Korean ad spend surpasses 2007 figures

While TV continued to claim the biggest share of spend, online advertising saw the biggest growth, with spend rising by nearly 25 per cent. Cable TV also registered significant growth at 24 per cent, while spend on outdoor advertising rose by 20 per cent.

Online now represents the third biggest advertising platform in Korea with a share of more than 18 per cent, after terrestrial TV and newspapers. Search-based advertising accounted for almost 70 per cent of the total digital spend.

Cheil attributes the rebound of TV and newspaper advertising predominantly to the coverage of major international events and an easing of restrictions on TV to allow indirect and ‘virtual’ advertising within programmes. The somewhat surprising increase in out-of-home advertising is linked to the emergence of 3D advertising technology and the re-introduction of highway billboards, which had been subject to restriction.

The biggest spending sectors across the four major media were finance, insurance and securities; computer; food and beverage; cosmetics and personal hygiene and fashion. Those that reduced spend included the beleaguered construction and real estate industries; the public sector and the distribution sector.

The findings come as the Korean government continues to suspend the operations of savings banks, a sector that has increased ad spending considerably in recent years, due to insufficient liquidity. Looking ahead, Cheil predicts a lower overall ad spend growth rate of four per cent for the year, and points to further easing of advertising restrictions by the government and increased use of “sales-promotion-style marketing activities”.