Romanian BRAT: Ad investments increased 2% in H1 2015

Romanian Transmedia Audit Bureau (BRAT) made public the first data on ad budgets trends for the first half of 2015 for print, radio, internet and outdoor. According to this data, the ad investments increased 2% in H1 2015 compared to the same interval last year, to 287M € (rate card value).

The increase was generated mainly by radio’s 13% growth in H1, compared to previous year , as it counter-balanced the slight decreases of online and print, creating a general positive trend. The significant evolution of ad volumes in radio advertising is due to continuous investments in this medium by pharma companies and also due to the fact that online stores are investing now in this channel.

The main increases of ad investments in Romania in H1 came from sectors like finance, entertainment and outdoor activities, pharma and communications. When it comes of communication sector, the increase of ad investments is due mainly to Telekom Romania, while for pharma and health the main investor was Zdrovit and ING Group allocated the biggest budgets in the financial sector. For entertainment and free time activities, the biggest invetors were KFC and McDonalds, but also ad clients promoting music festivals and concerts.

There are 2 noticeable trends in H1’s ad investments, namely that traditional clients, used to invest in advertising, noticed the benefits of communication and increased their ad budgets for the period when they communicated significant modifications over their brands and, on the other hands, more and more clients are starting to communicate and try to get benefits with ad investments, even if the volumes they invest aren’t very big.

The highest increases (percentage wise) among the 10 main Romanian ad clients came, in H1, from ING Group and Telekom Romania, which increased by over 4 times the invested budgets compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, the online store Emag increased its advertising budgets by over 150% in H1, compared to the same period last year.

The results are based on rate cards tariffs for ad investments, which sometimes differ significantly from the net invested amounts. Still, the trends and growth developments for advertising industry remain significant, supported also by the 12% increase in the number of clients who invest in advertising and by the increase in the number of advertised brands.

The general increase for H1 2015, combined with the increase in the number of clients investing in advertising and in that of the promoted brands, represent a come back for the advertising industry, confirming its elasticity as a reaction to the first signs of economic growth