Bouncing back from the setback it suffered in 2012, Nigeria’s advertising industry has recorded a boost as the media spend by advertisers across the country last year sums up to N103.8 billion, representing an increase of N12.95 billion above the N91.9 billion recorded in the previous year. In 2012, the total advert spend of N91.9 billion was recorded, which is equivalent to 10.52 per cent decline compared to the N102.7 billion earned from advertisers in 2011.

According to a report by Media Facts, a key media resource for marketing professionals in West and Central Africa, the TV sub-sector dominated the media spend for last year with advertisers spending N47 billion on advertisements on TV stations in the country in 2013. This represents 45 per cent of the overall advert spend.

The report added that the outdoor sub-sector came second with N23.2 billion spent on the outdoor advertising in 2013 while the radio and print media recorded N15.1 billion and N18.5 billion, which represents by 9 per cent and 2 per cent drop respectively.

Media Facts further reports that the total above-the-line advertising expenditure in 2013 increased by 13 per cent over the 2012 figure. The growth was primarily brought about by 20 categories of products including the beer category, telecoms, gaming/entertainment, banking and finance, religion and personal paid adverts. Telecom continues to be the highest spender with overall spends of N14.7 billion, 14 per cent of the total ATL advertising in 2013. The report specifically identified MTN, Etisalat, Globacom, Airtel, Guinness Stout, Star, Indomie Noodles, Peak Milk, and Guilder as the top 10 brands that advertised in the year 2013.

The regional analysis of the report places Lagos at the top as N44 billion volumes of advertisements were placed within the state alone, making 42 percent of the total advertising spending during the year. The North had 27 percent; N27.9 billion while the West had 16 per cent, and the East 15 percent.