The Olympics and U.S. Presidential Election Accelerate Q3 Ad Spend

The Olympics and the U.S. presidential election led to a year-over-year jump in third quarter ad spend, according to a recent study by Nielsen.

According to Nielsen, global ad spend jumped over 4 percent in Q3 2012. The study found that North America and the Middle East/Africa saw some of the biggest gains last year, while Europe saw declines in ad spend over the same period.

“Growth in global ad spend accelerated in Q3. The Olympics, a major media event in all parts of the world, and the U.S. presidential election helped drive investment up,” said global head at advertiser solutions for Nielsen Randall Beard.

“We’ll be watching carefully to see if the growth was sustained in Q4 and into 2013, or if there’s a dip in comparison to this year.”

Nielsen reports that North America saw an over 10 percent jump in ad spend from January to September of 2012. The study found that the industry and services industry saw some of the biggest growth for the year.

The industry’s growth is attributed to the increase in political ads created in the lead up to the U.S. presidential elections in November. Last year’s presidential elections saw a major focus put on digital ads and awareness. Both candidates made major pushes through election ads and social networking campaigns.

The Middle East/Africa also saw major ad spend growth in 2012. Nielsen found that the region had an over 18 percent ad spend growth rate year-over-year. The study reports that the increase in ad spend came from an influx of advertising investments from abroad.

One region that took a step back in 2012 was Europe. The area saw an over 3 percent drop in ad spending year-over-year. Nielsen blames the drop-off on economic instability across Europe, which led to advertisers tightening their budgets.

Nielsen’s statistics come from its Global Adview Pulse program. The company releases frequent research figures on global ad spend using Adview Pulse.