Advertising expenditure increased in Germany in 2006

Gross advertising expenditure in Germany increased by 5.6 percent in the first half of 2006 compared to the previous year. This is shown by the latest statistics from Nielsen Media Research, as reported by the Hamburg-based advertising research institute in a press release. This means that gross advertising investments in the first six months of this year increased by more than 513 million euros to a total of 9.7 billion euros. As expected, the second quarter saw stronger growth. The World Cup boosted the advertising business. The share of World Cup-related advertising within traditional media was 5.7 percent in the first half of the year. However, the volume of advertising fell by three percent during the World Cup month in particular. Ludger Wibbelt, Managing Director of Nielsen Media Research, sees rosy times ahead for the advertising industry in Germany: "We expect this positive trend to continue in the second half of the year," said Wibbelt in a press release.
The forecast of the Central Association of the German Advertising Industry (ZAW) is more cautious with regard to the VAT increase from 2007, as Pressetext writes.