Middle East Ad Revenues To Grow By 6.3% in 2014

Advertising revenues in the Middle East and African markets are forecast to grow by 6.3 per cent in 2014, according to a report by Magna Global.

Revenues were flat throughout 2013 in the Middle East owing to the political and economic situation in Egypt and a soft market in other parts of the region. However advertising in the African markets of Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria has been growing this year, the report found.

Meanwhile, global advertising revenues have been recording positive growth unlike the flat regional performance.

Magna Global estimate advertising revenues will have grown by 3.2 per cent to reach $489.6 billion this year.

As the global economy accelerates in 2014, advertising revenues are expected to grow by 6.5 per cent to reach $521.6 billion. This will be the strongest year-on-year growth recorded since 2010, the report said.

Major sport events such as the Sochi Winter Olympics and Brazil Soccer World Cup along with the US mid-term elections are expected to boost advertisement spend in most markets around the world and fuel television advertisement revenues.

Digital media has generated around $118 billion of advertising revenues this year and captured 24 per cent of market share globally. Within digital media, social networks generated more than $9 billion resulting in growth of 58 per cent in 2013.

According to the report, mobile advertising revenues doubled in size to reach $16 billion, constituting 14 per cent of global internet advertising.

Such strong growth in mobile advertising revenues has prompted social networking sites, especially Facebook and Twitter, to introduce ad formats that match portable devices, which have in turn been met with resounding success.

Facebook recently announced that its mobile advertising revenues grew to 41 per cent in the second quarter of 2013. The company did not reveal country specific figures of ad spend on its mobile platforms but said that it has grown considerably in the Middle East and has been quite successful in the region.

Vincent Letang, EVP, director of global forecasting at Magna Global, said that an improved economic environment will lead to better marketing and branding budgets in the coming year.

“This will primarily benefit television and digital media where new formats and opportunities are being explored for activation and branding campaigns,” he said.