2008 was a year of highs and lows for China – the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing were a monumental achievement while the Sichuan earthquake in May was tragedy.   The economy recorded 9 percent growth – the first year of single-digit growth since 2003 and below the average rate of 9.8 percent in the past 30 years.  Contrary to experiences in other countries, metrics actually rose in the last quarter of 2008: industrial output, private consumption, retail sales and bank lending all increased.  For the whole year, ad spending posted …

The economic decline has affected most parts of the world, but some have been hit harder than others.  One region that seems to be holding its own is Asia Pacific (APAC).  Although consumer confidence in APAC has declined in recent months, those declines have generally not been as steep as in Europe or North America.  Eight of the twelve markets for which Nielsen tracks ad spending posted growth in 2008 over 2007.  That said, most of the markets were registering declines by the fourth quarter.
Main media, defined by Nielsen as …

Like most people in countries around the world, Taiwanese are experiencing record low consumer confidence.  And just as consumers in the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere have become more value-driven, so too have the Taiwanese, according to the latest Nielsen ShopperTrends report.
62 percent of Taiwan’s grocery shoppers claim to have become more price-sensitive, while among females over 35 and low income households, that number rises to 75 percent.  One store, Post Exchange, has capitalized on this trend with its low price strategy. As a result, 17 percent of all Taiwanese shoppers …

Most global consumers agree that their countries have hit recession, but opinion on how long the recession will last remains mixed, Nielsen reported Wednesday.
While 53% of those surveyed by Nielsen think their country has hit a prolonged recession that will last more than 12 months, 18% of consumers, concentrated in a handful of emerging markets, like India, Vietnam, China, and Russia, told Nielsen they expect their countries to be out of recession within the next 12 months.
In contrast, consumers in Japan, Germany, Argentina, Mexico, Turkey, Italy, Taiwan, the U.S., and Spain were the …

Advertising in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America grew by 1.5%, year-over-year, in the second quarter of 2008, Nielsen reported Wednesday.
Strong advertising growth in the Asia-Pacific region (+7.6% over Q2 2007) drove the increase, according to data released in Nielsen’s latest Global AdView Pulse report.
Ad spending trends worldwide showed significant variations — with overall advertising declines recorded in North America (-1%) and Europe (-3%).

Chinese are more likely to travel this week for the National Day Golden Week holiday than they were earlier this year during the Chinese New Year holiday, Nielsen reported Tuesday.
According to a survey conducted by Nielsen, six in 10 Chinese plan to travel between September 29 and October 5 for Golden Week, while just 42% of Chinese reported making plans to travel this past February for Chinese New Year celebrations. 

Advertising in Taiwan grew by one percent to reach NT$22.23 billion during the first half of 2008, according to a report released Wednesday by Nielsen Advertising Information Service.
The modest first-half increase — driven largely by Kuomintang (+2,134%; NT$164 million) and Democratic Progressive Party (+2,938; NT$70 million) political advertising — is the first advertising growth since 2004 for Taiwan’s struggling advertising market.
Radio (+19%) and terrestrial TV ads (+12%) recorded significant growth, while print and outdoor advertising continued to struggle.
The FarGlory Group, a leading property developer in Taiwan, was again the top …