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Global ad spend in Q1 up 3% to $128 bn: Nielsen
MUMBAI: After a strong finish to 2011, global ad spend continued to rise in the beginning of 2012. It stood at $128 billion in the first quarter of the year, up 3.1 per cent compared to the same period of 2011.
According to Nielsen’s quarterly Global AdView Pulse report, emerging markets like the Middle East and Africa saw double-digit increases while North America and Asia Pacific saw modest more gains of 2.1 and 1.7 per cent respectively.
Biggest surges and declines: The Middle East and Africa was up 23.3 per cent as advertisers turned to budding and stabilising economies there. In particular, Egypt saw ad spend growth of 67 per cent in Q1 following last year’s Arab Spring.
Ad spend in Europe declined slightly (1.4 per cent), with countries most impacted by the recession seeing the biggest changes. Greece and Spain, for example, saw significant declines, while France, Germany and Switzerland drew more ad dollars than last year. Europe was the only region to see a decrease in ad spend.
Trends to watch: While ad spend increased only slightly in January compared to last year, the year-over-year change grew steadily in the subsequent months. By March 2012, global ad spend was 4.5 per cent higher than a year earlier. Market conditions and political unrest in 2011 may have contributed to lower spending last year, and Nielsen will watch to see if these increases are sustained in Q2.
MAM
Schneider Electric launches One Unit Mission for Women’s Day
Green Yodha 2.0 urges every Indian household to save one unit of electricity daily.
MUMBAI: Schneider Electric just flipped the switch on savings because this Women’s Day the brightest idea isn’t a new bulb, it’s turning one unit off. Schneider Electric launched the second phase of its Green Yodha initiative, ‘One Unit Mission’, on International Women’s Day 2026, calling on every Indian household to save at least one unit of electricity daily. The campaign was flagged off in Delhi by chief minister Rekha Gupta, actor and sustainability advocate Bhumi Pednekar, and other dignitaries.
Rekha Gupta said, “Delhi’s journey towards clean, resilient growth begins with how efficiently we use the energy we already have. Green Yodha 2.0 reminds us that every citizen is a stakeholder in India’s energy future, and saving one unit of power today is an act of nation-building for tomorrow.”
Schneider Electric India zone president, MD & CEO Deepak Sharma added, “India is entering a decade of unprecedented growth, and that growth will require enormous amounts of energy. The real challenge is not just how much power we produce, but how intelligently we use it. If every Indian household saves just one unit of electricity a day, the impact would be equivalent to planting billions of trees or taking millions of cars off the road.”
Schneider Electric India, vice president of marketing Rajat Abbi noted, “Sustainability becomes real when it is simple and measurable. The One Unit Mission is about turning awareness into everyday action.”
In FY 2023–24, India’s energy-efficiency programmes (PAT, UJALA, S&L, SLNP, CAFÉ) collectively saved 53.6 million tonnes of oil equivalent, avoided 321 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions, and reduced energy expenditure by Rs 2 lakh crore equivalent to nearly 6 per cent of national primary energy supply.
The initiative aligns with government efforts on efficient cooling, appliance standards and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency’s state-level SEEI FY 2024 framework, emphasising demand-side efficiency as a cost-effective complement to new generation capacity.
In a nation sprinting toward brighter, bigger tomorrows, Schneider isn’t selling more power, it’s quietly handing every household a daily superpower: the ability to save one unit and help light up a cleaner, more efficient future, one thoughtful switch at a time.
