Yahoo: Romania is likely to allot same share for online market as Great Britain

Although only 2% of the promotion budgets of Romanian advertisers are directed towards online climate at this point, Marvin Liao says the percentage will majorly increase in the following years.

“I am very enthusiastic with the online advertising market in Romania, it has a huge growth potential. Compared to other markets, such as Great Britain, where 15% of promotion budgets are directed to online, and in Romania, where merely 2% of the budgets are directed to online environment, the difference is high. However, if we try to educate the market, to acknowledge the importance of the internet, I strongly believe it is likely to reach UK’s level within 2-3 years, compared to 5-6 years”.

He sees 12-15 million dollars value of online advertising market for 2008.

“When an advertiser will reckon the real significance of online environment, we will witness a major growth of amounts allotted to online segment. I’ve seen similar situations on several markets – Asia, America or Western Europe,” Marvin Liao added.

With 100 clients portfolio, Yahoo! Representative said one of the company’s main priorities for 2009 are sales boost and growth of incomes together with in-depth research in ratings. Furthermore, Liao says the company is still working on Yahoo!’s version in Romanian language, without disclosing any further details on the launching date.

Romania – market of great interest to investors, despite financial turmoil

Although international economy is facing gloomy times, reeling from financial crisis, Marvin Liao believes this is the best moment to invest in Romania.

“It is a good moment to invest on the online market in Romania, although we are in full financial crisis. I think the best time for marketing is during a recession. Let’s take a look at Coca Cola and Pepsi. Why are they so important and so well-known? They don’t cut from advertising budgets during a crisis”, Liao said.

According to him, we will witness an ongoing growth of online advertising.

“It will certainly not be 50% growth, but we estimate 20-30 percentages, which is good prospect. Although it is premature to talk about the effects of financial crisis on Romanian online market, I am optimistic on Yahoo!’s performance in Romania; we have a solid partner – Mediacafe-, a strong brand,therefore it is unlikely the effects to be so dramatic,” Marvin Liao added.