JEDDAH, 11 November 2004 — Advertisement spending in Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries increased tremendously during the first nine months of 2004 as it is poised to cross the $3 billion mark by the end of this year.
Khamis Al-Muqla, a member of the world council for the International Advertising Association, estimated the growth in advertisement spending during the period at 45 percent, adding that the first half recorded a growth rate of 50 percent.
“GCC spending on advertisement has been growing continuously as it reached $2.8 billion in 2003 from $607 million in 1993 and we hope the figure will cross $3 billion mark by the end of this year,” he said.
Advertisement sales during the first nine months have already reached $2.7 billion compared to $1.86 billion during the same period last year. Arab satellite channels grabbed the lion’s share of advertisements this year as their revenues from advertisement rose by 55 percent from $870 million to $1.347 billion this year.
In Saudi Arabia, advertisement spending jumped from $342 million to $473 million during the reporting period, recording a growth rate of 38 percent, Al-Eqtisadiah business daily quoted Muqla as saying. Saudi print media succeeded in catching 80 percent of the spending.
The statement of Muqla, who is chairman and managing director of Gulf Saatchi & Saatchi, was based on a study conducted by the Pan-Arab Research Company (PARC), which showed Bahrain making the highest growth rate of 42.76 percent in advertisement spending in the GCC, followed by Qatar with 42.16 percent and the UAE 40 percent.
Kuwait was fifth with 26 percent after Saudi Arabia while Oman was last with 22 percent increase. The amount of spending in the UAE was estimated at $428 million and in Kuwait $268 million.
Giving the break down of advertisement spending, Muqla said televisions including satellite channels received 52 percent of the total, followed by print media with 44 percent. Daily newspapers received 34 percent while weekly and monthly magazines 10 percent. “The print media in Saudi Arabia received 80 percent of the total advertisement spending with newspapers getting 72 percent and magazines eight percent,” Muqla pointed out. Saudi Television received nine percent of the total spending while billboards eight percent.
Speaking about the major advertisers, Muqla said companies supplying perfumes, cosmetics and other personal care items as well as household goods gave 15 percent of advertisements, foodstuff, beverages and tobacco 13 percent, government agencies 7.4 percent, and automobiles and spare parts seven percent.
Other advertisers were: Shopping centers (six percent), hotels and tourism offices (5.7 percent), professional services (5.2 percent), financial services (4.1 percent), household utensils (3.9 percent), contractors and heavy equipment (3.7 percent) and jewelry and textiles (3.4 percent).
