Global advertising is looking substantially better than this time last year, Nielsen’s Global AdView Pulse reports. While ad spend increased only slightly in January compared to last year, the year-over-year change grew steadily in the subsequent months. By March 2012, global ad spend was 4.5 percent higher than in March last year.
Market conditions and political unrest last year may have contributed to lower spending last year, and percent as advertisers turned to budding and stabilising economies there. Nielsen will watch to see if these increases are sustained in Q2— particularly with the European Cup potentially positively impacting trends in the second quarter.
Nielsen believes consumer confidence is up, and brands are trying to reconnect with those consumers, leading to the increases across media types.
Televsion, newspapers, radio, outdoor, Internet, and cinema all saw a growth in ad spend in the beginning of 2012 compared to last year, according to Global AdView Pulse. Though TV continues to attract the majority of advertising dollars, internet advertising saw the biggest increases, with advertisers spending 12.1% more in Q1 2012 than one year prior. During that time, ad spend overall increased 3.1 percent globally.
Across the regions, the findings are markedly different as each media has taken root and evolved uniquely.
Television
Dollars devoted to TV advertising grew 4% in North America, second only to outdoor, and 7.5% in Latin America. In the Middle East and Africa, TV ad spend grew a whopping 33.8%.
Internet
Online ad spend was a bright spot for the industry, with growth around the globe. Growth was particularly notable in Europe (12.1%), Latin America (31.8%) and the Middle East & Africa (35.2%).
Print (magazines and newspapers)
Magazines saw a minor decline compared to last year, but newspapers grew 3.1%. In Latin America and Asia Pacific, both media grew—7.6 % and 10.3%, respectively in Latin America, and 3.6% and 5.4%, respectively in Asia Pacific. North America saw nominal declines in print ad spend.
Radio
Radio saw increases in every region around the globe, including a 2.6% increase in North America and 2.8% in Europe. In emerging markets in Latin America and Middle East and Africa, those increases were much higher. Radio grew 18% in Latin America and 21.1% in the Middle East and Africa.
Cinema
In Asia Pacific, cinema grew 27.1%, offsetting the declines seen in Latin America and the Middle East and Africa.
Outdoor
Still a nascent industry, outdoor is growing rapidly. In the past quarter, outdoor ad spend increased 6.4% globally. This included gains of 4.4% in North America, 45.3% in the Middle East and Africa and 21.1% in Asia Pacific. Only Europe experienced a decline (1.2%).
Main events
- Global consumer confidence increased five index points to 94 in Q1 2012, according to global consumer confidence findings from Nielsen
- The eurozone economic crisis remained at the forefront of news during the first quarter, with the Spanish banking crisis and Greece’s continued turmoil topping headlines well into the second quarter
- Though the Middle East has stabilised somewhat regionally, the war in Syria continues—having knock-on effects to neighboring countries
Main facts
- After a strong finish to 2011, global advertising spend continued to rise in the beginning of 2012: up 3.1%.
- Dollars devoted to ads in emerging markets increased at a faster rate than global ad spend as a whole.
- Asia Pacific saw a significant cool-down to growth at +1.7 percent in Q1—due to a notable decline in spending in the Chinese ad market.
