Dubai: Things are looking up for the media and advertising industry. Advertising revenues in the GCC rose by 5 per cent year on year to stand at $4.8 billion last year.
The financial woes of 2008 placed the regional media and advertising industry in a tough situation. Companies were forced to cut their media spending budget, and revenues dwindled.
But as the economy began its journey to recovery in late 2010, the industry improved as companies increased their media spending budget.
According to the GCC Media report recently released by Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz), the UAE recorded a 33 per cent share of ad spend — among the highest regionally.
Print continues to dominate the media landscape. It accounted for 71 per cent of total ad spending in the GCC, highlighted the report.
Additionally, print grew at a compound annual growth rate of around 3.5 per cent between 2007 and 2011.
In the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), newspaper circulation was the highest globally, with a growth rate of 4.8 per cent.
While digital media consumption is growing in the region, it is still in its early stages compared to print.
In the GCC, digital ad spend amounted to around $180 million in 2012, which accounts for 9.4 per cent of total ad spend in the region, according to Emmanuel Durou, director of strategy consulting at Deloitte.
“We expect the digital ad spend to continue to grow in double digits territory into 2013,” he added.
Globally, digital media made up 18 per cent of total ad spend, and it is expected to go up 20 per cent by 2014.
Meanwhile, television continues to play a big role in generating ad revenues. Television ad revenues stood at $693 million, making up 14 per cent of total ad revenues in the GCC last year, the report showed.
But as consumers increase their use of digital media, more ad-spending is expected to be directed toward digital platforms. Pointing to this is the growing use of social media in the GCC. Of all the social media networks, Facebook has the highest penetration in the region, with 40 per cent in the UAE, followed by LinkedIn and Twitter.
