Nairobi, Kenya
Consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser, has replaced Safaricom as the biggest corporate advertiser in Kenya, findings from market research firm Ipsos Synovate have revealed.
Reckitt, which manufactures household cleaning products such as JIK as Mortein Doom insecticide, raised its ad spend by 79.1 per cent to Sh1.7 billion from Sh966.2 million, beating Safaricom for the first time.
The research also places manufacturing companies as the biggest spenders in advertising.It showed that Reckitt, Unilever, and Coca-Cola accounted for 53.3 per cent of the Sh7.7 billion gross ad spend in the months running from January to June.
The firm emerged the best in corporate advertisers’ list and came second to government agencies, which spent Sh2 billion up from Sh1.2 billion. Reckitt is grappling with rivalry brought by Haco Tiger Brands which has been expanding its wings locally and regionally.
Other Reckitt nemeses are Unilever, Beiersdorf East Africa and PZ Cussons East Africa. Data from Ipsos also shows that Reckitt, Unilever, and Coca-Cola accounted for 53.3 per cent of the Sh7.7 billion gross ad spend in the six months to June.
This was up from a share of 35.3 per cent in the same period last year, with the three firms growing their ad spend by between 45 and 127 per cent. Mobile phone operator Safaricom reduced its spend by almost half, from Kshs 1.6 billion from Kshs 3.1 billion. This is attributed to the ferocious price wars in the telecommunication business.
The reduced spend comes at a time when consumer goods manufacturers are boosting their marketing budgets to protect and grow their market share in the wake of increased competition, with smaller players also raising their budgets.
Media Monitoring Director at Ipsos Joe Otin noted that small and medium-sized companies were also engaging in advertising, a trend that was a preserve for big companies previously. “We are seeing an increase in the number of new advertisers among small and medium-sized companies,” Otin.
Soft drinks giant Coca Cola was forced to up its marketing budget following a grand return of its global rival PepsiCo.
On marketing budget, Coca Cola spend Kshs 899 million from the 395.6 million reported in the same period last year, a 127.2 % increase.
“Even though Coca-Cola remains the leading player in soft drinks with a 41 per cent volume share and in carbonates with a 63 per cent share, it will be interesting to see what happens following the strong entry of PepsiCo Inc and SABMiller, which has acquired Crown Foods,” Euromonitor noted.
with the large manufacturers spending heavily in ads, the grand add total shot by 42.8 per cent to Kshs 40 billion compared to Kshs 28 billion spend during the same period in 2011.
The growth in advertising spend is linked to an increase in new advertisers and higher spend among existing ones who are confident that investment in brand visibility will yield good returns as the economy acquires momentum.
The writer is a Communication and Journalism, Moi University
