Advert spend rises 42pc to Sh64bn

Advertising spend by companies and the government has gone up by 42 per cent in the nine months to September 30.

Data tracking ad exposure released by market research firm Ipsos Synovate indicates the advertising cost hit Sh64 billion, compared with Sh45 billion in the same period last year.

Safaricom was the biggest spender at a total of Sh3.4 billion in the nine-month period, followed by the government (Sh3 billion), Reckitt Benckiser (Sh2.8 billion), and Coca-Cola (Sh1.9 billion).

Trend analysis show corporate organisations increasing their spend and the government scaling down as the year comes to a close.

On a sectoral basis, communications, corporate, media and financial services committed Sh4.1 billion, Sh3.1 billion, Sh2.8 billion and Sh2.7 billion, respectively.

The period also saw small advertising agencies like Saracen Media, Mindshare Kenya and Media Edge more than double their earnings to Sh3.6 billion in the third quarter, from Sh1.4 billion in the first quarter.

This was still a far cry from leader Scangroup, which bagged Sh8.4 billion of the revenues in the period.

The past few months have seen Kenya’s advertising industry attract new local and international players.

American agency TBWA opened an East Africa office in February.

Other new international agencies that have come to the scene include French-based Havas Media International and South African media group, Carat.

A Scangroup report indicated that Kenya grew advertising spend by 33 per cent last year to 65.4 billion shillings.

The figures so far to September have crossed this mark, indicating a booming sector that will record higher earnings at year-end.