Growth ahead: Mobile will be the fourth-largest advertising medium worldwide by 2016

Advertising via smartphones and tablets is increasingly in demand.The global advertising market is set for growth over the next three years. Following growth of 3.9% in 2013, it is set to rise by 5.5% in 2014, 5.8% in 2015 and even 6.1% in 2016. The Media agency group ZenithOptimedia In its latest "Advertising Expenditure Forecast" study, ZenithOptimedia makes this forecast based on the ongoing positive developments in the global economy and the rapid triumph of mobile advertising. In view of this dynamic development, ZenithOptimedia is revising its expectations for the global advertising market upwards for the third time in a row.TV stations will benefitThis year, the Winter Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and the US mid-term elections are boosting the advertising market. Television in particular will benefit from this. In addition, advertisers' confidence in the eurozone is strengthening. The situation in the southern eurozone countries in particular is more stable; the risk of new shocks from this region shaking the global economy has not been averted, but it has fallen considerably.After months of restraint, the majority of advertisers see the need to invest more in communication again in order to boost sales of their products. TV broadcasters in particular will benefit from the continued growth in the advertising market. TV attracted 40% of advertising investments worldwide in 2013, almost twice as much as the internet (21%).Swiss market less dynamicThe advertising market in Switzerland is also developing positively, albeit much less dynamically. "For the current year, we expect growth of 0.3%, which will continue in 2015 and 2016 with growth rates of 0.2% and 0.6%", explains Beat Krebs, CEO of ZenithOptimedia in Switzerland. "What is remarkable is the unbroken high demand from the TV advertising market - despite all the uncertainties caused by the introduction of the new TV panel in January 2013", explains Krebs.Online advertising on the riseIn the long term, however, the Internet will also develop most dynamically in this country. Gross investments are expected to increase by 8.5 percent this year. "One thing should not be forgotten, however: although we expect an advertising market share of 16% for online advertising in Switzerland by 2015, this is a comparatively low figure internationally," emphasizes Krebs. In fact, according to the ZO forecast, more than 40% of advertising market investments in Sweden and the UK, for example, will flow into online in 2015. "So Switzerland still has great potential, especially when you consider the country's excellent digital infrastructure," explains the ZenithOptimedia CEO.Investment in mobile advertising is increasing rapidlyMobile is recording the fastest growth rates worldwide. Investments in advertising delivered to mobile devices will increase by an average of 50 percent annually until 2016. The growth of mobile is therefore six times faster than that of advertising on PCs and laptops (8% per year on average). In 2013, 13.4 billion US dollars were invested in mobile advertising worldwide. That is 12.9 percent of all online advertising investment and 2.7 percent of the total advertising pie.ZenithOptimedia forecasts investment in mobile advertising to reach 45 billion dollars in 2016, representing 28 percent of online investment and 7.6 percent of total investment. "This means that mobile will have overtaken radio, magazines and outdoor advertising in just under three years and become the fourth largest advertising medium worldwide÷, summarizes Krebs. "However, this development will hardly happen at this speed in Switzerland by 2016, despite the comparatively high density of Internet-enabled mobile devices in this country," predicts Krebs.