The top includes Media Investment (The Group), Zenith Media (Centrade Saatchi&Saatchi), Initiative (Lowe&Partners), Starcom MediaVest Group (Leo Burnett) and Optimum Media Direction Plan & Buy (OMG). Agencies Mindshare Media and Mediaedgecia, both part of Ogilvy Group Romania, did not release 2010 data, while in 2009 they generated turnovers of EUR25.7 million and EUR30.6 million, respectively.
This year’s leader is Media Investment of The Group with EUR45 million, up around EUR10 million. “Media Investment’s turnover rose in 2010 against 2009 as it added new business,” said Zoltan Szigeti, a stakeholder in The Group.
He also said the agency saw its turnover go up by 8% in the first six months of this year against the same period of 2010.
Zenith Media, part of Centrade Saatchi&Saatchi, ranks second, with revenue of around EUR39 million, slightly down from EUR41.6 million. “Overall, the 2010 situation was the result of the previous year. 2009 was obviously not a good year, and 2010, as a year of reconstruction, made clients cautious,” explained Radu Florescu, a chief executive officer with Centrade Saatchi&Saatchi. He added that it will take some time until pre-recession levels are reached again.
Initiative, part of Lowe&Partners, comes in the third position with over EUR38 million in turnover, up from 2009. Initiative registered a slight turnover increase in the first half of 2011.
Despite the increasing turnover of some companies last year, the overall market slumped further. The market will continue to contract this year, by around 3%, according to the Media Fact Book report, an analysis of the Romanian media market conducted by Initiative Media Romania, part of the Lowe communication group.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu; Editing by Ioana Tudor)