TNS: Hispanic Ad Spend to Rise 5.4%

NEW YORK — Ad spending in Hispanic media is projected to increase 5.4 percent in 2007 compared to 2006, according TNS Media Intelligence.

Hispanic media will represent 3.3 percent of total advertising expenditures in 2007, compared with the estimated 3.2 percent spent on Hispanic media last year, according to the report.

Total U.S. advertising spending is expected to increase a more modest 2.5 percent in 2007, to roughly $155 billion.

“The Hispanic market is continuing to look very strong,” said Steven Fredericks, president and CEO of TNS Media Intelligence. “The overall outlook for 2007 is relatively conservative at 2.6 percent, and the growth forecast for Hispanic media is more than double that.”

Fredericks cited several factors for the tepid overall growth, including a lack of major advertising events in 2007 such as the Olympics, an election year or the World Cup, which contributed significantly to 2006 spending in Hispanic media, as well as a slowdown in general economic growth.

Spending among key categories such as automotive, retail, travel and health and beauty is forecast to be slowing as well. Plus, the percentage of ad budgets going to digital media is growing faster than any other category, but due to lower unit costs it is keeping down price inflation, Fredericks said.

The Internet and Spanish-language media will continue to grow at a faster rate than the other media categories, Fredericks said, referring to their intrinsic strength not greatly affected by external market forces.