After Difficult 2009, Ad Spending Rises 16%

South Korea’s media industry enjoyed a strong rise in advertising spending last year, according to an annual survey by the nation’s biggest ad agency, Cheil Worldwide. South Korea’s most ubiquitous pitchwoman, figure skater Kim Yuna, shown in an advertisement on a “media pole” in Seoul’s trendy Gangnam neighborhood last year.And the spending increase was across all media, though the smallest gains were in the traditional print and broadcast segments. Ad spending jumped 16.5% to 8.45 trillion won last year, or about $7.5 billion.

Advertising spending dropped 6.9% in 2009 due to cutbacks in marketing that businesses made in the wake of the 2008 global economic crisis. That means last year’s gains are coming off a depressed base. Ad spending in 2010 was 8.4% higher than it was in 2008.

Indeed, ad spending on newspapers and radio in 2010 was still below 2008, Cheil said. Ad spending on magazines and broadcast TV was barely above 2008 levels, even with the help of the Winter Olympics and World Cup, events that are a magnet for advertisers trying to reach mass audiences.

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