SA economy: adspend up, TV leads market share

Apart from the national government, which showed a decline of 15%, all 15 top advertisers of September have shown some consistency in their spending habits, according to Nielsen, which stated that, on a year-to-date basis, all media types with an exception of print and direct mail have had a percentage increase greater than 7%.

Top 15 advertisers

The top 15 advertisers are Coca-Cola SA, Reckitt & Benckiser, Standard Bank, Distell, Spar SA, KFC, Cell C, FIFA, Brandhouse, Pick n Pay, MTN, Vodacom, SAB Miller, Unilever SA and Shoprite Holdings.

TV led the market share in September, scooping 45%, followed by print (34%), radio (12%), outdoor (5%) and other media, including digital, took 4%.

Although all types of media have in one way or another benefited from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, industry watchers believe TV has emerged as the biggest winner of all, as world soccer governing body FIFA led the pack of advertisers for most of 2010.

According to Nielsen, FIFA spent R215 million on TV advertising between January and September, while its world cup sponsors forked out R223 million on TV alone, and its world cup partners and national supporters spent R208 million and R157 million on the same medium in the same period, respectively.

Year-on-year trends

The year-on-year advertising trends of FIFA and its abovementioned mates, on all types of media, are as follows: FIFA (227% increase compared to January-September 2009), national supporters (up by 16%), partners (16%) and sponsors (36%).

Speaking about the world cup, a study conducted by TNS Research Surveys on behalf of Future Publishing has revealed that 32 billion viewers worldwide watched the world cup on TV, with FIFA allocating 14 minutes per game - two minutes per game of which was spent promoting SA. "That is R1.5 billion worth of advertising," Neil Higgs, of TNS, said last week in Johannesburg.

This, combined with tweets, online and print, pushes the figure to R2 billion, Higgs said.

It is estimated that 220 000 people followed FIFA's tweets, and the FIFA website attracted 250 million visits (150 million unique users, three times more compared to that of 2006).

FIFA the biggest spender

The TNS report said adspend locally at the time was up by 21%, echoing Nielsen's sentiments that FIFA was the biggest spender.

According to Nielsen, the 10 top advertisers in the newspapers between January and September 2010 were as follows: Shoprite Holdings, Pick n Pay, Spar SA, Mass Stores, Cell C, MTN, Vodacom, JD Group, Absa and national government.

Top 10 advertisers in magazines include Edcon, L'Oreal, Unilever SA, MultiChoice, Mr Price Group, New Clicks SA and Vodacom, Nielsen said.

Although the TNS study said it was worth hosting the world cup, Higgs however reiterated that more hope has been pinned on future spin-offs with less tangible benefits at a macro-economy level.