Ebiquity’s Nick Manning urges advertisers to optimise value at every stage of ad planning process

Oct. 20, 2008 - PRLog -- The research shows UK ad spend declining for a second quarter in a row, with total advertising spend across the UK economy declining one per cent year-on-year last quarter for the second quarter in succession. Sector spend in government & utilities (-19%), finance (-11%) and automotive (-6%) have been hardest hit.
Other sectors experiencing declining ad spend in the last quarter (Jun-Aug 2008), having posted year-on-year increases in the spring, include toiletries & cosmetics (-3%) and electrical & household (-2%).  
But not all sectors saw decline.  The biggest rises last quarter in year-on-year ad spend were in pharmaceuticals (+7%), entertainment & media & leisure (+6%) and travel (+5%).
The research from Ebiquity’s Billetts Media Monitoring division is based on an analysis of more than 14 million UK ads over the last two years.  Its expenditure figures are modeled from 180 leading advertisers spending more than £6 billion over the two years.
Nick Manning said: “Our analysis shows that advertisers in different sectors are running varied ad strategies through the economic downturn – some increasing spend, others holding back. As conditions inevitably bite further though, one thing will become even more imperative: advertisers will need to optimise value at every stage of the ad planning and execution process to maximize ROI on their budgets.”
One chink of light for media owners came from a U-turn from the FMCG sector.  After posting three consecutive quarters of year-on-year ad spend decline, the sector posted a rise (+3%) this last quarter.  
The Ebiquity report also breaks down ad spend by individual company.  It shows that the advertisers cutting back their y-o-y spend most last quarter were Procter & Gamble (-£16.1m), Aviva (-£10.3) and BT Group (-£8.1m).
But the report also shows many advertisers seem to be spending their way through the downturn.  Those increasing their y-o-y spend most last quarter were Deutsche Telekom (£+9.5m), the NHS (£+8.8m) and Universal Pictures (£+6.8m).
The report also looks at key sectors in more detail.  Ad expenditure in the finance sector was down 11 per cent in the last quarter, with RBS slashing spend on its Churchill Insurance, Green Flag, Privilege and NatWest Savings brands. In addition, Aviva has halved its budget from last year, cutting spend on Norwich Union and RAC ads.
This decline in the finance sector comes despite online affiliates (price comparison sites) booming.  Between them, GoCompare.com and MoneySupermarket.com spent almost £4 million more over the last quarter compared with last year.
In the automotive sector, each of the top five advertisers (Ford, GM, PSA, VW Audi and Toyota) reduced spend in the face of slowing car sales.
The sector increasing spend most was pharmaceuticals.  Laser eye treatment specialists Optical Express and Optimax spent an extra £2.5m in Jun-Aug 2008 than they did in the same quarter in 2007.  SSL International heavily promoted their Scholl and Syndol brands and spent another £200k promoting their Durex brand.
Entertainment, Media & Leisure was given a boost by some big summer film releases attracting higher than average ad spends by Universal (for Mamma Mia) and Disney (for Wall-E).  Camelot also invested significantly more promoting scratch-card games year on year.
The increase in spend in the travel sector was fuelled largely by Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays.