Ad spending in Asia up sharply in first half: Nielsen

SINGAPORE: Advertising spending in the Asia-Pacific region rose strongly in the first half of 2010 as economies emerged from recession, research firm Nielsen said Thursday.

Advertisers spent 67.69 billion dollars in the six months to June, up 17 percent from 2009 and 20 percent higher than the figure for the same period in 2008 before the onset of the global downturn, a press statement said.

"With consumers already spending, many high-profile global and regional marketers have identified the opportunity and already launched 'back to business as usual' advertising strategies," said Richard Basil-Jones, regional managing director at Nielsen Media.

Media companies suffered during the global recession as consumers tightened their belts and companies cut back on advertising.

"Our latest ad spending results confirm that the majority of regional and global marketers have quickly returned to converting consumers' spending intentions into real growth in sales during 2010," Basil-Jones said.

He added that despite cautiousness in the United States and Europe, "the outlook for continued growth in advertising for the remainder of 2010 appears extremely positive across all 12 (Asia-Pacific) markets".

India led the growth, with ad spending in the world's second most populous nation rising 33 percent in the first half, followed by Indonesia with a year-on-year growth of 29 percent, Nielsen said.

Spending in Hong Hong rose 25 percent, followed by Malaysia (22 percent), Taiwan (21 percent), the Philippines (19 percent), South Korea (18 percent), Singapore (15 percent), China (14 percent), Thailand (12 percent), Australia (11 percent) and New Zealand (nine percent).

The Asian Development Bank in September raised its forecast for regional growth, saying developing economies would expand by an average of 8.2 percent in 2010 instead of 7.5 percent as predicted earlier in the year.