Asia Pacific ad-spend forecast to grow 4.0% amidst global slip of $625 billion to $609 billion in 2019

• Digital continues to power ad spend growth and is forecast to grow 11.9% in 2019, increasing to a nearly 52.4% share in 2020.
• Rapid mobile growth to continue (+24.9%) with nearly a third of global ad-spend delivered through mobile platforms by the end of 2020.
• The Chinaad market continues to be a leading contributor to global ad spend and will continue to grow in 2019 by +5.4% to reach RMB 671 billion. 
• India is forecast double-digit 2019 growth of 11.4% (up from the 10.6% forecast in January and 10.8% growth in 2018), with the Cricket World Cup putting growth on the front foot. 

Dentsu Aegis Network’s latest advertising spend forecast, based on data from 59 markets, predicts global growth will reach +3.6% in 2019, following growth of 4.3% in 2018, taking total investment to US$609.9 billion. In Asia Pacific, there is a predicted +4.0% growth in 2019, following +5.3% in 2018, taking total investment to US$216 billion. 

Geographically, Asia Pacific is the leading contributor to the global increase of US$20.9billion in 2019 compared to the previous year, contributing 39% of the global increase, closely followed by North America 34%. Comparatively, Western Europe is forecast to contribute 14% to new ad dollars with Latin America at 11% and Central and Eastern Europe at 3%. 

In Asia Pacific, forecasts have been revised downwards (-0.5%) from January following market softness at the beginning of the year particularly for TV, the lack of major events scheduled was also a contributory factor. China continues to be the leading contributor to Asia Pacific and global ad spend and will continue to grow in 2019 by +5.4% to reach RMB 671 billion, a surprisingly healthy and stable growth rate, which remains on track despite the headwinds from trade tensions with the U.S.  

The global forecast reflects softening growth across 9 of the top 13 advertising markets worldwide, with India and Brazil bucking the trend with accelerating growth in 2019. Some markets saw downward revisions from January 2019 forecasts including Italy and Russia with both markets seeing GDP slow alongside ad spend.

Takaki Hibino, Executive Chairman, Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific said: 

“Asia Pacific has long been the melting pot of digital and technology developments. Though we have been facing a tougher economic environment, our ad spend forecast has shown that digital connectivity in APAC remains at its peak and consumer adoption rates have leapfrogged.

Our business is built for the digital economy and we’re at the forefront of this growth, working alongside our clients to provide integrated solutions and build long-term sustainable growth for their brands.”

Key market trends

• Australia:2019 is expected to grow by 1.9% to AUD$16.6 billion, which is a modest increase in overall spend from 2018. Majority of the growth is expected to come from Digital and Video channels. Digital continues to drive advertising revenue growth and is expected to increase by 6.8% in 2019 representing roughly half of total media spend (54%).Online Video is a key driver for Digital spend and is expected to increase by 28.4% in 2019. Video is the golden child of digital with strong momentum making up a large proportion of general display. This positive trend is backed by publishers as brands continue to seek premium environments in which to showcase their offerings.

• China: thead market continues to be a leading contributor to global ad spend and will continue to grow in 2019 by +5.4% to reach RMB 671 billion but at a lower growth rate than the +7.0% growth forecast in the January 2019 report. Growth for the market in 2019 has been revised downwards due to higher than expected decline in TV spend at the start of the year. Digital is still the biggest driver of growth in total ad spend in China with the biggest share (63.6% in 2019) and growth rate. E-commerce is growing consistently and strongly, taking the biggest share within Digital. The decline of TV advertising (-6.8% in 2019) has affected the total market trend. Within TV, ad investments in CCTV and provincial satellite TV are still on an increasing trend, while ad investments in Provincial and Local TV channels have declined significantly. 

• India: forecast double-digit 2019 growth of 11.4%to reach INR 696.9 billion(up from the 10.6% forecast in January and 10.8% growth in 2018) with the Cricket World Cup putting growth on the front foot. Lok Sabha Elections are also set to increase spend in 2019.Digital media spend is forecast to grow by 32.7% in 2019 to account for INR 144.1billion, making up 21% share of total spend. Infrastructure has propelled the growth in digital consumption. TV continues to be the leading media in 2019 and will contribute 39% share of total spend. Despite digital growth, TV continues to be dominant as it enjoys unmatched share of audiences. With 40% allocation of advertising spends, TV is forecast to expand in 2019 by 9.5% to reach INR 271.4 billion.

Global media trends

• Mobile is the fastest growing platform within digital and is forecast to grow 21.4% in 2019. Powering this growth is the increasing consumption of video on mobile – from Instagram Stories, TikTok and Snapchat to YouTube and VOD – with online video in general set to grow 20.5% in 2019.

• TV ad-spend is forecast to shrink slightly in 2019 (-0.1%) with a return to modest growth in 2020 of 0.6%. Into 2020 growth will be driven by more dynamic TV opportunities and innovation as the penetration of smart TVs continues. 

• The decline of traditional print has accelerated from our January 2019 forecasts (Newspapers -7.7% and Magazines -7.4%) as digital continues to dominate.

• Out of Home sees continued growth and an upwards revision from January to 4.3% in 2019 to reach 6.3% share. Growth is driven by innovations in DOOH.