Recession drives increase in mobile, email and online advertising: Ipsos Reid poll

The change in advertising spending patterns in Canada continues, according to a new Ipsos Reid poll released Saturday. When asked to assess the pace of change in the media mix over the past two years, 92% of respondents (marketers) and 88% cent of respondents (agency management) indicated that virtually everything has changed. The study, conducted in collaboration with Canadian Marketing Association (CMA), found that increases in mobile, email and online at the expense of traditional media such as print, radio and TV are partly due to the impact of the recession, which has created new spending patterns using limited media dollars, a belief that customer relationships can be built online, continued interest from senior marketing management, and the rapid concurrent development and proliferation of digital technologies. “The recession has, in fact, been good to digital marketers because it has challenged inertia and forced change through increased accountability across mediums,” says Adrian Capobianco, Marketing Week co-chair and president of Quizative Inc. “It also clearly shows dollars are shifting in favour of digital.” Assuming that total marketing budgets remain the same for 2010, responses from marketing and agency directors alike suggest that adjustments in ‘spend’ across different media will result in the continued downward trend for print (41% decrease, net change –32%), radio (26% decrease, net change –15%) and television (22% decrease, net change –12%), with stagnant growth in out-of-home digital (14% decrease, net change – 2%) and direct mail (23% decrease, net change – 0%). “It would appear that ad revenue losses experienced by television networks may not rebound even after confidence and spending return to consumers,” says Steve Levy, president of Ipsos Reid in Toronto. Since 2007 an increasing proportion of marketers have indicated that their spending on television will decrease over the next two years. This has moved from 27% of marketers in 2007 to 42% in 2009, up 15 points in just three years. “This is clearly a function of much more than an economic recession,” adds Levy. At the other end of the scales, the study suggests that online media, email and mobile media will benefit the most as dollars are shifted into their categories. Some 81% of respondents believed online media would increase; 63% suggested email would rise and 49% predicted mobile marketing would increase. The survey of agency and marketing professionals, which has tracked opinions as far back as 2006, also shows that digital marketing continues to gain momentum with growth in usage of email, search, and social marketing. What are the main drivers of change? Observers of the shift in media dollars to digital might assume the recession is driving this change. While there is some truth to this (38% of marketers agree this is the case, only 21% agreed in 2008), the survey results suggest that assumption would be too simplistic. In fact, audience and/or client needs came out on top followed by marketing budgets and new technology itself. Other factors cited included changing media habits, increased knowledge and ROI and/or better measurement tools. Underlying all of this is a strengthening recognition that strong customer relationships can be created on the Internet as attested to by 60% of respondents in 2008 and 64% in 2009. “Because of the shifting landscape evidenced by the study findings, it's clear that marketers need to keep their finger on the pulse to maintain this delicate balancing act,” says Deborah Hall, Marketing Week co-chair and managing director, web2mobile.ca. Digital media still unproven While many (56%) continue to believe that senior management is interested in digital marketing, they also recognize that senior management is taking a good hard look at measurement. Asked what would be needed to change in order to spend more budget on digital media, respondents answered with proof that it works (24%), measurement tools (24%), better understanding (20%) and more resources (12%). “This year's findings suggest that within the constantly shifting digital marketing realm, education is key to future growth. The question becomes whose responsibility will it be – the agencies' or the marketers',” says Levy. Digital marketing leaders Asked who respondents would identify as leaders in digital marketing, the list has expanded well “beyond the tech world” to include consumer packaged goods and retail categories. Global brands cited in the findings included Apple (21%), Google (10%), Nike (10%), Amazon (9%), Dell (8%), Coca Cola (7%), TELUS (6%), Rogers (6%), Starbucks (6%), Facebook (5%), Dove (4%), e-Bay (4%), Best Buy (3%), Microsoft (3%), Chapters/Indigo/Coles (3%), Procter & Gamble (2%), Aeroplan (2%), Pepsi (2%), and ING (2%).

Recession drives increase in mobile, email and online advertising: Ipsos Reid poll

Broadcast | November 16, 2009

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