World ad spend boom

In its quarterly advertising expenditure forecast, the agency said that, globally, the industry was looking at the best prospects since 2000 on the back of increased corporate profits growth and 4.7% global economic growth.

In Europe, ad expenditure was projected to rise by 5.4% in 2004 over 2003 and is forecast to grow by 4.5% next year. Europe is estimated to have accounted for 25.5% of global ad revenue this year compared with 45.4%for North America, 20.4%f or Asia Pacific, 4.3% for Latin America and 4.3% for Africa and the Middle East.

As the world’s largest and most powerful advertising medium, television is projected to account for 37.6% of major-media revenue in 2004. The report predicted that it would hold roughly the same share until 2007.

“The medium remains in firm demand, but the supply of audiences is generally increasing to meet this. The threat of serious audience depletion by PVRs remains uncertain, but advertisers and agencies are already actively evaluating potential consequences,” ZenithOptimedia said in a statement.

The internet was identified as the fastest-growing medium, although it accounted for just 3.6% of ad revenues worldwide.

The forecast also predicted that the internet was likely to be collecting more ad revenue than out of home by the end of this decade.

The report predicted that out of home would maintain its 5.2% of the world’s major-media ad spend over the next three years.

By Sheelagh Doyle

This article was first published on Media Week