Initiative Futures' 2004 Global Ad Spend Report reveals that China's third place ranking behind the US and Japan comes on the back of a strong 15 per cent rise in adspend in 2003. The report also notes that China's continued boom will see similar growth again in 2004.
A survey conducted by JP Morgan and R3 Asia-Pacific, meanwhile, forecasts 18 per cent adspend growth in China, fuelling an overall jump of 8.3 per cent across Asia.
King Lai, chief operating officer of Initiative Asia-Pacific, believes that China's sustained boom is a function of both growing demand from advertisers and increased media supply.
"In China, virtually all media are expanding and being upgraded, with great leaps forward for TV in particular," said Lai. "While foreign ventures have continued to enter and advertise in China, local Chinese enterprises are big believers in advertising and have driven the significant portion of expansion in advertising spend."
R3 Asia Pacific principal Greg Paull, furthermore, pointed to strong returns as a key driver behind China's spectacular growth.
"Marketers are starting to get real results for their money, which is encouraging them to re-invest," said Paull.
The Initiative report notes that a diverse range of product categories are spending more in China, ranging from pharmaceuticals to mobile phones and automotive manufacturers. Additionally, Paull said adspend was shifting away from TV and towards other types of media.
"Television's historical dominance of advertising budgets across the region is under pressure following large advertising rate increases in recent months. This is pushing adspend away from TV and into outdoor advertising (particularly in China) and new media," he said.
Paull pointed out that the survey found an 11 per cent combined share decrease for TV and print, compared to six per cent and two per cent share increases for outdoor and CRM/interactive, respectively.
The R3 survey, which polled 200 marketing decision-makers across the region, suggests that China's FMCG, telecommunications and pharmaceutical categories will lead this transition.
The Initiative report analysed spending using actual, discounted figures in 44 markets. It points to the continued rehabilitation of the internet as an advertising medium, and expects internet adspend to grow by over 19 per cent globally in 2004.
In addition, a survey by the Hong Kong Advertisers Association (HK2As) confirms that Hong Kong is expected to see adspend growth of over 10 per cent in 2004, as advertisers increasingly utilise newspapers and outdoor for direct promotional campaigns.