India tops ad spend growth in APAC, touches $6.7 bn

Advertising spend in India in the twelve months period ended June this year stood at $6.7 billion (around Rs 29,727 crore) across mainstream media, posting the highest annual growth rate of 28 per cent in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, according to a survey.

The Nielsen Company's survey that covered a dozen countries in the region, estimated that ad spends across television, newspaper and magazine in India witnessed 32 per cent growth in the second quarter (ended June) of this calender with total ad spend of $1.92 billion (around Rs 8,520 crore).

"...The largest proportion of India's media spend was garnered by newspapers, growing at 32 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y)," the survey said.

 The newspaper segment grossed a total of $3.9 billion (around Rs 17,300 crore) during the period.

Television followed newspapers in ad spend growth at 24 per cent Y-o-Y in India and stood at $2.4 billion (around Rs 10,648 crore). Magazines saw an eight per cent increase Y-o-Y at $393 million (about Rs 1,740 crore).

Over and above the mainstream media ad spend, other media such as radio, outdoor, pay TV, cinema combined showed a growth of 31 per cent in the twelve months up to June 2010 in India totalling $1.2 billion (about Rs 5,320 crore).

The top ten categories, including services, personal care and food & beverages represented 51 per cent of all mainstream media ad spend in India.

Commenting on the advertising spend trend, The Nielsen Company President Piyush Mathur said: "The 'recessionary mindset' is fast becoming a thing of the past and marketers are using advertising strategies to reinvigorate brands by strengthening their visibility in mainstream media resulting in accelerated growth in media spends."

According to the survey, advertising  spend was highest on television during the year across the region that includes China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and New Zealand besides India.

The second highest overall growth in ad spend across the region after India was seen in Indonesia at 24 per cent, followed by Hong Kong at 18 per cent during the 12 month period ended June.