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Advertising expenditure should get a significant jolt from the 2010 Fifa World Cup, predicts Nielsen Company MD Ken McArthur.

Based on the experience of past events (the World Cup in other countries, and other international sporting events in South Africa), he predicts a 12% to 20% rise in adspend.

In a report to the Pan African Media Research Organisation (Pamro) Conference in Nairobi, he analysed advertising during three previous World Cups - USA, Japan/Korea and Germany - and events that had an impact on local spend, whether held in SA or not. The IPL and Confederations Cup for example, both boosted adspend at a time when it was declining.

German advertising climbed 5% during the World Cup, but SA showed its potential during its 2007 Pro20 Cricket World Cup, with a 20% increase.

Most of the activity in Germany took place prior to kick off, particularly on TV and outdoor media, but the numbers quickly tumbled after the surge. Spend in the USA and Japan rose during the games - by 20% in Japan, where Coca-Cola's competitors turned up the heat in the run-up to the competition. But the aftermath saw a drop of 11%.

In South Korea, viewership kept rising as the host nation progressed all the way to the semi-finals. But the Americans crashed out early in 1994, and advertising followed audiences down.

Based on current performance, Bafana Bafana is not expected to last long but South Africa's inclination to follow soccer in large numbers makes this less of a problem. McArthur also expects a positive effect from a stronger global economy - though what bothers fans most is not the recession but political issues, drinking water, sanitation, security and accommodation.

-(Source: Fin24.com)