Global ad spending is on the rise according to Nielsen’s quarterly Global AdView Pulse Report. The report that just came out today indicated a 4.3 percent rise in global ad spending during the third quarter of 2012. That’s compared to spending in the third quarter of 2011. Spending on ads rose to $139 billion during the third quarter of 2012, and it outpaced the 2.7 percent growth we saw in the first six months of 2012.
The media buying company STRATA said it expects the growth in global ad spending to continue rising into this year. “STRATA is anticipating a strong 2013 for the advertising economy,” STRATA President and CEO John Shelton said. “We are 3 – 5 percent ahead of 2012, which is exciting since we are past the $2 billion worth of political advertisements that bolstered the ad economy last year.”
The Financial Times reported in December that advertising forecasters actually cut their productions for global advertising spending because of economic uncertainty in both the U.S. Europe. However they did still expect to see an increase of 4.1 percent, with growth especially coming from developing markets. They lowered predictions by only half a percentage point from their October predictions for global ad spending.
Nielsen’s data also shows that developing markets do hold the key to increasing global ad spending. The firm noted 18.9 percent year to date advertising spending growth in Africa and the Middle East for the third quarter of 2012. North America’s spending rose 5 percent for the year through September. During the third quarter alone, North America’s ad spending was up 10.2 percent with the largest contributions coming from the automotive and the industry and services sectors.
Nielsen also recorded growth in ad spending in the Asia Pacific region, including a 2.7 percent increase for the year through September and a 3.5 percent increase for the third quarter. According to the firm, Asian growth was bolstered by recovery in China’s ad market.
