Uncertain times for advertising

Adam Smith

This short article, by GroupM's Adam Smith, looks at adspend trends in the UK in 2008/09. Consumers are beset on several fronts, as is the advertising industry.

Uncertain times for advertising

Adam SmithGroupM

When confidence is short and uncertainty long, you make more of an effort to control what you can. That includes costs, and for every marketer that sees advertising as an investment, there is at least one that sees it as a cost. Everyone interviewed for this forecast was asked whether their clients were cutting budgets; the answers were unanimous. First, money committed for the year was staying put. Second, discretionary spending was becoming shorter term, at or slightly shy of budget. Third, any 'forecast' for 2009 is more than usually provisional, and the...

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