Carat: Major sporting events and digital to fuel global ad spend

Worldwide advertising expenditure for 2016 is set surpass expectations off the back of the ongoing growth in digital and the abundance of major events such as Euro 2016, the Rio Olympics and the upcoming presidential elections, according to the latest forecasts from Carat.

The global media network has published its updated forecasts based on data received from 59 markets across the Americas, Asia Pacific and EMEA and has predicted that advertising spend will reach $548.2bn in 2016, a 4.4 per cent year-on-year growth.

Most regions have a positive outlook, particularly North America, which is predicted to grow by five per cent, with the presidential elections alone expected to generate $7.5bn of incremental spend.

Despite a slight moderation following the EU referendum, the UK continues to be the largest advertising market in Western Europe, with positive growth of 5.4 per cent expected in 2016, exceeding the average growth rate of 2.9 per cent in the region.

The ongoing upsurge of digital media is expected to continue the positive momentum into 2017. As the leading media type in 13 of the markets analysed, digital continues to grow at double-digit prediction levels of 15.6 per cent in 2016, accelerating further at 13.6 per cent in 2017. As a result digital media spend is expected to reach a 27.7 per cent share of total global media spend in 2016, increasing to a predicted 30.2 per cent in 2017.

Commenting on the figures, Jerry Buhlmann, chief executive of Dentsu Aegis Network, said the forecasts showed “continued confidence and positive momentum for global advertising spending”.

“Expanding over three-times faster than the global rate, Digital reaffirms itself as the unrivalled driver of growth. As the digital economy brings complexity, speed of change and disruption, it is only through Digital that brands can build engagement and remain relevant to their audiences on a fully addressable and real-time basis. With more flexible, targeted and data-led media solutions, mobile, social and video are driving the demand for richer and more powerful consumer engagements, in the right place, at the right time.”

Source: The Drum

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