Quadrennial events to boost global ad spend

MANILA, Philippines—Despite the uncertain economic environment in Europe and the United States, global ad spending is still expected to grow by 3.6 percent this year to $466.3 billion and may grow even further next year due to quadrennial events and Japan’s recovery.

According to British media services company ZenithOptimedia, Asia-Pacific should account for $121.1 million of projected overall ad spend this year—up by 5.5 percent from the previous year’s $114.8 million.

Next year, global advertising revenues are expected to register a 5.3-percent rise to $491.1 million, fueled by a number of quadrennial events, including the Summer Olympics in the United Kingdom, the European Football Championship in Poland and the Ukraine, and the presidential elections in the United States.

From these events alone, ZenithOptimedia projected additional global ad revenue of $6.2 billion.

The Japanese ad market is also expected to recover from the slump it fell into after the March 11 earthquake that triggered a tsunami and a nuclear crisis, the media services firm said.

Advertising was severely disrupted in Japan for weeks after the earthquake, as advertisers opted to hold back on making placements out of respect for the victims and the country in general. Japanese consumers also practiced “jishuku,” or voluntary self-restraint, months after the crisis.

But this year, the Japanese economy has started to pick up, pulling up ad spending. By next year, Japan’s recovery should contribute around $800 million in additional global ad revenue.

For the rest of the year, ZenithOptimedia sees continued growth in ad spend despite continuing economic woes in Europe and the United States.

In terms of medium, television continues to be the advertisers’ avenue of choice, and will corner $184.9 billion of overall global ad spend this year, ZenithOptimedia said.

Newspapers will account for another $92.8 billion, Internet $72.5 billion, and magazines $43.2 billion.