Kenya’s media and corporate advertising spend dropped sharply by 21% to Ksh 31.8 billion in 2020 according to the latest report by Reelanalytics and Marketing Society of Kenya.
This translates to Kshs. 122.3 billion lower than Kshs. 154.1 billion recorded in 2019 attributed to the significant reduction in brand marketing activities and paid for advertising.
“Almost all sectors of the economy were adversely affected by COVID-19. The topmost affected sectors were; communication, media and finance, sectors which recorded a significant drop in advertising spends during the year,” said Reelanalytics senior researcher, Enock Mokaya.
However, during the period, the country’s social industry recorded a 325% rise in ad spend driven by campaigns by the state and private firms on COVID-19 awareness campaigns.
The social industry recorded Ksh 11.89billion in advertising compared to Ksh 2.7 billion in 2019.
Other industries that recorded growth in expenditure were agriculture by 17% and personal care by 6%.
“As the new normalcy set in, advertising messaging by most players carried a COVID-19 sensitization component. It’s also important to note that there was a huge chunk of unpaid for ads especially those on COVID 19 as well as self-advertising,” according to the Marketing Society of Kenya CEO Edward Oswe.
