Despite the credit crunch, the internet is continuing to prove the medium of choice for more European advertisers as they seek to maximise return on investment.
According to a report from the European Interactive Advertising Association, 70% of advertisers claim that their allocated online ad spend is increasing in 2009.
The survey was conducted online with senior marketing executives with responsibility for advertising budgets and/or strategy across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and the pan-European sector.
The results also reveal that online is playing an increasingly important role in overall advertising strategies with 47% of advertisers now regarding online as an essential factor within the marketing mix (vs. 38% in 2008 and 17% in 2006).
Budgets are continuing to move from traditional media to online, said the EIAA, with the increase in online ad spend coming directly from TV (37% of advertisers claim the increase in online ad spend has come from TV), newspapers (32%) and increasingly, magazines (46%).
Consumers are also spending more time online, with weekly internet use growing 28% in 2008 compared with 2004.
Direct marketing and radio budgets have seen the biggest decrease in revenue reallocated to online spend, said the EIAA, with only 24% and 12% of advertisers claiming the increase in online ad spend has come directly from these media (vs. 32% and 20% in 2008).
The research also points to a move towards further investment and growth in particular formats such as online video advertising, with 35% of advertisers stating this format is increasingly being used within their online strategies.
Alison Fennah, executive director of the EIAA said: “With every media investment closely scrutinised by brands and a renewed focus on ROI, online comes into its own as the most effective way of providing accountability for marketers.
“Market conditions are tough, yet online is continuing to innovate and emerging formats such as mobile advertising and online video advertising look set to become big players in the next few years as brands see the benefit of cross-platform marketing campaigns.”
At the start of April, the latest study from the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed that online adspend grew 17.1% in 2008, to £3.4 billion (see UK online adspend grew 17.1% in 2008).
Research published by the IAB and Lightspeed Research in February found that UK consumers believe they are most likely to pay attention to online ads from the early evening onwards (see UK consumers more likely to pay attention to online ads from early evening onwards).
While the early evening was the best time of the day for all age groups, the IAB found that for younger audiences there was likely to be a steady increase in their attention to adverts as the day progressed. This was markedly different for older age groups who had peaks between 9-12pm and 2-6pm.
