“The purse strings are opening again”
In 2023, marketers found themselves dealing with significant headwinds, from higher interest rates, inflation and geopolitical tensions.
While adspends varied dramatically by sector and geography, there was no doubt they were under pressure at the largest advertisers, with COMvergence recording a 1% decline in YoY media spend last year among the top 20 brands.
But the industry is expecting a bump in 2024 as advertisers return to more creatively driven brand activity. Major advertisers including Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Unilever are already boosting spend on brand activities to gain a competitive edge. In part, this is to see off the threat of loosening brand loyalty during the cost-of-living crisis, and a need to boost retail sales volumes, which, in the UK at least, have been steadily dropping since April 2021 (ONS).
In this report, Campaign explores how the landscape changed for global advertisers last year and what is likely to happen to their media spends in 2024.
FIND OUT…
How 2024 will bring the return of brand-led advertising
After a focus on “hyper-targeted” marketing activity, advertisers will return to more creatively driven brand advertising in 2024. “The ability to keep pushing through price increases has abated. Now there’s going to be a fightback for volume. That won’t be done through promotion but reaffirmation based on brand,” Mark Gallagher, executive vice-president, Omnicom Media Group, says.
Why the world’s biggest marketer wants to increase its reach
P&G’s Northern Europe senior brand director, Matt Thomas, tells Campaign, “Nearly all adults are our potential consumers, meaning we are focused on increasing our reach. This helps to ensure we remain top of mind consistently throughout the year.” Crucially, P&G believes it will help seal the deal at the till.
Why Nestlé’s global CMO calls to reverse “industry-wide decline” in the “art” of marketing
Aude Gandon criticises marketers for becoming too focused on the “science” of marketing, arguing that creativity is one of the main drivers of brands’ growth. She says: “We continue to build our brands behind ‘big brand ideas’ that stand the test of time.”
The five charts that show what's really happening to global media spend
We’ve crunched the numbers so you don’t have to. Find out which advertiser spends the largest percentage of its revenues on media, the relationship between growth in media spend and revenues, and where the global centre of power really lies.
“The purse strings are opening again”: what will happen to adspend in 2024
Forecasts predict stronger growth for adspend this year than in 2023. Global budgets are expected to rise 8.7%, according to Warc Media. Advertisers are also more optimistic, but there is still caution in the market.
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Global intelligence editor Kate Magee
Senior data editor Glauk Mahmutaj
Data journalist Jamie Rossouw
Data editor Elena Lewis
Special report art director Paul Frost
Freelance art editor Kayleigh Pavelin
Data visualisation designer Rhea Ramtohul
Data projects manager Carolyn Avery
Production editor Bethany Coombs
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