MUMBAI: Though many industry sectors are spending cautiously in today‘s uncertain economic environment, telecom companies invested significantly more on advertising in the first half of 2012 than they did last year, according to Nielsen‘s Global AdView Pulse report.

With a 7.9 per cent increase in global ad spending, the telecom sector saw the largest increases in emerging markets, like Latin America (32.5 per cent) and the Middle East and Africa (28.3 per cent).

After more cautious spending during the first quarter, the automotive sector also boosted ad spending by 6.3 per cent during the first half of 2012, compared with the same period last year.

Even in the embattled region of Western Europe, advertising spending increased by 1.4 per cent when comparing the first halves of 2012 and 2011.

Entertainment‘s ad spend grew by 6.3 per cent. The media sector grew by 4.9 per cent. The financial sector‘s spend grew by 4.5 per cent. The durables segment saw a reduction in ad spend by 4.4 per cent. The healthcare sector along with Industry and Services also saw reductions in ad spend.