ASIA-PACIFIC: Global magazine advertising expenditure is predicted
to expand at the sharply lower rate of 0.7 per cent this year - down
from last year's sizzling 10.4 per cent pace - as the global economic
slowdown deepens.
The forecast, which was made in the latest World Magazine Trends report,
compiled by the International Federation of Periodical Press (FIPP) and
Zenith, maintained that long-term prospects remained strong.
Publishers generally agreed with the long-term forecast, saying that
last year's growth rate was abnormally high because of the dotcom and
technology boom. They said their publications would have posted a
year-on-year increase in advertising bookings had the 2000 expansion
rate not been so unusually robust. A few publishers have indicated that
confidence is returning. The Economist's worldwide publisher, David
Hanger, said: "Major global campaigns are set to start in December, with
the biggest categories being manufacturing, IT and banking. We're still
missing airlines but I think that depending on how things occur, they
will be back by March."
He believed that the first two months of the new year would remain
bleak, but he predicted a pick-up from the end of the first quarter.
