Print this Article
RSSBusiness Times; Kuala Lumpur
By FAUZIAH ISMAIL
TWENTY years ago, advertisers clamoured for advertising space in English-oriented media.
The bulk of advertising expenditure went to English publications and television and radio stations that aired English programmes.
Now, that trend has shifted. With the rapid increase in the number of middle-income Malays, of which 88 per cent are urbanites and under the age of 30, advertisers are shifting their priority to the Malay-oriented media to capture this market.
"There is an upward trend in advertising in the Malay-oriented media. It is moving in the right direction as the demographics of the country have changed, with a significant jump in the number of middle-income Malays.
"In the last two years, we haven't heard the Malay newspapers complaining," GroupM Malaysia chief executive officer Henry Tan told a media briefing on "Outlook for Advertising to the Malay Community" in Petaling Jaya yesterday.
Tan said middle-income Malays are now the largest consumer segment, and from the marketing perspective, it is the most important.
And free and pay-television stations, radio stations and Malay newspapers, in that order, will be the beneficiaries of this shift in emphasis.
Free and pay-television are poised to be the number one medium to capture the Malay audience as media trends show that 96 per cent of Malays watch television.
Tan noted that the meteoric rise in the readership of Harian Metro had not affected that of two other Malay newspapers, Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia.
"They (Harian Metro) did not cannibalise the two other papers. This is a healthy sign of the growing affluence of the middle- income Malays.
"(But) there is a time lag of between six and 18 months before Harian Metro will see the money (advertising expenditure) following growth in its readership. This is normal," he said.
Tan, however, does not see the newspaper medium losing advertising expenditure to the television and radio stations. "Newspapers cater to the elite, premium segment of the market," he said.
But will the English-oriented media see an erosion in their share of advertising expenditure as advertisers shift their emphasis to the Malay media?
"The growth in Malay advertising expenditure will outpace that of the English advertising expenditure. We will eventually see an erosion, possibly in the next five to 10 years," Tan predicted.
GroupM is a full-service media investment management operation. It oversees WPP's media units, including MindShare, Mediaedge:Cia, MediaCompete and Maxus.
