We all know that ad spending is down this year. A recent study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers said advertising expenditures worldwide would total $467 billion by 2013. Sounds like a big number, but it’s actually about 2.5% lower than 2008′s $479.3 billion. Alone, this could change the ad market.
And there’s a shift in where those ad dollars are being spent. We’ve been hearing for a long time about the demise of the newspaper industry as people shift to getting their news from other sources. But there’s also the shift from ads in broadcast TV to cable TV, from radio to online, etc. The table below highlights those projected spending changes.
But for me, the biggest impact on the TV ad will come with the increased usage of DVRs. Some facts from “Advertising in the DVR Age” by DVR Research Institute:
- 83% of marketers surveyed said that over the next three years DVRs will negatively impact the effectiveness of TV advertising
- 77% of agency executives see DVR usage as the greatest challenge to the current ad model
- DVR penetration stands at 26%, up from 17% two years ago
- Ad skipping currently is only 5-6%, but is forecast to jump to 16-18% in two years; in primetime, this may be as high as 25-33%
Things to watch for:
- More product placement in programming (Coke in American Idol, SoyJoy in The Closer)
- More cause marketing (brands, like Nike, supporting individuals and their causes, like Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong)
- Changing the length of ad pods (shorter commercial breaks, such as “Fringe will be back in 60 seconds”)
- More program-related content embedded in advertising pods (interviews with stars regarding their role in program; e.g., the “Inside Look” and “Behind the Scenes” segment embeds in BBC America’s Mistresses’ commercial pods)