Ireland’s advertising market is forecast to grow by 3.2 per cent in the coming year to €1.32 billion, GroupM reports. The increase follows a rise of 3.1 per cent in 2023. The WPP-owned media agency collective predicts a decline in print and television revenue. Newspapers’ share is due to drop to 6.6 per cent in 2024, down from a 20.7 per cent share of revenue in 2015. Radio, out of home (OOH) and digital are all due to grow revenue in the coming year.
Overall, 2023 has proven a “tough year to navigate”, GroupM stated.
The 4.6 per cent decline predicted for print to €87.3 million follows a year where the medium experienced a nine per cent drop in revenue. Magazine advertising will also take a hit, down by just over 11 per cent to €8.5 million. Commenting on the trend, GroupM Ireland chief executive Bill Kinlay said print continues to face “significant challenges” despite an increase focus on digital offerings, as demand declines and production costs increase.
Impacted
Television will be less impacted by a decline in revenue, with a drop of just 1.3 per cent in 2024 to €209.9m. Linear or traditional TV revenues will be down by three points to €184.7m, while video-on-demand (VOD) and connected TV spend will see an increase of 12.8 per cent to €25.2m. OOH will continue its recovery from the pandemic with a 7.5 per cent improvement to €74.4m next year. Radio and audio will be up by 3.9 per cent to €157m next year.
There’s more good news for digital’s prospects. After seeing growth of 7.1 per cent in 2023, digital spend is forecast to increase by 5.1 per cent to €779.3m over the next 12 months, which GroupM estimates will give it a 59 per cent share of Ireland’s advertising market. It refers to ‘pure-play’ digital revenues only, comprising retail media, social and sites such as Google’s YouTube but not including digital extensions in more traditional media.
Pictured above are GroupM’s Bill Kinlay, Emma Doherty and Ken Nolan
