Global ad spend grows by 12.8%

Global ad spend has come back into double figures, according to the latest results from Nielsen.

The figures show the average global ad spend grew by 12.8% in the first half of 2010, compared to the same period in 2009, and totalled $238bn (£150bn).

The figures mirror fortunes in individual economies, as some countries recover from the global recession better than others.

In Europe, France led the growth in ad spend on last year with a 11.6% increase, with the UK’s ad spend growing by 10.7% and Germany’s up by 9.6%.

The weakest ad markets in Europe were Ireland, down 3% and Spain, which remained flat.

Nielsen said that the rise was driven by booming emerging markets and a return to an increase in marketing budgets in automotive, durables, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), financial services, and teleco brands.

It follows WPP, the world’s largest advertising company and owner of JWT, Grey and Ogilvy Advertising, reporting a 2.5% increase in first-half revenue in August.

In Europe, clothing brands rebounded the strongest with a 14.9% growth, whereas North America saw a huge increase in car brands’ ad spend with a 17.3% increase on 2009.

In every region, television remained the overwhelming ad medium of preference in the first half of 2010 with a 62% share of total global ad spend, an increase of 1 percent year-on-year.

Across the regions, North American and European ad spend grew modestly with 4.7% and 8.5% respectively.

Both regions were out matched by the growth in new and emerging markets with Latin America seeing the biggest growth and a 44.5% rise, followed by Middle East/Africa with 23.8% and Asia Pacific with 12.1%.

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