15 September, 2014
Report Also Predicts 11 Percent Hike for 2015

SHANGHAI - China's steady economic growth has effectively provided support to the confidence of advertisers. GroupM projects measured media advertising spending in China this year will increase by 9.8 percent compared to 2013 to reach RMB 473 billion.

The forecast was made in GroupM's "This Year, Next Year: China Media Forecasts" report, which also predicts an 11 percent hike in 2015 to reach RMB 525 billion.
The study is part of GroupM's media and marketing forecasting series drawn from data supplied by parent company WPP's worldwide resources in advertising, public relations, market research, and specialist communications.

The report's positive forecasts are set against a backdrop in which the International Monetary Fund predicts China's GDP will grow in real terms by 7.4% in 2014, compared with global economic growth of 3.4%.

The following highlights of the GroupM report demonstrate China's strategic importance for advertisers:

TV Adex Share Will Drop Below 50% while It's Still Dominant
The report says the share of TV adex will drop below 50% for the first time in 2014. However, TV still holds a dominant place amongst all forms of media in terms of coverage and influence. From January to April 2014, about 45% of the top 10 hot topics on Sina Weibo were inspired by TV programs. Meanwhile, TV still dominates media advertising spend with an estimated RMB 221 billion in 2014, representing a 47% share of all advertising expenditure. TV adex is expected to remain steady this year while Provincial Satellite TV will enjoy much higher growth.

Internet Growth Slows Down and E-commerce Ads Rank First in Internet Ad Spending
Having passed the RMB100 billion milestone in 2013, China's online advertising market has reached scale but its growth rate has begun to slow down. The growth rate is expected to reach 35% this year and 33% next year.

China is now the world's largest e-commerce market with e-commerce search ads contributing the largest share of Internet advertising spend. Brands are beginning to invest in advertising on China's leading e-commerce platforms. Brand advertisers are investing in advertising on China's leading e-commerce platforms, not only to drive traffic and sales to their online flagship shops, but also because they recognize the power e-commerce sites are exerting as a 'medium'.

Digital OOH Strengthens OOH Ad Market
The report says the traditional OOH will shrink slightly because of the removal of billboards in some major cities and a change in the buying process. However, adex of digital OOH will still increase, supporting a strengthening of the OOH ad market. Along with the digitization trends of OOH media, there has been a growing trend to digitize bus-stop billboards. 1,500 bus-stop LCD screens in the downtown area of Shanghai are planned to be replaced by 55-inch HD interactive ones. The digitalization of bus-stop billboards in Nanjing is also under way. Two hundred digital screens are expected to start operating this year. The growth rate of OOH adex is forecast to be 5.7% this year and 6.2% next year.

Advertisers Invest More in Radio as Print Digitalization Accelerates
Advertisers have favored the radio in recent years as private car ownership continues to increase. It has also worked hard to demonstrate the power of sales-based medium. We forecast radio adex will rise by 3.6% this year and 3.4% next year.

Policies this year will undoubtedly speed up the print transition to an increased amount of digital content. To promote the digitalization and upgrade of news and publishing industry, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television proposed a three-year plan to support a number of newspaper publishers and to implemented several projects to assist the news publishing industry upgrading its offering.

"The Internet continues to play an increasingly important role in China and the biggest revolution currently underway on the Internet is the shift to mobile. Traffic to social networks, online video sites, and search are all beginning to cross the 50% mark. In 2014, brands will attempt to keep pace by funneling more advertising spend into cross-screen mobile search and mobile video campaigns. Mobile display will also continue to ramp up as brands spend more on hero app ad buys and in-app ad networks." said Andrew Carter, President of Trading and Knowledge, GroupM China.

About GroupM China
GroupM is WPP's consolidated media investment management operation, serving as the parent company to agencies including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, Mindshare and Xaxis.

GroupM is the global leading media investment management group.

GroupM invests in more than 560 markets across China, with an overall activity volume of USD 9.87 billion (RECMA 2013). As China's leading media communications group, GroupM is one of the industry's biggest investors in syndicated and proprietary media research and optimization tool development.

Media Contact
Swee Lynn Chong
sweelynn.chong@groupm.com
+8621 2307 7701

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