14 DAY TRIAL // 2009 was a terrible year for the worldwide economy and many sectors were hit hard. Advertising is one of them, spending dropping considerably from the previous year. Yet, according to new numbers from Kantar Media, they may not have been as bad as they seemed at first. Overall, advertising spending in the US dropped 12.3 percent but in the digital space, spending actually grew.
“The advertising recession began to ease in the final two months of 2009 and preliminary figures from the first quarter of 2010, when compared against the abyss of a year ago, indicate many sectors are experiencing growth,” said Jon Swallen, SVP Research at Kantar Media. “Given the restraint in consumer spending, it appears marketers have more confidence right now than their customers. As we get deeper into 2010, the pace of consumer activity will be a key determinant of the strength and durability of the advertising recovery.”
The entire advertising market was worth $125.3 billion in the US in 2009, down 12.3 percent from the previous year. However, things started picking up in the fourth quarter compared to the rest of the year so there was only a 6 percent drop in spending in Q4 2009 from Q4 2008.
The report focuses just on display advertising in the digital sector but indicates that the sector grew in 2009 from 2008 by 7.3 percent. Still, the fourth quarter didn't prove so healthy and display ads saw a decline in revenue in Q4 of 2.1 percent year over year. However, it was the only market sector that saw growth in 2009, according to the Kantar Media report. TV media saw a 9.5 percent decline in 2009, actually pretty solid compared to other old media platforms. Magazines dropped by 17.4 percent last year and newspapers took a big hit with a 19.7 percent decline in advertising revenue. Radio performed the worst with a 20.3 percent drop.