Ukraine’s advertising market tumbled to the lowest point since at least 2007, when the All-Ukrainian Advertising Coalition started keeping track of numbers.
The market dipped to $570 million, or Hr 9.1 billion. There’s plenty of reasons: war, revolution, recession have prompted businesses to cut where they think they can.
Print, TV, radio and outdoor advertising all lost ground. Internet advertising was the only segment to show growth – up 3 percent to Hr 2.1 billion. It is expected to grow even faster next year, increasing its share of the market from the current 23 percent.
Maksym Lazebnyk, executive director of the All-Ukrainiain Advertising Coalition, expects next year’s market to dip slightly, by 1 percent, but come in close to this year’s Hr 9.1 billion. But Lazebnyuk is not sure of his forecast, given the uncertainly of the political and economic situation.
Others think the advertising market will sink 10 percent in 2015. It could suffer even more, especially if parliament bans medical advertisements.
Print magazine advertising fell 30 percent while print newspaper advertising tumbled 37 percent.
Telenedelya, a weekly tabloid, had the highest revenue of any print publication in the first nine months of the year – Hr 43.3 million, according to Zenith Optimedia, a global communications consultancy. Elle, a monthly women’s magazine, had Hr 42 million in ad sales. Political and business magazines didn’t do as well. Focus, a weekly magazine, sold Hr 14.2 million in this period.
Television advertising contracted 20 percent while radio experienced a 15 percent drop as outdoor advertising shrank by 31 percent.
The only bright spot is internet, although online advertising hasn’t grown quickly enough to offset print losses.
Oleksandr Olshanskiy, board member of the Internet Association of Ukraine, says the number of internet users increase by 2.5-3 million each year; that number currently stands at 17.5 million users.
The trends mean that traditional media will have to accelerate their digital transition, especially through user-friendly mobile versions, including iPhone applications.
“Really hard times await print media,” says Kutovoy of Nostra Communications. “Traditional media will be forced to shut down if they don’t go digital.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Lyachynska can be reached at [email protected].
