Ad expenditures in Japan rise for first time in five years: Dentsu

Denstu’s annual report of advertising expenditures showed spend in Japan totaled around US$63 billion (5,891.3 billion yen) in 2012, buoyed by healthy spending in traditional media.

A strong recovery in ad placements pushed spending in the traditional media up by 2.9 per cent to  exceed the level achieved in 2010 before the earthquake and tsunami hit eastern Japan.  

Broken down by medium, expenditures were higher in television (up 3 per cent), newspapers (up 4.2 per cent) , and magazines (up 0.4 per cent). But radio did not see the same growth, with the medium recording a 0.1 per cent decrease in expenditure.

Satellite media-related spending also posted double-digit growth (up 13.7 per cent), boosted by placements related to the London 2012 Olympic Games. Internet advertising also posted strong gains of 7.7 per cent.

Overall, expenditures grew in 16 of the 21 industry categories, with automobiles/related products and information/communications sectors posting double-digit gains. Beverages/cigarettes also recorded a 7 per cent increase, related to beauty and energy drinks, lactic acid drinks, and carbonated beverages.

Spending fell in five industry categories, most notably in the government/organisations sector, which posted a decline of 69.4 per cent. The significant reduction in spending followed the massive increase in public service ad placements by advertising organizations in 2011 following the 2010 earthquake and tsunami.

The other sectors posting declines include classified ads/others (down 19.8 per cent); energy/materials/machinery (down 3.7 per cent); hobbies/sporting goods (down 1.9%), hurt by weakness in the areas of video software, pachinko machines and “pachi-slo” slot machines, and game software; and home electric appliances/AV equipment (down 0.7 per cent), which saw a fall in demand for placements related to LCD televisions and Blu-ray disc recorders.