The GCC advertising expenditure increased by 23.60 percent to reach $3.77 billion in the first six months of 2008 compared to $3.05 billion for the same period last year. Khamis Al Muqla, chairman of Bahrain-based Gulf Marcom Group and board member of the International Advertising Association (IAA) Worldwide, said according to the Pan Arab Research Center (PARC), the Pan Arab media share (mainly satellite TV) reached $1.57 billion, an increase of 24 percent as compared to the same period of 2007. This is followed by the UAE with $929 million (an increase of 42 percent), Saudi Arabia $550 million (an increase of 11 percent), Kuwait $337 million (an increase of 11 percent), Qatar $157 million (an increase of 1 percent), Oman $120 million (an increase of 69 percent) and Bahrain $50 million (an increase of 2 percent). Oman recorded the highest growth among the Gulf countries for the first six months of 2008, followed by UAE, Pan Arab with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on par followed by Bahrain and Qatar. Al Muqla added that the Pan Arab media share represents 41.64 percent of the total advertising expenditure in the GCC. The advertising budgets in Pan Arab media are to cover the GCC in different proportions, with Saudi Arabia being one of the key markets. The GCC media share including Pan Arab media was $1.7 billion for newspapers and $1.6 billion for TV of which $1.4 billion was towards Pan Arab satellite TV. The total of $343 million was for magazines, $74 million for outdoor and $36 million for radio. The print medium is still dominating in all GCC local markets. In the Arab world, Egypt showed an increase from $375 million to $ 514 million, an increase of 37 percent, Lebanon from $125 million to $150 million an increase of 20 percent, Jordan reached $50 million compared to $56 million last year, a decrease of 10 percent. The advertising expenditure in the GCC countries including Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan during the first six months of 2008 showed a monthly average between $629 million in January as the minimum, and $847 million in May, as the maximum, with the possibility of expenditure in July and August decreasing due to the summer period and then increasing, because of Ramadan which is a very active period in addition to the start of the new academic year. The advertising categories for the first six months are: Government/organization - 14 percent (increase of 28 percent), Toiletrie Hygiene / Housecare Products - 11% (increase of 21 percent), Insurance & Real Estate - 11 percent (increase of 101 percent), Communications - 9 percent (increase of 24 percent), Food Beverages and Tobacco - 7 percent (without any increase) Publishing media - 6 percent (increase of 15 percent), shopping Malls & Retail Stores - 6% (increase of 20 percent), Vehicles, Accessories & Supply - 6 percent (increase of 17 percent), Financial Services - 6 percent (increase of 12%), Professional Services - 5% (increase of 39 percent), Hotel, Travel & Tourism - 5 percent (increase of 13 percent), Entertainment - 3 percent (increase of 19 percent), Business/Construct. Equip. & Supply - 3 percent (increase of 25 percent), Clothing, Jewelry & Personal Acs. - 3 percent (increase of 3 percent), Household Appliances - 2 percent (increase of 12 percent). Al Muqla expects the advertising expenditure in the GCC to reach $8 billion by the end of 2008, compared to $6.5 billion in 2007, an increase of 24 percent, which is the same increase achieved in the first half of 2008. This makes the region the focus of many international advertising and media groups looking for investment opportunities in emerging economies such as the GCC, India, China and Far East. __
