Report: South Korea forecasts adspend rebound in 2021

Cheil Worldwide has released South Korea's adspend report for 2020, offering a look back at the effects of the pandemic and a hopeful outlook for the year ahead.

While total adspend took a drop of 0.8% compared to the previous year, digital (mobile and PC) adspend enjoyed 13% growth in 2020, hitting about US$5.12 billion (5.71 trillion won) and accounting for 47.6% of adspend nationwide — an all-time high for the category. Mobile alone saw growth of 17.5% year over year for a total of about US$34.5 (3.85 trillion won).

While digital flourished, broadcast and print all recorded decreases in adspend. TV and radio fell 8.5% year over year, while newspapers and magazines saw drops of 2.4% and 16.8%, respectively.

OOH was the worst hit category, recording a 27.2% drop overall, accounting for the lowest adspend numbers in a decade. With COVID-19 outbreaks and social distancing measures fluctuating throughout the year, cinema adspend dropped by a full 72%. 

However, not all of the news is bad, as the forecast offers some hope a better year in 2021. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expects to see a growth of 2.8% in 2021, and the report expects economic recovery and consumer confidence to drive adspend growth of 4.6% over 2020. As video ads continue to grow regardless of the pandemic recovery, digital is predicted to account for nearly 50%.

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