Advertising market trends in the US are looking up and should continue to be positive for 2004, but market analysts at Merrill Lynch cannot see anything to get excited about.
Now that the Iraq war is over, analysts are finally able to look at the latest patterns and trends. In 2003, internet revenues increased by 15.7% – the largest single increase across all media. Local newspapers also performed well, increasing by 13.4%. This is a significant increase when compared to their national counterparts, which saw ad revenue growth of 5.8%.
However, despite these improvements, Merrill Lynch’s Lauren Rich Fine is far from over-awed, saying: “So, all told, all trends are positive but there is no particular oomph or pizzazz to the story.”
A more upbeat outlook came from the advertising researchers at Interdeco. They are confident that the market recovery is now back for good and have issued a revised copy of the Ad Barometer report with raised figures. In October 2003, the report said that the global market would grow by 3.2%; this has now been increased to 4.0% (see Market Recovery Is Back For Good Says Ad Barometer).
For 2004, Merrill Lynch expects the advertising market to remain positive and the current US buying trend to continue to be influenced by politics and the Olympics. However, analysts suspect that spending is being held hostage to modest top line trends. They said: “Advertisers need to restrain costs to deliver projected earnings.”
Related Links
