Social dilutes traditional media

Warc, 8 July 2014

SYDNEY: Australian marketers are increasingly shifting their expenditure into owned media channels according to a new report which warns that digital and social are diluting the reach of traditional media.

The Australian Marketing Institute partnered with consultancy PwC to produce a report, to sit alongside PwC's annual Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook, on how the changing nature of marketing budgets and allocation is impacting media channels.

This found that two thirds (67%) of marketers were moving spend from bought to owned channels, including CRM, shareable content and video. Further, one quarter of marketers were now spending between 20% and 30% of their budget building their own media channels, Ad News reported.

"The reorientation of marketing spend will have the greatest impact on the media, entertainment, and advertising industries, with deteriorating spending on traditional platforms prompting greater urgency to embrace new revenue models," said Megan Brownlow, editor of PwC's Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook.

"Digital and social media channels have driven this trend by diluting the reach of traditional platforms, and making it easier for brands to access their audience directly," she added.

The study also revealed that around two thirds of marketers anticipated greater investment in data and data analytics in the coming two years. "Data is the key to understanding and targeting today's diverse customer base," stated Brownlow. "Data analytics can also deliver 'real-time' customer insights, meaning companies can be much more responsive to their customer's needs and more agile in their strategic decision making."

According to the Entertainment and Media Outlook, the total Australian ad market will be worth $14.4bn by 2018, a compound annual growth rate of 3.4%. Internet advertising is set to be the largest sector by then, at $5.7bn.

While consumer spending on print magazines and newspapers will continue a seemingly inexorable decline, digital circulation is forecast to grow with digital advertising accounting for one third of ad revenues by 2018.

Data sourced from Ad News; additional content by Warc staff