LatAm and Asia lead global rebound

13 July 2010

A surge in ad spend across Latin America and Asia saw global ad spend grow by 12.5% year-on-year during Q1 of 2010, according to Nielsen’s Global AdView.

Spending totalled $110bn for the period with positive growth across all regions for the quarter with Latin America experiencing the biggest growth, up 48% year-on-year. This increase was driven by Brazil (+55%), Mexico (+43%) and Argentina (+35%) who made up the top three markets followed by India (+34%) and Hong Kong (+24%) who contributed to a 13% in Asia Pacific. Meanwhile, the largest ad market, the US, saw ad spend increase by 4% year-on-year with the weak base and rate-cards providing a platform for this strong growth.

The Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup made major contributions to this increase with South Africa alone growing 13%. Spain has been pinpointed as a major European market still facing difficulties after declining by 3%, despite the overall region growing 7%. France was the biggest benefactor posting an 11% increase.

In terms of media channels, the wide reach of TV saw it retain its position as the most popular format for ad spend and saw its share grow 16% year-on-yar for Q1, with regional growth strong in LatAm (+53%). Even more traditional formats such as radio and newspapers recorded growth by 10% and 9%, year-on-year respectively, but magazines continued to struggle after seeing no growth on a global scale. Unsurprisingly, the internet continued to grow yearly with 12%.

FMCG players established themselves as the biggest spenders during the period after seeing a 23% increase followed by the automotive (+19%), financial services (+17%) and durables (+16%) industries. Procter & Gamble and Unilever represented the biggest global spenders for Q1.

Josh Colley, London