Global advertising to grow by 8.4% this year -report

Reuters

Published Jun 13, 2022 07:09AM ET

Updated Jun 13, 2022 07:45AM ET

By Helen Coster

(Reuters) - The global advertising industry is expected to grow 8.4% this year, despite ongoing geopolitical situations around the world and fears of a recession, a report on the sector said on Monday.

That figure excludes the impact of U.S. political advertising, which is on track to reach $13 billion in revenue this year, up from $12 billion in 2020, the report from ad agency GroupM, a unit of WPP (LON:WPP) PLC showed.

The advertising market, which typically tracks the broader health of economies, is settling after experiencing highs in 2021, when it was boosted by strong economic recovery and personal consumption.

Sources of growth in 2022 include increasing numbers of new small businesses, which are likely to advertise at higher levels than the business they are replacing; venture-funded “new economy” advertisers seeking growth; and Chinese-based marketers advertising abroad, the report showed. The expected deceleration of e-commerce and interest rate hikes will be a drag on growth.

“Although the overall economy and environment is more negative now than it was in December, broadly speaking, people in our industry and I think many pundits are overly negative relative to the reality of how the overall economy is faring,” said Brian Wieser, the president of business intelligence at GroupM, in a call with journalists.