APAC ad spend to grow 7%: Magna

Advertising spend in Asia-Pacific is set to grow by 7% in 2018, a marked improvement on last year’s 5.7% growth, according to Magna Global’s advertising forecast Spring 2018 update.

Overall, the global ad market will grow 6.4%, an acceleration on 2017’s 4.5%. Magna said this is primarily due to the ad spend injections for cyclical events such as the US mid-term elections, the FIFA World Cup 2018 and the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. With these events neutralised, growth in 2018 would be 5.5%.

Returning to APAC, ad spend is set to reach US$165 billion, and Magna’s new growth forecast outstrips previous expectations of 5.9%. Of the 7% growth, the report found that digital ad spend continues to be the main driver in the region, hitting 17% in 2018. By 2022, Magna predicts digital ad spend will reach US$110 billion and account for more than half of total APAC ad spend.

While being the second-largest ad market behind North America, APAC is now the furthest ahead in terms of mobile marketing, according to Magna. “Digital continues to thrive and enjoy expansive growth especially through mobile—something that Asia is a world leader in, but also as search evolves to voice this will be something we will be watching closely,” said Leigh Terry, IPG Mediabrands APAC CEO.

Source: Magna

Breaking down the report by markets, China and India are leading the way in APAC, seeing double-digit growth of 10.3% and 12.5% respectively. All other markets in the region saw single-digit growth except Singapore, where Magna said the ad market will shrink by -2.2%. This is due to stagnant GDP, low consumer confidence and slowdown in spend, the report found.

For all the impressive growth of digital ad spend, television remains a critical medium in APAC, and Magna forecasts a 2.4% hike in ad spend, which is greater than 2017’s 1.3%. However, given current trends the report predicts that TV will represent just 30% of total APAC ad spend by 2022.

For those in the APAC publishing sector, things continue to look grim. Magna said 2018 will see a 7.5% decline in newspaper ad spend, and 12% [decline] for magazines.

Gurpreet Singh, Magna APAC managing director, said there is a “clear spectrum of trends” across the region. In China, Korea, Taiwan and Australia, digital is driving growth, while in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, TV still dominates. In Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, the gap between digital and TV is rapidly closing.

“Overall 2018 looks more promising in terms of ad spend growth in APAC compared to 2017,” Singh said.