World advertising growth revised lower: Publicis

PARIS, FRANCE: The global advertising market will grow by a less than expected 3.5% this year, French ad giant Publicis said yesterday, marking down last December's forecast of 4.1% growth for the second time.

ZenithOptimedia, the media buying unit of Publicis, blamed the downgrade on the lingering eurozone debt crisis and heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.

ZenithOptimedia now says the advertising market in the eurozone will plummet by 3.9% in 2013 instead of the earlier forecast of 1.6% contraction. In 2012, advertising spending in the eurozone fell by 5.2% from a year earlier.

Sabre-rattling from North Korea has rattled consumers and advertisers in South Korea, the agency said. It now expects the market, one of the world's biggest, to slump 6.5% this year.

Publicis is however optimistic for 2014 and 2015. The growth forecasts for those years were modestly raised to 5.1% and 5.8% respectively.

ZenithOptimedia noted that advertising on hand held devices was "by far" the fastest growing segment with a 67% leap in spending expected in 2013 on the back of the tablet and smartphone explosion.

Source: AFP, via I-Net Bridge