Top of the week: Worse isn't really bad yet

The crisis in advertising will not be over until tomorrow, according to Nielsen Media Research for the 2008 advertising year in Germany. Despite an increasing reduction in advertising expenditure, advertising expenditure by German companies was still slightly up in 2008. At EUR 21.11 billion, gross spending even reached the highest level ever measured by Nielsen. However, companies increased their spending on advertisements and commercials by just 0.7 percent for the year as a whole (2007: EUR 20.96 billion). "The 2008 advertising year was characterized by very contrasting factors," explains Ludger Wibbelt, Managing Director of Nielsen Media Research. In 2008, advertising slipped between the economic crisis and weak domestic economy on the one hand and sporting highlights on the other. Germany, for example, followed the European Football Championships in Switzerland and the Olympic Games with rapt attention - and advertisers were grateful.