While ad spending in traditional media continues to decline, interactive media’s share of worldwide advertising expenditures – Internet, mobile and gaming – is expected to hit 15% next year, according to a new study by UK-HQ’d GroupM.
Dubbed ‘Interaction: Addressable, Searchable, Social and Mobile,’ the survey found that ad spending in interactive media reached 11% last year – almost double the amount recorded only four years ago – and will remain the principal source of advertising growth for the foreseeable future. The jump was evidently sparked mostly by gains recorded in the US and Western Europe, as well as by the increased use and availability of improved handsets, inexpensive laptops, faster broadband and extensive WiFi connections.
The survey covered 35 countries and shows advertising’s share of total ad investment rising from 8% in 2005 to 15% in 2009. It also points out that Internet advertising has been the principal source of media investment growth in Western nations since 2001 as spending in traditional media has leveled off.
‘This report aims to improve advertisers’ success rate in digital marketing,’ explains Rob Norman, global CEO of GroupM Interaction. ‘There’s little doubt that interactive channels are increasingly vital to delivering reach and engagement and will only become more so in the coming years. The report sheds considerable light on how best to use these platforms and how marketers can get the most out of their investment in them.’
