Taiwan fears malaise will last to 2002

TAIPEI: Leading brands are chopping adspend, raising fears that Taiwan's marketing malaise, which began late last year, will continue into 2002. CIA Taiwan Media Network managing director, George Shen: "Even the big brands are cutting their spending by 10 to 15 per cent. This became evident in the second quarter, and we expect it will continue into 2002." In the first half of the year adspend contracted by 11.1 per cent to NT$26.2 billion (US$757 million) against last year's $29.4 billion, according to research company Rainmaker Industrial. Cable television took the biggest hit, dropping 16.1 per cent, while terrestrial's share slid 12.6 per cent. Advertising for newspapers dipped 8.7 per cent and magazines by 6.8 per cent. If discounts - already approaching panic levels, according to market observers - are factored in, the picture could be grimmer. What surprised the market was the extent of the decline for cable, which - as a cheap alternative to terrestrial - achieved significant growth rates in the last decade. Carat United Media Services chief executive K. F. Lee said cable operators such as TVBS had suffered huge declines. "TVBS' ratings have dropped, and it's expensive - some spots more so than terrestrial TV," said Lee. The decline in newspaper advertising was led by cutbacks in the real estate and automobile categories. The slowdown could not have come at a more critical time as publishers have launched more than 20 new titles. Starcom Taiwan managing director Kain Huang said the contraction in adspend was aggravated by the absence of a star category. "Every year there is one star category such as telecoms or automobiles. But there is none this year. Not even fixed line/broadband have much budget."

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