MENA advertising growth to double in '09 - report

CUT-THROAT COMPETITION: The report said internet advertising will close the gap on other media. (Getty Images)

Advertising growth in the Middle East and North Africa will almost double next year as most of the world sees its first contraction in nearly a decade, an industry report released on Monday claimed.

The bulletin from ZenithOptimedia, a media-buying arm of one of the world’s largest advertising firms, Publicis Groupe, says 2009 advertising growth for the MENA region will grow by 10 percent, compared with this year’s expected growth rate of 5.8 percent, UAE daily The National reported.

"We think that 2009 for the Middle East is going to be a bit better than 2008," the paper quoted Jonathan Barnard, director of publications at Zenith, as saying.

Although Egypt would be a strong contributor to the growth, most of the gains would come from the GCC and the growing pan-Arab advertising market, he said.

This compares with a gloomy worldwide outlook, with a forecast of a 0.2 percent drop in advertising spending next year, led by the deepening US recession.

North American advertising spending will be the worst hit, declining 5.7 percent next year, with western Europe down 1 percent.

The downturn in global advertising spending began in the third quarter of this year and was expected to last until the third quarter of next year, Zenith found.

Internet advertising is expected to grow 18 percent next year, both globally and in the North American market, taking a 15.6 percent share of global ad expenditures in 2011, 5.2 percentage points ahead of magazines and 5.6 points behind newspapers, the paper quoted the Zenith report as saying.

The gap between internet and newspapers in 2008 is 15.1 points, it said.

Reduced advertising budgets were likely to help internet advertising, which offers advertisers a clear way to track audience, Barnard added.

Television is also expected to do relatively well in the downturn, the report predicted, making up a record 38.5 percent of global ad expenditure in 2010 and 2011, the report said.

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