Advertising’s digital coming of age

All About Brands plc advertising director, Graham Anderson, looks at the inexorable rise of internet adspend.

The economic environment has penalised the marketing services sector, knocking advertising particularly hard. But online marketing is bucking the trend and quite significantly.

Spending on internet advertising in the UK topped £3.5 billion in 2009, and for the first time outstripped television adspend. It was a first, not only in the UK, but internationally. And this capped an extraordinary decade when, in 2000, internet adspend topped £153m. In other words, online advertising grew by 2,200 per cent.

What does this mean for businesses? Well, the simple truth is your money goes a lot further and you’re able to target audiences more precisely through online advertising than other more traditional means of advertising. It’s certainly no coincidence that we’re seeing a significant uptake in online campaigns for our clients, especially in a straitened economic times when digital campaigns can provide better ROI.

If nothing else, this recession, like others before, is helping to sort the chaff from the grain. The demise of established but struggling brands such as Habitat is one impact. Another is the unleashing of technology. This is the first recession of the digital age and the solid increase in internet adspend tells us that some quarters of the media arena are holding up.

This has not been a transition that traditional marketing agencies and media players have managed well, let alone businesses and clients who turn to agencies to help navigate them through the marketing landscape.

Those who were slow to understand and respond to the changing technologies and consumer habits are being punished severely. Take ITV. A truly great brand, it made a play in the new digital world by buying Friends Reunited, but it failed to have a compelling vision for the social networking site and sold it on in 2009 after just four years, losing a cool £100m in the process.

And so, internet adspend is only set to increase. Those who have been skittish about apportioning advertising spend, will now become much bolder in choosing the web over other channels. And this will put in to long term jeopardy traditional marketing agencies and media providers, such as ITV. The internet has truly come of age.

For more information, videos and advice for SMEs, visit www.freshbusinessthinking.com

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

The 50 Best beachwear

The 50 Best beachwear

The hottest summer gear for men and women
Still standing: George Galloway reveals why his staunchly Leftist outlook is still invariably right

Still standing: George Galloway

Written off, ridiculed, wrongly accused of taking bribes the honourable member for Bradford West, has never bowed to the critics.
How will Daniel Radcliffe's fans react to his latest turn - as a damaged, drug-taking Beatnik poet?

Daniel Radcliffe as drug-taking Beatnik poet

His decade as the boy wizard may be over, but that hasn't hexed Daniel Radcliffe's enchanted life.
For whom the bell tolls: £20m 'Memo' project takes shape on Dorset's Jurassic coast

'Memo' project takes shape on Dorset coast

It started as a stonemason's visionary idea – to commemorate all the species that have ever existed and are now extinct.
Just add sunshine: Bill Granger's Turkish delights

Just add sunshine: Bill Granger's Turkish delights

Turkish cuisine is perfect for those long, sociable weekend meals with friends. It's just a shame that money can't buy the key ingredient.
Objets czar: David Usborne’s collection of myriad objects is quite the mystery

Objets czar: David Usborne’s collection of myriad objects

To others, they're junk. To David Usborne, they are his life: useful gizmos, mysterious thingamajigs and anonymous articles that dominate his home.
The iron ore lady: Why the world's richest woman is mired in controversy

World's richest woman: Gina Rinehart

Family feuds, attempts to control the Australian media and bitter public disputes are keeping the mining magnate in the headlines.
We just click: How Lego keeps building on its success

How Lego keeps building on its success

This year, Lego announced record profits. Gerard Gilbert visits its Denmark HQ.
The other bits: Mark Hix creates delicious and economical meals with cheaper cuts of meat

Mark Hix cooks with cheaper cuts of meat

Our chef creates delicious and economical meals on a budget
Strokes of genius: How to create summer's bold make-up look

Strokes of genius: Summer's bold make-up

From coral lips to fly-away fringes, make-up artist Kim Brown and hair stylist Richard Scorer reveal how to create the look
Marking his territory: Kilian Hennessy creates fragrances designed to provoke the senses

Marking his territory: Kilian Hennessy

The perfumer creates fragrances designed to provoke the senses
Photo essay: Britain's 1948 Olympians today

Britain's 1948 Olympians today

Photo essay
The top five E3 2012 triumphs: From Ubisoft's suite of titles to Dishonored and The Last of Us

The top five E3 2012 triumphs

The games and moments that left us grinning like the Cheshire Cat
The green movement at 50: Can the world be saved?

Can the world be saved?

Population growth and climate change are the big problems facing the earth in the next 50 years. But are there any solutions?
France: Will xenophobia go mainstream?

France: Will xenophobia go mainstream?

In the beautiful Rhone delta, John Lichfield visits a village where a dangerous new political landscape is taking shape