• by Lynn Russo Whylly , February 22, 2008

Quick: what’s the fastest growing ad market in the world? Not China or India. Well, Sascha Baron Cohen killing off his character Borat hasn’t hurt this country one bit. Apparently, people are still eager to meet his sister.

According to Zenith-Optimedia, the top three fastest growing ad markets are Kazakhstan, Belarus and Serbia. In fact, six of the top10 are in eastern Europe, three are in the Middle East and just one is in Asia.

“Most of the top 10 are young markets, and they’re not very big with the exception of Russia and Indonesia,” says Jonathan Barnard, head of publications at ZenithOptimedia (ZO). ‘There is also an extra stimulus from high oil prices and there is a lot of money flowing into these countries because of that.” In addition, consumer disposable income is on the rise and these countries are developing structurally, as well, he says.

Going forward, however, ZO predicts those rankings will change. China and Russia, currently 15th and 14th, respectively, will rise to the fourth and sixth positions by 2010. India, Brazil and South Korea are growing swiftly.

With a rapidly expanding middle class, “China’s economy is growing at a rate more than three times that of the global ad industry,” says Laurence Boschetto, president and chief operating officer of Draftfcb. Also, “more attention is being paid to the second- and third- tier markets,” adds Eric Keshin, chief operating officer of McCann Worldgroup. “Ten years ago, it would have been Hong Kong. Today it’s Beijing and Shanghai.” China is hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing August 8–24, a major factor in China’s increased ad revenue.