Advert spend in papers up 10%

ADVERTISING in Irish newspapers got a welcome shot in the arm in the final quarter of 2003.

According to the latest revenue figures published by the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI), advertising spend was up by almost 10% in the final three months of last year.

In total, the 12 newspapers that make up the NNI generated €253 million in advertising revenue for the titles for the year as a whole.

That accounts for more than half of the total of national advertising spending across all media.

Given the poor economy, the NNI noted that spending on advertising fell by just 0.28% year-on-year.

Given the boost of 9.89% for the last quarter, the NNI has greeted the figures as a welcome sign that the economy is back to better times.

Notable during the year also was that direct advertising was for the first time almost equal to the money channelled to the papers by advertising agencies.

This reflected improved economic buoyancy, particularly in property and retail and higher spending across a range of areas from financial to general classified advertising.

For the second successive year, the battle between the advertising agencies for who spent what across the market was claimed by Carat.

It took first place in the NNI Agency League, having spent €15.3m on behalf of its client list.

That was a 4.4% increase year-on-year for the group which benefited from the upturn towards the end of the year.

The NNI noted Brindley advertising maintained a strong hold on second place with an client advertising budget for the year of €10.3m.

MCM Communications, with a spend of €9.2m, took the number three slot, a move that saw them jump from fifth to third slot over the year.

Bringing up fourth and fifth places were Mindshare/DDFH&B/O&M.

Initiative Media got The Highest Increase in Spend Award and the boost pushed them to sixth position in the highly-competitive league table of 30 advertisers.

NNI chairman Gavin O’Reilly said “despite a slow start to 2003, newspaper advertising spend has picked up progressively and ended the year on a high note, with the final quarter showing gains of almost 10%, strongly indicating that a sustainable recovery has commenced.”