Advertising in national papers reaches €244m

ADVERTISERS spent over €244 million in national newspaper advertising during the first three-quarters of this year, marking an increase of 16.9%.

Figures released by the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) showed the amount spent by advertisers in NNI titles between January and September of this year was €35m more than last year.

Advertising agencies spent €127m in NNI newspapers in that period, a 20.9% increase on last year, whereas non-agency or direct advertising revenue rose by 12.8% to €117m in the same period.

NNI chairman Gavin O’Reilly said: “We’re very encouraged by these figures, in particular with the significant rise in agency revenue.

“This year NNI made a strategic decision to refresh the way our industry communicates with the agency community. In the first part of 2005 we hosted a very successful creative challenge for agencies, and more recently we launched a brand-building initiative involving 23 ad agencies and 23 small indigenous food companies.”

He said that next year the NNI will run campaigns in a range of titles and monitor the effect these ads have on public awareness of the brands in question.

This year’s NNI revenue includes for the first time six Irish editions of British titles.