Sunday, June 19, 2011

Ad spending is slowing down around the world ...

From Tom Taylor:

Radio’s not the only one – ad spending is slowing down around the world.

Magnaglobal reports “the first signs of weakness” and lowers its forecast for U.S. ad-spend growth from 3.1% to 2.9%. TV still looks strong, as does online. But the Interpublic Group division foresees slower growth for some ad-driven media, and negative growth for print media. Look around at the worries about Greece, the Middle East and other trouble spots, and you won’t be surprised. In the U.S., real estate and lending are still sluggish, and the supply-chain effects of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami are still hampering growth in the key automotive sector. Many radio group heads reported a slowdown around the middle of Q1, and nobody’s jumping up and down about a sudden recovery now.

Of course ads are losing their punch. It's all about Google and Amazon and shopping websites and purchaser ratings.  Conventional advertising has been losing its relevance and effectiveness more and more over the past twenty years. I've been buying online since 1990, everything from software to computer accessories to audio gear, digital cameras (starting with a Sony Mavica that loaded images on a 3" diskette), clothing, furniture, shooting supplies, digital TV's, kitchen gear and food products, e-books, DVD movies and CD audio discs, and on and on.

Every single purchase was made without the benefit of conventional advertising, including my ISP, that makes these postings possible. I researched every purchase for customer satisfaction and price competition and made my order.  The item was delivered within days, often overnight and sometimes instantly, usually for free and if it didn't perform as promised I could return it for a full refund...all without leaving the comfort of my office chair or with just a short drive to the local UPS store.  Which I did Wednesday for a previous purchase and for which I have already had my refund credited to my bank account.

An office chair that, I should mention, I also purchased online and came to me overnight with no delivery fee.
I occasionally ask a friend for a reference for a local service provider or listen to a friend on the air for a reference to one of their sponsors, but not as often as I used to.

That's why radio, TV and print advertising is dying.  It offers nothing I can use except brand exposition.  Maybe they should just stick to logos and a picture of their product.  I'll check the product out later, when I need it.

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