Thailand's fall drags regional growth
Thailand was the only country in Southeast Asia which showed a drop in fourth-quarter advertising spending, as floods pulled the spending by 18 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier.
According to Nielsen’s Southeast Asia Quarterly Advertising Index, while Thailand's spending dropped 18 per cent, the region showed the average 8 per cent growth rate in the quarter and 13 per cent for the entire year.
Across the region, total spending exceeded US$19 billion in 2011. Indonesia was the biggest spender in the fourth quarter.
“It has been a challenging quarter for some countries in Southeast Asia, with natural disasters and economic concerns impacting both business and consumer confidence levels,” noted Erica Boyd, Nielsen’s APMEA Region Managing Director of Advertising Solutions. “Declines in ad spending amongst Thailand’s largest advertisers reflects the impact of the flood in the latter part of 2011 as advertisers paused their ad spending to gauge the situation while media owners adapted their programming schedules to include more local news coverage,” Boyd added. “The only exception to the rule was government agencies and telecommunications service providers who increased their ad spend, most likely in an effort to provide information related the flood situation and provide assistance to those affected.”
Across the region, TV, which makes up 67 per cent of main media advertising dollars, delivered an 8 per cent uplift in the fourth quarter. In Thailand, TV ad spending declined 19 per cent to $425 million, while spending on magazines and newspapers also dropped by 18 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.
Unilever remained the biggest spender in Thailand, followed by Procter & Gamble and Office of the Prime Minister.
Globally, in the first nine months of 2011, ad spending grew by 8 per cent on year.
