There is also a comeback for realty as UAE records $1.65b in total 2013 ad spend
Dubai: With sharp increases in ad spend for each of the last three months of 2013, led by campaigns for Expo 2020 and upbeat retail and real estate sectors, the UAE easily retained the status of being the region’s top advertising market. The ad industry is estimated to have spent a substantial $1.65 billion (Dh6.06 billion) compared with $1.57 billion in 2012, according to the latest estimates — based on official media rate cards — by Pan Arab Research Centre (Parc). (The numbers relate only to traditional media and do not account for spending on digital platforms.)
From mid-October and right through November, government and private sector entities made a splash talking up Dubai’s credentials as host city for the World Expo 2020. Once the announcement of the win was made, it set off another round of high-profile celebratory campaigns that were there well into the second week of December. In November alone, an estimated $157 million was spent in the UAE across all media and up from October’s tally of $149 million.