Spending on advertising rose 11 percent in Qatar last year despite talk of the global financial crisis eroding profitability of local media organizations.
Advertisement spending here was $212m in 2008 with the figure climbing to $235m last year, the findings of a market survey conducted by IPSOS suggest.
The findings were based on advertisement rates quoted by media organisations, so the actual spending figure could be less or more, the study said. The figure of $235m does not cover advertisements by foreign companies. The print media accounted for the largest share of the spending at between 65 and 70 percent. Banks and financial institutions remained top advertisers followed by telecommunication service providers, automobile dealers and real estate firms.
The size of the advertisement market in the GCC as a whole was $3.9bn last year and Qatar’s share in the total worked out to 7.9 percent. The UAE accounted for the largest share at 35.4 percent, followed by Saudi Arabia (24.9 percent), Kuwait (12.7 percent), Oman (5.7 percent) and Bahrain (2.4 percent).
The Peninsula