Last year companies in Poland spent zł.7.09 billion on advertising, down by 5.2 percent compared to 2011, according to data released by media house Starlink.

Starlink experts attribute the decline to the ongoing crisis in the fast-moving consumer goods market, a slowdown in the pharmaceutical and financial sectors, and changes in the media world.

“On the one hand we are observing a smaller demand for advertising, which derives from the uncertain economic situation in leading sectors of the economy,” said Lidia Kacprzycka, managing director at Starlink.

“On the other hand, however, we have changes in the media market, where digitization is bringing down viewership of nationwide TV stations. Smaller and lower-cost stations as well as theme channels are gaining, though.”

In 2012 only internet and cinema advertising managed to maintain healthy growth rates, up 8.7 percent y/y and 11.2 percent y/y respectively.

The TV advertising market as a whole shrank by 5.6 percent, with the four biggest broadcasters (TVN, Polsat, TVP1 and TVP2) bearing the brunt of the decline, recording an 11 percent fall in ad revenues.

Theme channels, however, recorded a 12.8 percent increase in advertising revenues.
Dagmara Robak from media house Mindshare Polska estimates that in 2013 television advertising in Poland will shrink by a further 10 percent and print advertising by 15 percent. She predicts that the internet will continue to be the only medium not to experience advertising declines.

If the pace of the decline continues this year, the value of the advertising market will end 2013 below its 2007 level, experts predict.

AS, KW