Though many industry sectors are spending cautiously in today's uncertain economic environment, telecommunications companies invested significantly more on advertising in the first half of 2012 than they did last year, according to Nielsen’s Global AdView Pulse report. With a 7.9 percent increase in global ad spending, the telecommunications sector saw the largest increases in emerging markets, like Latin America (+32.5%) and the Middle East & Africa (+28.3%).

After more cautious spending during the first quarter, the automotive sector also boosted ad spending by 6.3 percent during the first half of 2012, compared with the same period last year. Even in the embattled region of Western Europe, advertising spending increased by 1.4 percent when comparing 1H 2012 to 1H 2011.

Methodology

Nielsen Global AdView Pulse measures ad spending for TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, outdoor, cinema and Internet display advertising. Some markets may exclude select media due to data availability.

The external data sources for the other countries included in the report are:

·    Argentina: IBOPE

·    Brazil: IBOPE

·    Croatia: Nielsen in association with Ipsos

·    Egypt: PARC (Pan Arab Research Centre)

·    France: Yacast

·    Greece: Media Services

·    Hong Kong: admanGo

·    Japan: Nihon Daily Tsushinsha

·    Kuwait: PARC (Pan Arab Research Centre)

·    Lebanon: PARC (Pan Arab Research Centre)

·    Mexico: IBOPE

·    Pan-Arab Media: PARC (Pan Arab Research Centre)

·    Portugal: Mediamonitor

·    Saudi Arabia: PARC (Pan Arab Research Centre)

·    Spain: Arce Media

·    Switzerland: Nielsen in association with Media Focus

·    UAE: PARC (Pan Arab Research Centre)