Adspend in PH 2nd highest in SEAsia – Nielsen

MANILA, Philippines – Advertisers in the Philippines spent the second highest in Asia despite the sluggish economic activity, a Nielsen report said.

Nielsen’s latest Southeast Asia Quarterly Advertising Index showed that advertising dollars spent in the country reached $1.197 billion in the third quarter of this year, a 15% jump compared to the same period last year.

This placed the Philippines second only to Indonesia which recorded a 24% growth to $2.113 billion in 2011. The total advertising dollars spent in Southeast Asia increased by 16% to $5.034 billion this year from last year’s $4.353 billion.  

“Strong advertising growth in Southeast Asia over the past year underlines the region’s resilience amidst global economic uncertainty and increasing spend in markets such as Indonesia and the Philippines echoes sentiment within the region that local economies are still thriving and capable of withstanding external shocks,” Nielsen’s APMEA Region Managing Director of Advertising Solutions David Webb said.

“The growth in advertising spend coupled with strong consumer confidence within the region are promising signs for Southeast Asia,” he added.

Ads in a slowdown

The Philippine economy grew at a dismal pace of 3.4% in the third quarter, bringing many economists and analysts to doubt if the country will achieve its full-year 2011 forecast of 4.5% to 5.5%.

But this did not stop companies from placing more ads.

Nielsen said Unilever topped the list of the region’s highest spending advertisers in the third quarter this year.

Advertisements for haircare, telecommunications and government department categories were the major sectors that contributed to advertising spend across the Southeast Asia region.

It is a textbook truism that companies in competitive industries spike their advertising during slowdown to keep consumers who are poorer or feel poorer from being more frugal and cautious in their expenditures.

TV rules

Advertisers spent most of their budgets on television and newspapers, the Nielsen Index showed.

Television advertising spend posted a 5% increase in the third quarter and 17% compared to the third quarter 2010.

Newspapers, which did not post a year-on-year growth in the third quarter, posted a 14% growth quarter-on-quarter.

Webb said that the growth in advertising in the region defied the odds as advertising budgets have been cut across a growing number of media. Television, however, remained un-matched in its ability to reach the masses and therefore, a bigger chunk of advertising dollars spent.

“(Further) technological developments such as HDTV, IPTV, TV on-demand and time-shifted viewing are all contributing to the ongoing appeal of television,” Webb said.

“As we look to the year ahead, the common challenge of allocation of advertising spend will again be at the forefront of marketers’ minds and all media, traditional and emerging, must look for ways to maintain audiences and demonstrate ROI (return on investment) in order to earn their share of advertising dollars,” he added.

Hours spent

Earlier, Nielsen data showed that Filipinos spend only 13.3 hours every week watching television; 6.3 hours listening to the radio; and 3.6 hours reading newspapers, magazines, and other print media.

Compared to its neighbors, Filipinos are ranked third in terms of watching TV with Indonesians topping the list by spending as much as 20.3 hours every week while Vietnamese spend 16.6 hours every week placing it second in the region.

In terms of listening to the radio, the country ranked third. Indonesians again topped the list by spending 8.3 hours every week listening to the radio which was closely followed by Singaporeans who spend 7.5 hours every week.

In consuming print media, the Philippines was the laggard in the region. The biggest consumers of print media in the region were Singaporeans who spend 5 hours every week reading newspapers, magazines, and other print media. – Rappler.com