Asia Pacific Advertising Soft in First Quarter

NEWS RELEASE

Asia Pacific Advertising Soft in First Quarter: ACNielsen Media International

Growth Slows in China; Contraction Also Seen in South Korea, Australia

AUCKLAND, July 16, 2001 – Led by North Asia and the Pacific, half of the advertising markets in Asia Pacific experienced a soft first quarter this year, according to advertising expenditure figures released today by ACNielsen Media International.

ACNielsen Media International found total advertising spending in the region was close to US$6 billion during the first quarter. The figures show Southeast Asia markets held up well, although they are comparatively small, accounting for only 18% of the total advertising investments in the markets monitored.

Frank Martell, Asia Pacific president of ACNielsen, said, “Two major markets, South Korea and Australia, experienced negative growth, while Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand grew less than 5% based on rate card values, which probably means negative growth in actual billing. Even China, a strong growth market in the last couple of years, saw its rate of growth decline by half this year.”

“South Korea suffered a significant 8.6% drop and appears to have become a victim of the economic downturn and the global dot.com implosion. Advertising in finance and banking dropped a hefty 36% and computer and IT dropped 18%,” he said. (See Table 1)

Table 1. Asia Pacific advertising expenditure, Jan-Mar 2001

Country Advertising expenditure (US$ million)
YOY%*
Australia 631 -3.4
China 2,475 17.5
Hong Kong 874 4.8
Indonesia 159 22
Korea 753 -8.6
Malaysia 182 13.3
New Zealand 160 2
Philippines 295 19.2
Singapore 189 3.9
Thailand 279 7.8
TOTAL 5,997
Source: ACNielsen Media International
*Year-on-year growth based on local currency comparison.

Across the region, China remained the largest advertising market measured by ACNielsen Media International, with spending of US$2.5 billion based on ratecard, up 17.5% from last year. Despite this reported increase, the advertising market has slowed down significantly in China compared to last year.

South Korea, the second largest market in 2000, dropped to third place in the first quarter of 2001, as adspend declined to US$753 million from the prior year. Hong Kong moved up to second place with a modest 4.8% growth.

In the Pacific, Australia dropped 3.4% to US$631 million while New Zealand experienced sluggish 2% growth to US$160 million.

In Southeast Asia, several markets experienced strong double-digit growth. Indonesia, defying political uncertainties, saw advertising expenditure grow 22%, followed by 19.2% in the Philippines, 13.3% in Malaysia, and 7.8% in Thailand. Singapore had the slowest growth, at 3.9%.

ACNielsen Media International measures advertising expenditures at published rate card values in markets across Asia Pacific. Advertising expenditure information provided by ACNielsen Media International reflects the health of the media and advertising industry and is an important economic indicator.

ACNielsen Media International, a unit of ACNielsen, is the world leader in international media research and analysis. The company is active in more than 40 markets, offering television and radio audience measurement, advertising expenditure measurement and print readership services.

ACNielsen, a company of VNU N.V., is the world’s leading market research firm, offering measurement and analysis of maket place dynamics, consumer attitudes and behaviour, and new and traditional media in more than 100 countries. Clients include leading consumer product manufacturers and retailers, service firms, media and entertainment companies and the Internet community.

For further information visit http://www.acnielsen.com/asiapacific.

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