REPORT: MEDIA-CNBC Asian advertising industry poll - Happy days are here again as region readies for better times ahead

Everything is relative, as the saying goes, but the good news is

that 92 per cent of respondents in the latest MEDIA-CNBC Asian

Advertising Industry Poll believe that the year 2000 is looking better

than 1999.

Of course, last year saw some of the biggest ructions and lay-offs the

advertising and marketing industries have experienced in Asia, coming as

the long-term effects of the recession which began to bite in late

'97.

The general mood is one of cautious optimism, tinged with resignation -

in other words, few believe that things could get much worse.

Nonetheless, a proportion of respondents from Hong Kong (two per cent)

and the Philippines (17 per cent) did, however, forecast that the next

12 months were likely to bring even worse hardships.

In terms of growth, 80 per cent of respondents were confident that

clients' business would increase, with the majority (56 per cent)

tagging this at a rate of between 10-20 per cent.

Across the region, creatives and agency media were the least bullish

when asked how much they anticipated their existing business to increase

this year, with 20 per cent in each of these two sectors forecasting no

growth whatsoever.

China was seen as the market with the greatest promise for growth in

2000, with 32 per cent of respondents anticipating that the mainland

would have the fastest growth in the region.

Eleven per cent pinned their hopes on Hong Kong, followed by Indonesia

(10 per cent) and Korea (six per cent).

In terms of category growth, it came as no surprise that 56 per cent

said that information technology and related areas would boom, with

banking/finance trailing a distant second, taking just 20 per cent of

the vote.

With the boom in new media and the way in which clients sought

alternative advertising media during the slump of the last two years,

questions of how media owners could attract clients have arisen.

Nearly 50 per cent of respondents, interestingly enough, said they were

looking for innovative ideas and packages which could add value to an

otherwise straightforward media buy. Just 12.6 per cent cited discounts

as the way to go.

How the MEDIA-CNBC Asian Advertising Industry Poll was conducted ...

The MEDIA-CNBC Asian Advertising Industry Poll was conducted on behalf

of MEDIA and CNBC by Asia Market Intelligence via the Internet. Select

respondents were contacted by email and asked to participate. Main

results will be featured every month in MEDIA, as well as on Storyboard,

CNBC's weekly programme covering advertising, media and marketing.