Advertising Swings Upward in Asia 18/10/2000 Advertising expenditure figures released by ACNielsen AdEx for the first six months of this year show the Asia Pacific advertising industry in full upswing. With the exception of New Zealand, all eleven countries measured returned double-digit growth, peaking at 44% in China and 46% in Indonesia. According to Steven Yung, President, ACNielsen Media International, "Growth so far this year has been outstanding - the advertising market in Asia Pacific continues to outpace economic growth. In the first six months, the Asia Pacific market earned close to US$13 billion, with key markets like China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Australia all showing strong gains. The outlook is bright for the rest of the year. The regional economy is on its course of a steady recovery, and we expect to see more dot.com advertising as the new economy takes shape, giving added momentum to the industry. The focus of ACNielsen Media International on the dynamics of the advertising economy continues to facilitate the strong growth of this exciting industry. We help our clients identify business opportunities by showing them where the money flows." In North Asia, the US$4 billion (RMB33 billion) Chinese market, the biggest in the Asia Pacific region outside Japan, led the region with 44% growth, while South Korea, the distant second with US$2.7 billion (2,969 billion Won), returned an impressive 35% growth. The Hong Kong market grew by 20% to US$1.6 billion (HK$12.9 billion). Healthcare products led the growth impetus in China, where TV advertising continues to command the lion's share of the fast growing market. In the first six months, TV has attracted an equivalent of US$3 billion (RMB24 billion) advertising, taking up an overwhelming 73% share of the advertising pie and making TV in China the biggest medium in the Asia Pacific region, three times larger than South Korea or Australia. Thailand became the biggest advertising market in Southeast Asia with a 27% gain to US$723 million (Bt$28 billion), surpassing the Philippines, which reported US$635 million (Peso 28 billion) after a 17% growth. Singapore ranked third with a turnaround of 28% growth to US$414 million (S$715 million). However, it was Indonesia that stood out from the pack, registering 46% growth to reach US$360 million (RP$3.6 billion). Despite the political instability, the consumer economy has picked up with the launch of a number of new, economy, brands into the market, taking advantage of adjustments in consumption patterns arising from the mid-1997 economic crisis. Malaysia grew 29% to US$357 million (Rt$1.4 billion) while Vietnam grew 38% to US$47 million. Both Australia and New Zealand returned strong gains in the first half over full year 1999. Australia grew 15%, three times the annual growth in 1999, reaching US$1.8 billion (A$2.9 billion) at half year. New Zealand gained 9%, in comparison to a mere 2% growth in full 1999, to reach US$383 million (NZ$814 million). ACNielsen AdEx gives gross advertising expenditures based on published rate cards, and in most countries, discounts are not taken into account when compiling figures.