Ulsan Metropolitan City has conducted a comprehensive analysis of 1,963 government advertising expenditures from January 2024 to May 2026. The first part of this report examined the distribution of advertising costs across various media outlets, including television and newspapers. The second part focuses on the structure of outdoor and internet advertising, which accounts for 40.8% of the total advertising budget.
The total budget allocated for outdoor and internet advertising during this period is approximately 7.09 billion won, representing 40.8% of the overall government advertising budget of 17.38 billion won. Specifically, 4.40 billion won was spent on outdoor advertising, while 2.69 billion won was allocated for internet advertising. As citizens increasingly turn to smartphones and online platforms for information, local governments are diversifying their promotional methods beyond traditional media to include digital billboards, trains, buses, portals, and social media.
However, despite the significant budget allocated across various media, there is a lack of publicly available quantitative data to assess the actual exposure of these advertisements and their effectiveness in conveying government information.
In the outdoor advertising sector, a total of 1.03 billion won was spent on promotional activities related to sports. Ulsan City utilized local professional sports teams to promote the city’s brand and key policies.
Additionally, 1.14 billion won was invested in outdoor billboard advertising. The total expenditure for advertisements inside trains, including videos, station displays, walls, columns, and lighting, amounted to 1.15 billion won.
When combined, the spending in these three areas totals 3.32 billion won, which constitutes approximately 75.5% of the total outdoor advertising budget of 4.40 billion won.
Furthermore, 560.85 million won was spent on advertising inside and outside buses. The advantage of billboard and train advertising is that it can repeatedly expose citizens and visitors to government information while they are on the move.
However, it is challenging to determine the actual effectiveness of these advertisements based on the publicly available expenditure records, as they do not provide specific data on foot traffic, expected exposure, or the reach during different times and durations.
A representative from a local civic group stated, "It is essential not only to confirm that promotional materials were posted on billboards or trains but also to explain how many citizens and visitors were actually reached. Large budgets allocated to recurring projects need to be evaluated for both execution and effectiveness."
In the internet advertising sector, 382.52 million won was spent on Naver ads. A total of 142.87 million won was allocated for Kakao and KakaoMoment ads, while 86.34 million won was spent on Instagram advertising.
Portal and social media advertising allows for the segmentation of target audiences based on age, region, and interests. Basic performance metrics such as exposure counts, click counts, click rates, video views, and website traffic can be quantified, distinguishing it from traditional media and outdoor advertising.
However, the publicly disclosed government advertising records primarily focus on media names and expenditure amounts, making it difficult to ascertain how much individual internet ads were exposed and how many clicks or visits to the government website resulted.
Moreover, it is challenging to determine the specific goals set for each advertisement, whether actual performance met those goals, and how the effectiveness relative to the advertising budget will inform future plans based solely on the disclosed expenditure records.
In particular, portal and social media advertising can be quantitatively assessed using data provided by the platforms. It has been suggested that managing exposure counts, click rates, video views, and user responses alongside expenditure amounts is necessary to compare the effectiveness of different advertising methods.
A civic group representative remarked, "Government advertising is public funding aimed at effectively conveying policy information. The criteria for media selection, as well as the exposure results and promotional effectiveness after the advertising is executed, should be made available for public scrutiny."
The effectiveness of government advertising cannot be judged solely by the fact that ads were broadcast or posted. Even with the same budget, the effectiveness of policy communication can vary based on the location and timing of the ads, the target audience, and the content.
While outdoor advertising has limitations in accurately calculating the number of recipients, it can utilize estimated foot traffic, exposure range, and potential for repeated exposure as evaluation metrics. For portal and social media advertising, evaluation can be conducted using metrics such as exposure counts, click rates, and website traffic provided by the platforms.
A representative from the local advertising industry advised, "It is necessary to establish performance indicators tailored to the characteristics of each media type in advance and analyze the actual results after execution to reflect them in future advertising plans and budget allocations."
If Ulsan City can provide clearer criteria for media selection, promotional goals, execution results, and performance measurement data in the future, it could reduce equity concerns surrounding government advertising and enhance the credibility of public budget expenditures.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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