Malaysia’s digital advertising expenditure (adex) is expected to reach RM1.3 billion this year, overtaking the figures previously recorded by the print and television media.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said digital and mobile adex had made a phenomenal surge while newspaper and free television witnessed a slide.

Based on Nielsen’s latest adex figures, which exclude PayTV and digital media, the total advertisement spending for the first quarter of 2018 declined 0.6 percent to RM1.34 billion compared with RM1.5 billion in the previous corresponding quarter.

“But I am confident the annual adex in Malaysia will hover around the RM5 billion mark again,” Gobind said at the launch of the Malaysian Chief Marketing Officers Awards in Kuala Lumpur today.

According to an industry report, he said by the middle of 2019, digital media, newspaper and television (free-to-air and pay TV combined) would each command approximately 25 percent of adex.

Gobind said this reflected a consistent pattern of an increased adex in the subsequent months following the elections based on trends from the 12th and 13th general elections.

“With the abolishment of the Goods and Services Tax, which spurred consumer spending, and other measures by the Pakatan Harapan government, we are encouraged on the outlook for 2019 and hope to see a rise in economic activities.

“Businesses need to rediscover their belief in brand marketing and I see this as a huge opportunity for growth,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gobind added that his ministry acknowledged the strategic role the Malaysian marketing industry played in this increasingly converging industry, particularly in the e-commerce, blockchain, programmatic and mobile sectors.

– Bernama