Spending on advertising in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) increased in 2003 from $2.4 billion in 2002 to $2.8 billion in 2003.
This unexpected rise came despite the Iraq crisis, which left a negative impact on the economic climate for the first six months of the year followed by the two lean summer months. However, the last quarter witnessed a surge in spending with more activities, bringing the average up.
"The PARC (Pan Arab Research Centre) figures indicate that the Pan Arab Media which constitute mainly of satellite channels, accounted for 87 percent of the total TV advertising," explained Chairman and Managing Director of Gulf Saatchi & Saatchi and Board Member of the International Advertising Association (IAA) Worldwide, Khamis Al-Muqla. "TV advertising accounted for 50 percent of the total expenditure, followed by print 45 percent."
"Print media is still the main vehicle for the local markets like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia alone accounts for the largest print expenditure in the Gulf, accounting for 84 percent," added Al-Muqla."
"The same applies for Emirates. With the expenditure on print accounting for 68 percent and television 20 percent, outdoor eight percent, radio three percent and cinema one percent." Speaking about other gulf markets, Al-Muqla said, "The increase in advertising expenditure was between 4.5 to 26 percent."
In Saudi Arabia, the increase was from $477 million to $499 million representing a 4.5 percent rise, followed by United Arab Emirates (UAE) from $355 million to $446 million, an increase of 25.6 percent. Kuwait's spending jumped from $280 million to $303.5 million, an increase of 8.3 percent and Bahrain's spending rose from $77 million to $86 million, an increase of 11.4 percent.
Qatar spent $49.9 million on advertising in 2002 and $56 million in 2003, an increase of 12.2 percent and Oman recorded a 26 percent increase from $43 million to $54 million. Oman and UAE witnessed more growth than the others, followed by Pan Arab media which had a 19.9 percent increase. Expenditure on Pan Arab media reached $1.38 billion in 2003 compared to $ 1.15 billion in 2002. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
