![[Kenya] Soft drinks industry spends a fortune in advertising, study](Soft drinks Kenya.jpg)
[Kenya] Soft drinks industry spends a fortune in advertising, study
The soft drinks industry led advertisers by spending $41 million in local print, radio and television platforms last year.
Coming in closely were telecommunication firms that splashed $40 million followed by the public sector that spent $28 million.
According to a Deloitte survey dubbed ‘Technology Media and Telecommunications Predictions 2017’ the leading 12 advertisers in the country spent about $31 million, a 26 per cent rise in their budgets compared to 2015.
Others that spent more than $1 million included the lottery and betting $27 million financial services $25 million, banking $24 million, education $23 million, publishing $16 million, services firms $13 million, internet $13 million and social and civic service organizations $13 million.
According to the study, Coca-Cola took the lead in the soft drinks industry while Safaricom topped the telecos sector. In the lottery betting category Lotto, SportsPesa and Cheza led the pack.
The report notes TV viewership continues to grow and offers opportunities for mass advertising though lack of local TV content and abundance of international programming could be a cause of discontent among advertisers. The study further reveals print is the “money maker” for many media houses in the country though circulation has dipped.
“The circulation of daily newspapers in Kenya declined by four percent from 326,000 to 316, 000 per day in 2015, while the daily average online media visitors went up by 54 percent,” the study reveals.
Deloitte Associate Director Erik Van Der Dussen said online platforms such as Twitter are becoming popular source of news.
Dunseen said access to TV in rural areas is on the rise and has a big potential for adverting than newspapers even as radio remains leader for advertising thanks to its high reach and its low cost.
“The majority of TV viewers – between 50 to 60 per cent – are the youth. Newspapers attract a much older male readership – 85 per cent –mostly interested in politics,” he said.
According to the study, online media adoption will continue to grow as usage of smartphones increases backed by increasing internet penetration and Wi-Fi hotspots in the country.
Indeed, local media firms are reviewing their business models to ride the online wave by forming digital units that offer breaking news and updates.
