The advertising market in GCC states is now worth a massive SR8.4 billion, with 45% of this made up by the Saudi Arabian market. The figures were revealed at the “Saudi Advertising Market Symposium 2012: Expectations and Challenges,” here, Saturday. The symposium was organized by Okaz Organization for Press and Publication under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and Information. In his speech delivered by the Undersecretary for Information Abdul Rahman Al-Hazaa, the Minister of Culture and Information paid tribute to the high standards of the Okaz publications. He said “Okaz Organization has set an example for us as a media organization which realizes its responsibility toward all sections of the society.” The symposium focused on a number of issues including the challenges facing the advertising market in the Arab region, which ranks 12th in global advertising markets. It also looked at competition in the advertising sector and the strategies advertisers use to target the market. Keynote speaker Sami Rofool said the Kingdom ranks second in the Arab World in terms of the volume of its advertising market. “However, I expect that the Kingdom will soon rank 43 in the global advertising market, with a total volume of over $2 billion,” he said. Al-Hazaa also announced that the Ministry of Culture and Information would set up a closed joint-stock company to measure viewership ratings. The contract for this company will be awarded next April with operations beginning in March 2013. Al-Hazaa also calmed speculation that Internet will eventually kill newspapers as the main news medium. He said newspapers won't be affected by the large number of e-newspapers because people have got used to reading news from newspapers as authentic source of information. __
