Global investment in digital advertising will overtake newspaper spending sooner than expected, with the switch expected this year rather than 2013, according to Carat’s latest spending forecast.
Carat’s forecast shows digital remains the driving force in the market in terms of growth, continuing to outstrip growth in other verticals.
But despite the strong record in digital, Carat has joined Warc and Zenith Optimedia in reducing its forecast ad spend in 2012. In Carat's case, the prediction for global ad spend growth in 2012 is now 5 per cent—1 per cent lower than its prediction in March.
The dampened outlook extends into 2013, with Carat setting global ad spend growth at 5.3 per cent, down from the previous expectation of 5.8 per cent.
Asia-Pacific is not immune to the downgrade, with ad spend in the region dropping 1.9 per cent to 6.8 per cent in 2012.
The revised prediction is largely due to a 3.7 per cent drop in ad spend forecast in China, with Australia also seeing a 1.9 per cent decrease.
Nick Waters, chief executive officer of Aegis Media Asia-Pacific, said the “anemic recovery” in the US and ongoing Eurozone crisis has dampened Asian economies and consumer sentiment. The reduced pace of growth in China is also creating further restraint across the region, he added.
“We see these effects continuing into next year, so anticipate somewhat slower growth in 2013,” he said.
The article first appeared on Campaign Asia