Give us returns and we'll spend - global advertisers

Give us returns and we’ll spend – global advertisers

Advertising expenditure growth on global scale

Print newspapers are expected to lose their advertising attraction over the years while online portals grow even stronger at their expense...

October 14, 2012 5:22 by Muhammad Aldalou

As we become more digitally savvy, you no longer have to be an expert of the advertising realm to pin-point the two ends of a forecast spectrum. Advertising spending distributed across mainstream, as well as up-and-coming mediums is a subject of great discussion and analysis. Everyone works hard to be actively present where advertisers are willing to spend.

An extensive report by ZenithOptimedia Group paints a clearer picture of the growth and decline forecast of ad spending on the global landscape across all mainstream mediums.

Comparing the habits of advertising spending between the 2010 and 2014, it comes as no surprise that Cinema as a medium takes the least percentage home and that television still takes the biggest slice of the cake.

But, more important than how the slices of ad spending are currently distributed, is the percentage of growth or decline that each medium is expected to experience over the next few years. Digital media – particularly internet advertising – is supplying most of the growth in spend by medium. Internet advertising is expected to grow by 15.1% in 2013, while traditional media grow by 2.3%.

Print newspapers are expected to lose their advertising attraction over the years while online portals grow even stronger at their expense. In 2010, newspapers held 21.4 percent of total expenditure of global advertisers. However, those figures are expected to drop even further to 16.8 percent by 2014 while magazines also lose out on the action as they fall from 9.8 to 7.9 percent.

In fact, all mainstream mediums excluding the Internet and Television will be experiencing a fall. The Internet, from 14.7 percent in 2010, is expected to have an extremely positive growth and shoot up to 21.4 percent. But even with positive forecasts ahead, the never ending dilemma of providing adequate ROI continues to stand as a significant hurdle as advertisers are willing to pay, but only with more assurance and results.

“Advertisers are broadly continuing to invest, despite the global economic concerns and issues,” says Steve King, Global Chief Executive Officer for ZenithOptimedia Group. “However, they are seeking to ensure that any expenditure is delivering strong return on investment.

‘Ad markets in Middle East & North Africa are still constrained by the region’s social and political turmoil, which has left many advertisers cautious about attracting negative attention. We forecast just 1.0% growth in ad expenditure here this year, followed by 2.8% in 2013 and 2.3% in 2014.’

In 2010, the total advertising expenditure in the MENA stood at approximately $4.9 billion. The prediction is that by 2014, it will land firmly at $4.4 billion.