Ad spend in Asia-Pacific expected to grow 6 per cent in 2021

Spending on advertisements in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow by 5.9 per cent in 2021, with the share of digital forecast to increase by 9.1 per cent to 57.5 per cent of the overall ad spend, according to a report by Dentsu.

The report predicts a growth of 5.8 per cent in the global ad spend in 2021, amounting to $579 billion, as the industry begins to recoup the 8.8 per cent fall in 2020, brought about by the impact of Covid-19, the report said. Dentsu on Tuesday released its 2021 forecast on Global Advertising Spend, a report based on data derived from 59 markets across the globe.

“While $579 billion will be spent globally in 2021, ad expenditure is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2022,” it said.

“Mobile-first markets such as India and China saw significant growth in mobile ad spend. India showed strong momentum, at double the mobile ad spend in 2019-2020, growing 84 per cent between 2019 and 2020; an increase of $729 million in this period and is predicted to grow as the pandemic continues to keep people at home,” the report said.

The pandemic has accelerated a clear shift to digital in terms of share of ad spend in 2020 versus 2019, with the (APAC) region’s digital share of ad spend accounting for 55.7 per cent share in 2020, higher than the global average of 48 per cent, and was the largest in terms of percentage across regions globally, the report said. “India’s digital ad spend was at 27.9 per cent share, an increase by 7.9 versus 2019,” it added.

In 2020, ad spend on online video in APAC saw a growth of four per cent and is forecast to grow again by 3.9 per cent in 2021. “Some markets showed significant strides in spend in online video during 2020: India (46.2 per cent in 2020) is forecast to grow an additional 45 per cent over the next two years,” the report said.

Based on a recent Brand EQ Trends Report released by Dentsu’s Carat, the incline in digital ad spend will continue as people spend more time in their own homes as the pandemic continues into the 2020s.

“People who have jobs based around using a screen will be able to work from home far more easily. As a result, many new consumer segments will emerge and brand marketers will need to work with their media and marketing agency partners even more closely, to tap into this opportunity,” said Ashish Bhasin, CEO, Dentsu APAC.

In 2020, television’s share of media was at a historical low of 28 per cent across the APAC region, and is forecast to continue declining into 2022. Ad spend for print has declined in 2020, with newspaper spend declining 26.9 per cent in APAC, while magazines declined by 32.9 per cent. Out-of-home ad spends in APAC declined by 15.9 per cent, but is forecast to recover by 14.8 per cent by 2022, when lockdowns are lifted.

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