Advertising spending reached Rp 60 trillion in 2010: Nielsen

Advertising spending in Indonesian mass media reached Rp 60 trillion (US$ 6.66 billion) last year, jumping 23 percent from Rp 48.6 trillion in 2009, a recent report from the Nielsen Company showed.

Last year’s advertising spending, the highest Indonesia had seen since 2006, was boosted by the World Cup from June to July and the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup in December, Nielsen Audience Measurement managing director Irawati Pratignyo said on Tuesday.

“The events created an overall buzz of positive sentiment. The result was that advertisers were more willing to invest in promoting their products and services because they were more confident consumers would continue to spend,” she said at a press conference in Jakarta.

She added that in just a two-month period, the advertisements during the World Cup contributed 30 percent of the year’s spending.

According to the survey, telecommunication firms remained the largest advertising spenders in all media, with a total spending ofRp 5.55 trillion, nearly doubling 2009’s Rp 3.88 trillion. They contributed 9.25 percent to last year’s total expenditures.

“The highest ad spending under the telecommunication category was encouraged by promotional activities of telecommunication products. Seven out of 10 of the largest ad spenders were telecommunication providers,” Irawati said.

PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk was the highest spender with a total spending of Rp 595 billion, up 66 percent from 2009, followed by PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel) for all SIM card products, without singling out any brand, spending Rp 538 billion, up from 2009’sRp 300.56 billion. PT Telkomsel specifically mentioned its prime product, Simpati, whose ad spending reached Rp 438 billion, up from 2009’sRp 146.98 billion.

Irawati said that, besides the spending growth of the telecommunication category, beverage companies also recorded a significant increase of 33 percent from Rp 5.28 trillion in 2009 to Rp 7.03 trillion in 2010.

The biggest spending in the beverage category came from milk producers, spending of Rp 1.29 trillion in total, followed by health drink makers with Rp 981 billion, and coffee, tea and juice producers with Rp 844 billion.

Among the milk category, SGM Eksplor 3 spent the most with Rp 168 billion.

“The milk firms contributed 18 percent to 2010’s total spending, up 86 percent from 2009,” she said, adding that the firms also replaced the coffee, tea and juice producers which traditionally topped the list in the previous years.

While milk products as a group spent the most in the beverages category, drinking water brand Aqua was the top spending individual beverage brand with a total of Rp 280 billion, although it was a 6 percent decline from the figure in 2009. Aqua was followed by Mizone with Rp 250 billion and Coca Cola with Rp 209 billion.

The survey covered 24 television stations, 95 newspapers and 163 magazines as well as tabloids throughout Indonesia. (lnd)