Despite mobile market saturation, mobile operators won’t cut their budgets. Still, they are going to decrease TV advertisement to increase outdoor advertising and BTL.

According to GfK-Ukraine, Kyivstar in first six month of 2008 significantly decreased its TV-activities. Company moved from 4 ^th to 15 ^th position in TOP-advertisers rating. Other operators mainly kept their positions – MTC moved from 5^th position to 4^th, Astelit (TM life:)) moved from 20^th to 21^h, Beeline moved from 19^th to 23^rd place.

Head of the corporate communications department at Kyivstar Yuliya Shilina said, that her company buys ad when corporate marketing activities and business goals need it, this activities can differ from quarter to quarter so the amount of ad purchased can also differ.  

Executive director at "MindShare Ukraine" Aleksey Virko, believe that Kyivstar’s TV-activities decrease is the result of company’s desire to retrench expenses. “An average ad budget of Ukrainian mobile operators is $40 mln.. About half of this sum is TV-ad. That is why cutting TV budgets is an efficient way to decrease corporate expenses”, - Virko said. But, according to director of AITI Aleksand Gorohovsky, this way of retrench is appropriate only for leading operators. “Others can’t afford it. E.g. Life :) didn’t cut its TV-ad budgets”, - he said.

Head of marketing communications department at MTC-Ukraine Ivan Gryga pointed that those times, when subscriber base was growing every hour and operators was ready to buy everything that was in offer, are gone.  ““Rush of armaments” is gone. Now all of us should pay more attention to media investments efficiency measurement”, - Gryga said.