Follow the Money dep't: ZenithOptimedia says global ad spend still growing

December 6, 2010 by Dave Haynes

Monster ad agency holding group ZenithOptimedia is predicting yet more growth in global ad spend for at least the next three years, never mind the very wobbly shape of many of the economies thought to be driving that growth.

In its ad spend forecast update for Dec. 2010, it says:

• After the surprisingly strong 4.9% recovery this year, we predict annual growth of between 4.6% and 5.2% for the next three years.
• Global ad expenditure to exceed the 2008 peak in 2012.
• Developing markets to continue to grow much faster than developed markets: developing markets will account for 35.9% of ad expenditure in 2013, up from 31.5% in 2010.
• Ad expenditure in newspapers and magazines to fall by 2% between 2010 and 2013.
• Technology to help television, cinema and outdoor grow ahead of the market, while internet advertising grows three times faster than the market as a whole.
• Display advertising is now the fastest-growing internet category, driven by online video and social media.

“The key result of this update is the continued rise of developing markets and digital media, and their central role in driving global growth,” said Steve King, ZenithOptimedia’s worldwide CEO. “In fact the importance of the internet is under-represented in these figures. Advertisers are investing a lot more in owned and earned media, where their activities do not count as ad expenditure in the traditional sense.”

There are some fleeting references you might attach to DOOH, but this is a macro report and actual spend on DOOH (if LED boards and cinema are factored out) is still teeny-teeny (but growing) and not really something that would get referenced in a broad strokes piece like this.

There’s a link to get the whole update here …