Digital Ad Spends to Grow Significantly in APAC in 2019 The Asia Pacific will continue to be a leading contributor to global ad spend growth in 2019, says Dentsu

With the growing penetration of mobile phones across the world and the steady decline in the cost of accessing the Internet, companies are fast realising the importance of investing in digital advertising.

London-based media and digital marketing communications company Dentsu Aegis Network's latest advertising spend forecast, which analysed data from 59 markets, suggests that global growth is expected to increase by 3.8 percent this year, amounting to US $625 billion. As a whole, the Asia Pacific will continue to be a leading contributor to global ad spend growth this year, contributing 42 per cent of the global increase. Some markets in Asia-Pacific, especially China and India, says the report, will contribute above average rates of growth to the worldwide increase.

Let them watch

The Global Ad Spend Forecasts report states that Asia-Pacific will generate 4.5 per cent growth this year, down from 4.6 per cent in 2018. In 26 markets, digital will be the leading channel, with Malaysia and Singapore joining this list for the first time.

Digital remains the dominant force in ad spend and is forecast to cross the 40 per cent-mark for the first time in 2019, it adds. Globally speaking, mobile will remain the fastest growing platform and is forecast to grow by 19.2 per cent in 2019.

"The Asia Pacific continues to see growth through digital connectivity – driven not only by advances in technology but the increasing speed of consumer adoption," says Nick Waters, chief executive officer of Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific, in a press release.

"This region has been leading the way in the uptake of new technology for quite some years, and the world-leading growth in digital seen in this forecast continues to show the Asia Pacific at the forefront of new developments in this area. In China where digital penetration is highest, the trend shows little sign of slowing down."

Much of the growth can be owed to the increasing number of smartphone users, especially within Asia-Pacific markets. By the end of this year, there are estimated to be 1.59 billion smartphone users, up from 1.19 billion in 2016, according to eMarketer.

As far as mobile's share of ad investment is concerned, the report states, it will make up 29 per cent of global ad spend in 2019 and more than 30 per cent of global ad spend in 2020. In China, mobile is forecast to account for more than three-quarters of 2019 digital ad spend for the first time and in India, it is expected that the growth of mobile ad spend will accelerate at pace, growing by almost half in 2019.

Money spend

The reports predicts that Australia and China will spend AUD16.3 billion (US$11.7 billion) and CNY682.1 billion (US$100 billion) on advertisements this year.

Of the US$100 billion, China will direct US$63 billion to digital advertising, representing a 12.5 percent growth, according to Dentsu.

When it comes to Australia, although digital continues to drive advertising revenue growth, digital media is expected to increase only by 5.7 percent in 2019.