LONDON - Media forecasting agency ZenithOptimedia cut its world advertising spend forecast for 2013 for the second time on Tuesday, blaming recession in the euro zone and heightened security concerns in South Korea.
ZenithOptimedia, the forecasting unit of Publicis Groupe , the world's third-biggest advertising group by sales after WPP and Omnicom, said in a report world advertising spend would grow 3.5 per cent this year.
It had in December predicted a rise of 4.1 per cent, which it then cut to 3.9 per cent in April.
The North Korean threat of nuclear and missile strikes against its neighbours has made advertisers in South Korea more cautious, the report said.
This, coupled with a slowdown in exports caused by strength in the South Korean won against the Japanese yen, will lead to a 6.5 per cent decline in ad spend in South Korea in 2013.
In the euro zone, a three-month period in which Italy had no government and controversy surrounded Cyprus's bank bailout, led to a 3.7 percentage point downgrade in advertising spend forecasts since April.
Expenditure in the euro zone should however stabilise in 2014, before staging a mild recovery in 2015.
Fast-growing countries in Asia, such as China, India and Indonesia will see the biggest rise in 2013, the report found.
Mobile adverts are also increasingly popular and are set to grow five times faster than desktop-internet oriented ads, it added.
However television is still the most popular medium overall, representing 40 per cent of global spending in 2012.