Mindshare claims top spot in half-year NNI agency league table

Newspaper advertising revenues fell during the first six months of 2010 but the rate of decline slowed down significantly during the second quarter of the year, according to National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI).

Just over €96 million was spent on advertising across NNI’s 18 member titles between January and June of this year – a decline of 10% compared with the first six months of last year. However, the rate of decline fell from 15% in the first quarter to just 4% in the second, fuelling hope that the ad market is evening out.

“These figures do indicate that the advertising market is slowly stabilising,” said NNI Chairman Paul Cooke. “We enjoyed a much better second quarter, particularly in relation to agency spending, and that’s an encouraging sign for the remainder of 2010.”

Outstanding performance hands Mindshare No. 1 spot

The first six months of 2010 have seen significant change in the NNI ‘agency league table’ of press spenders, with Mindshare claiming top spot after an outstanding start to the year.

Mindshare invested almost €8.3 million in newspaper advertising between January and June of this year – almost exactly the same level of spend as last year – to take the No. 1 position from rival media firm Carat.

Also performing strongly during the first six months of 2010 was Mediacom, which increased its spend by 44% to €2.8 million. Vizeum (+ 43%) and Initiative Media (+ 42%) also got off to a flying start this year, while Starcom enjoyed a 25% increase to remain in third position overall.