OREANDA-NEWS. Dentsu Inc. released its annual report of advertising expenditures in Japan for the 2013 calendar year, including an estimated breakdown by medium and industry.

According to this report, Japan's advertising expenditures in 2013 totaled 5,976.2 billion yen, an increase of 1.4% over the previous year. Overall spending on advertising posted year-on-year gains for a second straight year thanks to the sustained economic recovery brought about by "Abenomics," and a late surge in demand ahead of the consumption tax increase scheduled to take effect in April 2014.

Advertising expenditures held firm in 2013 as a result of the sustained economic recovery achieved by "Abenomics," and a strong surge in demand during the second half of the year which was related to the consumption tax increase scheduled to take effect in April 2014.

The first half of 2013 saw higher sales of expensive goods, reflecting an improvement in Japan's economy, but this recovery was not strong enough to boost overall spending on advertising. Expenditures for the year totaled 5,976.2 billion yen, a gain of 1.4% over the previous year, and spending was up for the second year in a row.

Broken down by medium, expenditures were modestly higher in Television (up 0.9%), fell slightly in Newspapers (down 1.2%) and Magazines (down 2.0%), and held steady in Radio (down 0.2%). As a result, overall spending in the traditional media rose 0.1%.

Advertising in Promotional Media grew by the same amount (up 0.1%), exceeding previous-year levels for a second straight year. Satellite Media-Related spending has taken firm root, and spending in this component remained quite strong (up 9.6%), along with Internet advertising (up 8.1%), which saw robust growth in demand for performance-based advertising.

By industry category (for the traditional media), expenditures were higher in 8 of the 21 industry categories, including Finance/Insurance (up 15.6% due to strong growth in advertising for direct-marketed insurance products and the Nippon Individual Savings Account (NISA) program); Food Services/Other Services (up 10.3%, helped by growth in placements for legal services); Real Estate/Housing Facilities (up 5.8% on placements for residential housing); Household Products (up 5.5%, boosted by increased spending on ads for beds); and Education/Medical Services/Religion (up 3.1% on ads for preparatory and tutoring schools, hospitals and medical services).

By contrast, expenditures fell in 13 of the 21 industry categories, including Hobbies/Sporting Goods (down 5.8%, hurt by a fall in placements for audio software, dolls and toys); Government/Organizations (down 5.4% on lower demand from political parties and political organizations); Energy/Materials/Machinery (down 5.1% on cutbacks by electric power and gas companies); and Distribution/Retailing (down 5.0% on reductions in spending by large, high volume retail stores).

Advertising expenditures in the traditional media totaled 2,782.5 billion yen, up 0.1% compared with the previous year. Spending in Television posted a modest gain (up 0.9%).

Promotional Media advertising was also up 0.1%. Spending remained strong in both Satellite Media-Related (up 9.6%), and Internet advertising (up 8.1% year on year).