Pan Arab Research Center (PARC) has revealed that advertising expenditure for the first half of 2011 was around $5.85 Billion, which resembles a 4% drop from the same period last year.

The report focuses on:

* Monthly ad spend analysis, month by month, for first half (H1) of 2011

* Analysis by media type.

* Spending by the top brands.

.... and more.

This detailed analysis, with charts and tables, is available for download (27-page document).

Download H1 2011 Ad spend Analysis Report.

Report Overview:

mH1 2011 Ad spend Analysis

The regional spending came tumbling down as unabated protests continues in Egypt dampening the sentiments of advertisers. The region witnessed 4% downfall as compared to same period last year.

Ad spending in biggest advertising market of 2010, Egypt, plummeted by half downgrading its rank to 4th position among top spending markets. UAE regained its top spending position that it lost in 2010 to Egypt as it acted as region’s safe hub and reported a flattened growth of 1% during the period.

The growth slowed down to only 3% in fast growing Pan Arab Media that refers to media titles with regional reach. Pan Arab Media shares 51% of the total regional advertising budget.

Saudi Arabia reported a growth of 8% that is highest among any regional market that failed to touch a double digit figure. Lebanon posted a 3% increase in spending while Kuwait and Qatar reported 3% each decline in measured spending. Bahrain adverting spending plunged by 22% while Jordan posted 19% decline.

The top 3 spending sector namely Communications, Toiletries and Government sector combined spending was down by 8%. Communication was down by 3%, toiletries reported 8% downfall while Government spent 12% less during the period. Real Estate sector is still unable to recover with the severe cuts experienced in 2009 as the sector further plunged by 29%. Food sector is up by 16% while shopping malls and retail stores managed a close double digit increase of 10%.

Television with 57% media spend share is down by 4%. Newspaper spending decreased by 7% while Magazine reported a same percentage increase of 7% during the period.

The top 3 regional advertisers in order of their spending are P&G, Unilever and Pepsico.

Arab Spring that followed global economic crises of 2009 has slowed down the regional advertising spending growth. However, oil and tourism, two major key components of the economy of the region are on the upswing. The region is likely to recover soon, given these strong fundamentals but the growth to be observed in 2011 will not be uniform across the region.

Spend is calculated in the published rate card and do not account for incentives or discounts that advertisers may avail from media owners.

M Shaharyar Umar
Marketing Director,
Pan Arab Research Center

The views expressed in the article are those of author and not necessarily those of Parc.