Study: 60% Of Large Companies Cutting Marketing Budgets

Silicon Alley Insider, April 8, 2008 — Marketing execs polled by MarketingSherpa for its "Marketing During An Economic Downturn (pdf)" report are giving a version of a theme we've heard a lot of, lately. The storyline: big marketers are cutting back overall budgets this year, but not not online spending, which is being largely left intact or getting a small increase in 2008.

Total budgets down: 60% of large companies had either cut or are planning to cut marketing budgets 2008, the survey says, compared to 29% of midsized marketers and only 13% of small ones. Only 16% of big marketers said they were increasing budgets, and 19% reported no change.

Spending on Alternative Media Jumps 22%†

Marketers Follow as Consumers' Broadband Use Surges

Advertising Age, March 26, 2008 — Spending on alternative media hit $73.43 billion in 2007, a 22% increase over the previous year, and will continue to grow, according to PQ Media's Alternative Media Forecast: 2008-2012, released today. The research firm tracked 18 digital and nontraditional segments, with a combined 16.1% of total advertising and marketing dollars in 2007, up from 7.9% in 2002, yielding a compound annual growth rate of 21.7%.

The forecast predicts a 20.2% increase over the next year, to a total of $88.24 billion, and a compounded annual growth rate of 17% for 2007-2012, reaching $160.82 billion. By then, alternative media will represent 26.6% of all advertising and marketing dollars.

Push in Online Car Shopping†

NBCU Is Hoping Stake in DriverTV Snags Ad Dollars

Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2008 — In an effort to snare more of the automotive advertising dollars migrating online, NBC Universal is buying a sizable stake in DriverTV, a Web site and video-on-demand channel that specializes in videos aimed at car shoppers.

NBCU is paying about $6 million for a 35% stake in DriverTV, which has about $8 million in annual revenue, according to people familiar with the matter. Currently all DriverTV's ad revenue comes from car makers, but the company, which is partly owned by the TV- and ad-production firm Radical Media, is hoping eventually to attract advertisers from other auto-related industries such as insurance.

For a New Brand, Pepsi Starts the Buzz Online

New York Times, March 14, 2008 — A BEVERAGE marketer known for pouring money into splashy ads in the traditional media is taking an unconventional approach with a new product. The decision by the North American division of Pepsi-Cola, part of PepsiCo, is another sign of the growing use of new media to introduce brands in mainstream categories like packaged goods. Such shifts in media-planning habits by companies like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble and Unilever are the reason that spending for ads online is increasing far faster than for any other medium.

Online, Measures of Success Are a Moving Target†

Advertising Age, March 14, 2008 — As media agencies continue their transition toward integrating digital media planning and buying with traditional media such as TV and print, MediaWorks is making the rounds to talk to the people charged with making it happen. This week, Publicis Groupe's Starcom announced it was promoting Kelly Twohig to senior VP-digital activation director of the agency. She will oversee the agency's digital spending, reporting to Chris Boothe, Starcom's chief activation officer.

On the Web, Signs of a Click Recession†

Google Feels Pinch As Ad Growth Slows; Sweeter Deal for Yahoo?

Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2008 — Internet advertising may be showing itself more vulnerable to a consumer slowdown than many in the industry had hoped, according to new search-ad data released this week.

The report from research firm comScore Inc. showing a decline in the number of consumer clicks on Google Inc. search ads in January amplified existing concerns about the effect of a broader economic slowdown on the Internet. Many online-ad experts have played down such worries, predicting any economic weakening will be offset by a continued shift in ad spending from traditional media to the Internet. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said the company hadn't seen any impact from macroeconomic softening when the Internet company reported earnings Jan. 31. But some investors and analysts... continue reading

'Natural Born Clickers' are Young, Underpaid, Mostly Male

MarketingVox, February 14, 2008 — The vast majority of ad clicks are generated by a small percentage of online users, according to a report from comScore, commissioned by ad agency Starcom and AOL's Tacoda. The study finds 80 percent of online ad clicks are generated by 16 percent of internet users. Furthermore, that 16 percent is not representative of the online population as a whole.

J&J's Web Ads Depart From TV Formula†

Baby-Lotion Cartoons Play Up Bonding Time: Risky Marketing Turn

Wall Street Journal, February 12, 2008 — Johnson & Johnson is one of the largest television advertisers in the U.S. But to promote its best-selling baby lotion, the company is putting most of its effort into a different approach: Web cartoons.

In one of its animated Web videos, as a mother starts massaging her daughter's feet, legs and chest, her baby giggles, smiles and makes eye contact. Pink swirls meant to represent the lotion's scent fill the screen.

The ads for Johnson's Baby Lotion, developed by an animation studio, not an ad agency, attempt to highlight the emotional connections babies build with their mothers. In contrast, most of J&J's competitors focus on the medicinal benefits of baby lotion. Johnson's is favoring the Internet over TV because it believes young parents scour the... continue reading

Study: Internet Ads Will More Than Double By 2011

MediaPost Publications, January 21, 2008 — YANKEE GROUP FORECASTS THAT INTERNET advertising will more than double to $50.3 billion in 2011 from $21.7 billion last year, driven by technology investments that will boost online ad performance.

While the size of the U.S. Internet audience will level off in the next few years, ad dollars have yet to catch up with the growth in online media consumption, according to the Yankee study. The research firm estimates that the Internet accounts for about 20% of overall media consumption, but only 7.5% of ad budgets.

Online To Pass TV Ad Spend in UK

eMarketer, January 9, 2008 — Group M, the media planning and buying agency owned by WPP Group, has forecast that spending on Internet advertising in the UK will surpass spending on TV ads in 2009 - making the UK the first of the world’s major economies to see TV spending overtaken by the Internet.