely positive across all 12 (Asia-Pacific) markets.”

India led the growth, with ad spending in the world’s second most populous nation rising 33% in the first half, followed by Indonesia with a year-on-year growth of 29% and Hong Hong with 25%.

The other markets that beat the regional average year-on-year growth in the first half were Malaysia (22%), Taiwan (21%), the Philippines (19%) and South Korea (18%).

The other Asia-Pacific markets covered were Singapore (15%), China (14%), Thailand (12%), Australia (11%) and New Zealand (9%). — AFP