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Shift in Advertising Spending: Be Prepared to Follow the Money

July 30, 2009

According to a recent eMarketer article, “Some Advertising Shines in Dark Times” nearly all media sectors will experience advertising spending declines in 2009.

“Hardest hit will be traditional media such as newspapers, radio, magazines and TV, each falling by 14% or more.”

Technology is causing both a growth and decline in advertising expenditures. Especially with increase in efficiency and metrics. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing if agencies are prepared to follow the money.

Here’s where the declining shifts are occurring:

According to the “Media Advertising Forecast” from MAGNA, nearly all media sectors will experience advertising spending declines in 2009.
Hardest hit will be traditional media such as newspapers, radio, magazines and TV, each falling by 14% or more.
Even the once-indomitable online ad space is faltering, with MAGNA expecting a 2.2% total spending decrease.
National online ads, which encompass display, classifieds, mobile, e-mail and online video, will fall by 15%. Most of the drop will come from a weakening display ad market.

And here’s where the growth is occurring:

eMarketer projects digital ad spending will grow by 4.5% in 2009
Mobile and online video are going the other direction—up. MAGNA projections show mobile advertising revenues growing 36% to $229 million in 2009, and to $409 million in 2011.
Online video ad spending will increase 32% to $699 million in 2009, and over $1 billion in 2011.

These trends don’t mean that traditional media wont rebound following the recession. It does mean that there will be a permanent addition to our marketing mix and agencies will need to be prepared and equipped for it.

Scott Nelson, principal of Nelson Creative, Atlanta, GA was telling me the unusual year his agency was having. He says,

“While TV Media spending will be down, TV Production is WAY UP. You shoot a tv spot now and here are all the places it can go:

TV networks
TV cable
On-Demand
YouTube
Blogs
Motion Billboards
E-Mail blasts
On-line/Web sites

Scott’s opinion,

“Media with Motion, like Film, will continue to move up. Media that is still…ie; print, collateral, yellow pages, will stay still and go away. Several Media Companies predict that newspapers and magazines are tomorrow’s “phone booths.” Or as Steven Jobs said in his Apple Mission Statement 30 years ago: “We envision a paperless society.”

2 Comments | New Business Trends | Tagged: ad spending, eMarketer, Magna, Nelson Creative, Scott Nelson | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

8 Benefits of Social Media for Small-to Midsize Ad Agencies

March 13, 2009

Social media benefits the bottom line for small-to midsize ad agencies - new business.

I arrived in Atlanta last night and had some time to catch up with my good friend, Scott Nelson, Nelson Creative. Scott and I spent the evening together talking mostly about social media and its impact upon our industry. Scott is a believer.

I’m prepping this morning for a “Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media” workshop for Catapult New Business, Marketing Mine and THE LIST.

As you can tell I am a social media enthusiast. Social media is making the biggest impact upon the advertising industry from anything else seen in my lifetime. It also impacts ad agency new business. I view these as positive impacts.

Below are a few of the benefits social media provides ad agency new business:

From an agency new business perspective, social media “teaches” ad agencies to do new business the way they should have been doing all along.
Social media is the best tool I’ve ever used for creating ad brands for ad agencies.
The personal and professional enrichment provided through social media allows you to stay up on the latest trends, stay ahead of your clients and provide them with genuine leadership.
Social media greatly improves your communication skills. “You don’t know what you know till you write it down.”
Social media is not a fad, it is my prediction that it will be the central hub for all of our advertising and marketing. The rich feedback from audiences is incredible, timely and affordable.
People want to work with people that they know, like and trust and social media provides the opportunity to build relationships in the most efficient way possible. I’m connected with people all over the country, even have globally. As I’ve repeatedly said, it is networking on steroids.
Combining social with your agency’s niche, your agency’s point of differentiation can become an appealing and powerful position.
Social media provides and small-to midsize agencies their opportunity of a lifetime. There are no experts in social. It is so new, anyone who claims to be you can be assured they aren’t. The rules are continually being rewritten as others come into this space. Jump in and allow social media and your agency’s creativity to take your agency beyond your wildest dreams. It’s done exactly that for me.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

3 Comments | New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: Blogs I Recommend, catapult new business, Marketing Mine, Michael Gass, Nelson Creative, Scott Nelson, Social Media, The List | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Boston agency Modernista! is demonstrating that it gets social media

August 14, 2008

Thanks to my good friend, Scott Nelson, president of Nelson Creative.net who turned me on to this Boston agency, Modernista! They have the most radical online presence of any advertising agency I have ever seen. You’ll have to see it for yourself to believe it.

Modernista! was founded by Gary Koepke and Lance Jensen in January 2000, both from a marketing/advertising background, as a startup business. In October 2000, Modernista! was appointed the advertising agency responsible for the Hummer brand and remained associated with General Motors thereafter.

The company was appointed as the Cadillac brand agency in 2006. At that time, Modernista! had a portfolio that included a number of prestigious brands.

In March 2008, Modernista! gained some attention for a redesign of its own website, which now displayed the referring page (such as Google search results) all over again, but this time with a small navigation menu overlaid in the upper left corner. Other than basic information, the menu primarily directed visitors to information from other sites, including on Flickr and YouTube, so the effect could be described as going “siteless”.

This is certainly a radical format to traditional agencies. Not something you might want to try as a small to midsize agency. But, you do need to “demonstrate” that you also, get Web 2.0. It’s not enough to talk the talk your agency must walk the walk.

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Michael Gass, agency new business consultant, primarily to small and mid-size advertising agencies, utilizing both traditional and new media tools.