Global ad spend forecast revised

Media agency ZenithOptimedia has revised its ad spending forecast for 2008, citing the credit crunch as the reason for downgrading forecasts for the U.S. and Europe.

by Helen Leggatt

ZenithOptimedia expects ad spend growth in North America and Western Europe to slow, revising its 2008 forecasts accordingly. The combined growth forecast for North America and Western Europe was dropped from 4.4% to 3.8%, while global growth will see only a slight fall from 6.7% to 6.5%.

Jonathan Barnard, head of publications at ZenithOptimedia, said: “It’s definitely true the credit crunch is set to have an impact on advertising in the developed markets, and this is the undeniable theme of the forecast.”

Strong growth, especially in India, China and Russia, has meant forecasts for the rest of the world have been revised upwards from 10.9% to 11.1%. They, said Barnard, will contribute to 63% of new ad spend between 2007 and 2010, compared to just 37% for Western Europe, Japan and the U.S.

ZenithOptimedia predicts the largest contributor to the growth in global ad spending will be Russia which is predicted to grow by 92% between 2007 and 2010. China comes in second with 61.5%, followed by the Middle East (54.2%), India (52.2%), Brazil (46.6%) and South Africa (45.8%).