Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

For newspaper publishers, traditional print demand from advertisers continues to slow. This industry is making headway in the online market with some well-known names now appearing in the Top 50 online sites. And as we approach the fourth quarter, newspaper publishers will be aggressively courting marketers in specific industries with their best proposals for both online and traditional formats.

With consumer attention being increasingly difficult to capture these days, marketers are looking into new formats. For many, the out-of -home venue is attractive. The Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) reports that up to 12,000 new marketers began using out-of-home last quarter and more are expected to do so through the end of the year.

Just when we thought the economy was improving, marketers are signaling a cautious outlook. The turmoil in the financial markets and lower consumer confidence levels have many marketers indicating less optimism. To combat a potential drop in revenue, these business leaders are modifying their marketing approach and expenditure levels.

The U.S. auto market is just now recovering from the disaster in Japan earlier this year which affected parts and vehicle availability. In an earlier blog post this month, I highlighted a report that predicted a jump in auto industry advertising in the 4th quarter of this year as Japanese vehicle become available again. Within the next year, U.S. auto makers will face competitors from a different region and the ad market is likely to experience changes as well.

As marketers struggle with a sagging economy and the transformation of advertising platforms, big changes are apparent for media buyers. More marketers and their agencies are cutting back on advertising and shifting resources into digital formats. Within the digital sector, budget allocations are changing as well as more media channels enter the fray.

The magazine industry continues to roll out new publications, over 180 last year, but are consumers noticing? These publications rely heavily on circulation statistics – comprised of subscriptions, newsstand sales and free copies – to justify their rates to advertisers. And so far this year, circulation is down. But ad sales are up.