Ad Sales Blog

UK follows Denmark as second country where Internet ad revenue overtakes TV

In the US where television advertising still commands the largest share of ad dollars what has happened in the UK is unthinkable; Internet advertising revenue has surpassed TV ad revenue for the first time. From a recent report in the The Guardian newspaper: 

 The UK has become the first major economy where advertisers spend more on internet advertising than on television advertising, with a record £1.75bn online spend in the first six months of the year.

UK advertisers spent £1.75bn on internet advertising in the six months to the end of June, a 4.6% year-on-year increase, according to a report by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. To put this in perspective, in 1998, when the IAB first measured internet advertising, just £19.4m was spent online.

The internet now accounts for 23.5% of all advertising money spent in the UK, while TV ad spend accounts for 21.9% of marketing budgets.

The IAB's figures show that of the total of £1.75bn spent on internet advertising, £1.05bn, or 60%, was spent on search advertising on websites including Google, up 6.8% year on year.

The UK is not the first country where internet ad spend has overtaken TV spend, Denmark reached the milestone about six months ago. But it is the first major economy to do so.

How soon do you think this will happen in the US? 

Read the entire article in the Guardian 

Wall Street shake up to help media sales?

When the news from Wall Street is gloomy it is easy to forget that we are in the communication business, not the content publishing business. When major companies have messages they need to communicate our financial fortunes can rise independent of what is going on in the general economy.

Just before the meltdown on Wall Street the financial advertising sector was the largest in the US. In the aftermath of all the restructuring, a lot of companies will have new stories to communicate. According to Heidi Dawley in a recent post on Media Life: 

"...against the worry and gloom there's a bright side to the credit crisis for the media economy.

Provided the crisis doesn't deepen--certainly a vital worry--ad spending ought to rebound as the financial services industry responds to the restructuring of the industry and shifting of assets from failing institutions like AIG and Lehman Brothers to healthy institutions.

While smaller banks and insurance companies may still fail, and the credit mess still has a long way to play out in its impact on the entire U.S. economy, the sense, at least for now, is that the worst of the collapses are behind us, that no new AIGs lurk in the shadows.

Going forward, there are solid reasons to expect a rise in ad spending in the financial service sector."

For one, major retail players, the banks and insurance companies, need to put out the message to consumers that they are healthy and conducting business as usual.

For another, competitors of those troubled giants like AIG and Merrill Lynch have every reason to pump up ad spending to steal away customers, playing on fears that sticking with those giants will put them at financial risk. "

Makes you think!

Read the whole Media Life post

B-to-B digital ad revenue to top print by 2009

Burlingame, Calif.—B-to-b digital advertising revenue will outpace print ad revenue by 2009, according to a new report from market research company Outsell.

According to the report print accounted for 44.7% of the $20 billion b-to-b media revenue in 2006, compared with 28.3% for digital products and 27.0% for events. But by 2009 the roles will reverse.

B to B print revenue will account for 34.3%, 38.6% share for digital products and events 27.1%.

Read the news item on the B to B website:

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071022/FREE/71022037/1078

2008: the year of selling with ideas!

A study just released by Next Level SMG gives insight into why marketers will spend on advertising next year. Among marketers, the top reason to budget for advertising in 2008 is "differentiation."

From the study:

"The need for differentiation and an updated brand image / personality are the lead drivers for marketers’ who see developing a new advertising campaign as their lead initiative for 2008. Changing media consumption trends are also creating a need for messaging that has greater clarity and impact. As one respondent noted, “in an increasingly attention-scarce economy, [you] need to work harder to ensure that branding messages are sharp-edged and clear.”

Eighty-two marketing executives participated in this survey, and respondents include marketing executives from companies including Kraft, Pepsi, Dannon, Colgate, Cadbury Schweppes, Playtex, Clorox, Nokia and Starwood.

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Use this on a sales call.

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A marketer motivated to differentiate product will be highly motivated to differentiate their media buy as well. Pitch ideas that offer unique exposure to your audience. Custom publishing projects or single sponsor newsletters or web sections can deliver unique exposure with no competitors present.

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If you are calling on a marketing executive present these options as way to differentiate brand/product in competitive markets.

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If you are calling on a media buyer, print out the study at the link below and show it. Then say, "In 2008 marketers see differentiation as their top priority...is differentiation important for your client?" Assuming a positive response present your ideas a way to differentiate the clients product/brand.

      

Download the whole study

http://www.nextlevelsmg.com/files/news/NLSMG_FinalSurveyReport.pdf

Internet to Overtake Radio in ‘08 & Mags in ‘10

The ineveitable prediction has been made. According to a ZenithOptimedia forecast,

"We predict internet advertising to pass three milestones over the next three years," ZenithOptimedia's forecast said. "We expect it to overtake radio advertising in 2008; to attain a double-digit share of global advertising in 2009; and to overtake magazine advertising in 2010, with 11.5% of total ad spend."

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On a call.

Use this on a call.

A perfect study to show your web laggards. Show them the chart and ask, "Come on guys, do you really think this Web stuff is just going to blow over?

Read the full article on the AdAge website

PDF with the stats on the Ad Age site

Pessimistic media forecast for "traditional media"

"NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Three new ad-spending forecasts out this week -- and even a report intended to gauge how consumers view various

To play the video link here to the article on the Ad Age's webiste and click on Robert Coen's picture. In the first video-taped presentation of his ad spend projections report, McCann Senior VP Robert Coen said 'things are pretty bad' for the ad industry.

media -- paint yet another discouraging picture for traditional media."

The report predicts magazines ad spend will grow only 2.3% in 2007, while search and social network media are expected to take in huge spending increases:

"Keyword search advertising is likely to grow 29% to $8.8 billion this year and 26.5% to $11.1 billion next year...

Social networking also is expected to grow significantly, with revenue up 148% over last year, though that represents a rise to $685 million in 2007 from just $276 million in 2006."

Read the entire article on the Ad Age Webiste:

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=118852

Thanks to Ian McDonald from Roy McDonald Associates in Oakland, CA who shared this article from Ad Age after he joined us for the NAPR webinar on web objections.

Magazine advertising: Is Online hurting B-to-B more than Consumer? Yes.

No matter which advertising media forecast you read, online is set for double digit growth this year. Often it is hard to get a fix on how consumer Vs. B-to-B magazines are faring against this because magazines are small potatoes that get piled into the same pot when compared other big media (Media forecast guru Bob Coen and others don't mention the difference) . That's why the 2007 forecast released earlier this month by TNS Media Intelligence caught my eye.

TNS described 2007 as a slower year for ad growth than 2006, and a year where the growth of online will erode other media spend. Says Steven J. Fredericks, president and Chief Executive Officer, “We expect the overall pace of activity will pick up slightly in the second half of the year. However, it still appears that total measured expenditures will post their smallest annual gain since the 2001 advertising recession as marketers continue to incrementally scale back their allocations to off-line media in favor of less expensive digital alternatives.” 

According to the report, it's just going to be worse for B-to-B magazines:

TNS predicts online advertising will grow by 16%

Consumer magazine ad spending to grow by a respectable by 4.5%

B-to-B magazine ad spend to drop by -1.5%

Click on the above graphic to see a chart from the report

Read the article on the TNS website