This year's European Football Championship is expected to boost investments in advertising for television, written press and the Internet.
This week's BUSINESS Magazin reveals the strategies behind several media companies and advertising agencies.
A study released in December 2007 by US-based Zenith Optimedia shows that investments in advertising are expected to increase by 6.7% this year, and reach around 485 billion dollars (around 307 billion euros).
Among the reasons behind this increase are the US presidential elections, and, to a greater extent, the European Football Championship and the Olympic Games. Of course, these factors do not automatically come into play.
"As it was discernible over the last few years, the Olympic Games have a reduced impact on the volume of advertising in Romania, but the European Championship will be the centre of attention due to the participation of the Romanian national team. The established advertisers will supplement their budgets in the June-July period," says Radu Voicu, Media Planner at MindShare, the media buying division of the Ogilvy group.
Voicu adds that during Euro 2004, TVR 1 (the national public TV channel) achieved a total of 40,327.8 GRP (gross rating point - the percentage of the audience which viewed a commercial), over 25% more than during a normal period, with an even larger increase forecast for 2008, in the wake of the Romanian football team's participation in the European championships, which will take place in Austria and Switzerland.
Costi Mocanu, chief executive of the Pro TV company, which includes Pro TV, Acasa TV, Sport.ro, Pro Cinema, Pro TV International channels, and holds the licence for MTV Romania, says the value of the sports advertising market for television depends greatly on the country's performance at events, such as the European Football Championship and t