GroupM: Global Ad Spending to Exceed Pre-Crisis Peak Next Year

In its biannual This Year, Next Year report, GroupM forecasts that global advertising investments in 2015 will reach $560 billion, finally exceeding the pre-crisis peak of 2007-08.

The U.S. still accounts for a quarter of global ad dollars, with a moderate 3.4 percent growth rate this year to $162 billion. Second-place China is excelling at a faster rate, expecting 9.8 percent growth to $76 billion. Nigeria, Kenya and Vietnam are also growing.

“Many companies are still operating with very strong balance sheets,” said Dominic Proctor, the president of GroupM Global. “Coupled with a rising general confidence and a specific comfort around digital marketing, though notwithstanding some geopolitical uncertainty, we are seeing an uplift in some of the ‘older economies’ as well as the new.”http://worldscreen.com/articles/display/2014-8-15-groupm-advertising