ASIA-PACIFIC – JAPAN, FEBRUARY 25, 2013 – Dentsu has released its annual report of advertising expenditures in Japan for the 2012 calendar year, including an estimated breakdown by medium and industry.
According to the report, Japan’s advertising expenditures in 2012 totaled ¥5,891.3 billion, an increase of 3.2% over the previous year. Overall spending on advertising began to fall in 2008 (down 4.7%) as a result of the simultaneous global recession precipitated by the financial crisis in the United States. Yearly spending continued to decline in 2009 (down11.5%), 2010 (down 1.3%), and 2011 (down 2.3%), but bounced back in 2012 (up 3.2%), benefiting from a resumption in spending that had been delayed or postponed after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Japan’s advertising expenditures increased in 2012 for the first time in five years.
Ad placements recovered strongly during the second half of 2011 on reconstruction-related demand after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and this trend carried over through the first half of 2012. After the London 2012 Olympic Games, however, a slowdown in the overall economy depressed advertising expenditures.
This was caused by a number of factors, including a fall in consumer spending after the discontinuance of the tax reduction and subsidy program for eco-car purchases, the high value of the yen, economic stagnation in Europe, and a decline in exports. Nevertheless, for the year as a whole advertising expenditures totaled ¥5,891.3 billion, a gain of 3.2% from the previous year; the first annual increase in five years. A strong recovery in 2 / 7 ad placements pushed spending in the traditional media to ¥2,779.6 billion, exceeding the level achieved in 2010 before the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.
Expenditures were higher in television (up 3.0%), newspapers (up 4.2%), and magazines (up 0.4%), and held steady in radio (down 0.1%). Overall spending in the traditional media was up 2.9%. Advertising in promotional media also grew (up 1.4%). Satellite media-related spending posted double-digit growth (up 13.7%) for a third straight year, boosted by placements related to the London 2012 Olympic Games. Internet advertising again posted solid gains (up 7.7%).
Expenditures grew in 16 of the 21 industry categories, including automobiles/related products (up 26.9% on increased placements for K-cars [engine displacement up to 660cc] and 2-box vehicles), information/communications (up 10.5% on expenditures related to smartphone services, satellite broadcasting, and web content advertising), and beverages/cigarettes (up 7.0 % on expenditures related to beauty and energy drinks, lactic acid drinks, and carbonated beverages). In contrast, expenditures fell in 5 of the 21 industry categories, including government/organizations, where spending fell dramatically (down 69.4%) compared with 2011, which had seen a massive increase in public service placements by advertising organizations after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami; and classified ads/others (down 19.8% on declines in placements by corporate groups as well as the movie and theater industry).
Download Dentsu’s full report here.
