Advertising spending in Malaysia posted solid growth in 2010, posting a 16 percent increase for the year and totaling RM 7.7 billion (more than US$2.5 billion), according to a new report from The Nielsen Company. This growth was broad-based, with TV increasing 18 percent, newspapers up 14 percent, radio up 13 percent and magazines posting 9 percent growth. Beyond traditional media, advertising in-store, outdoors, in cinemas and on the Internet all posted solid increases as well (43%, 7%, 6% and 29%, respectively). This growth in advertising comes in conjunction with an increase in consumer confidence in the country: Malaysian consumers were among the most confident in the world by the fourth quarter of the year, with a score of 107 as calculated by Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index.
“With the jump in consumer confidence last year, advertisers joined in the race to capture opportunities that came from improved consumer sentiment. Large-scale events such as the World Cup, promotion for local festivals and aggressive product promotions also boosted advertising spend and led to a strong finish for the year,” said Danyal Abdul Malik, Managing Director, Nielsen Audience Measurement, The Nielsen Company.
Newspapers continued to attract the bulk of total ad spending, capturing 51 percent of all Ringgit spent and totaled RM 3.9 billion. Top spenders in the broadsheets were hypermarkets, local governments, universities and furniture retailers.
| Ad Spending by Media | 2009 | 2010 | Y-O-Y Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (RM’000) | Share (%) | (RM’000) | Share (%) | ||
| Newspapers | 3,407,826 | 51.5 | 3,890,824 | 50.8 | 14.2 |
| TV | 2,446,536 | 37.0 | 2,892,472 | 37.7 | 18.2 |
| Radio | 361,818 | 5.5 | 408,871 | 5.3 | 13.0 |
| Magazines | 139,545 | 2.1 | 151,735 | 2.0 | 8.7 |
| Outdoor | 112,250 | 1.7 | 119,745 | 1.6 | 6.7 |
| In-store | 86,300 | 1.3 | 123,620 | 1.6 | 43.2 |
| Internet | 40,446 | 0.6 | 52,149 | 0.7 | 28.9 |
| Cinema | 22,496 | 0.3 | 23,811 | 0.3 | 5.8 |
| Total | 6,617,217 | 100 | 7,663,227 | 100 | 15.8 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company. P2+ viewership, based on live + same day data | |||||
The total spent on TV advertising was RM 2.9 billion, driven by increases in categories such as laundry detergent, hair shampoo and conditioner, bath additives, fast food and hair care. Radio advertising spend hit RM 409 million, as players in banking/finance, university, automotive, non-alcoholic beverages as well as newspapers and magazines stepped up promotional activities in 2010. The main contributors to the jump in in-store advertising were growth categories such as laundry detergent, snacks and credit cards, while phone and accessories, mobile line services and real estate agent categories fueled the growth in Internet advertising growth.
On a category basis, mobile phone services pushed into first place in 2010, with local governments, women’s facial care, hair shampoo and conditioners and fast food restaurants rounding out the top five. Laundry detergent posted the highest growth during the year, up 61 percent in 2010 from the year before.