Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A key advertising forecaster is projecting that global ad spending should fall by a 6.9% in 2009, a pace that is worse than expected.

The outlook from ZenithOptimedia is down from December's projection for a 0.2% decline this year.

The current forecast shows much steeper dips in North America and Western Europe. With trade falling off, the Asia-Pacific region and Central and Eastern Europe are expected to show declines now instead of the previously forecast increases.

U.S. ad spending is expected to fall by 8.7% this year from 2008. The prior projection was a drop of 6.2%.

ZenithOptimedia says companies are waiting until the last moment to commit to ad spending, which many consider as a discretionary expense.