When less is still more

A couple of sources have reported updates to advertising spend trends.

AdAge reported that the top 100 advertisers (representing 41% of all measured ad spending) shifted almost $1billion from TV and Newspapers to the web. From the article:

Put another way, these top-tier marketers increased measured internet spending by $1 billion; slashed newspaper spending by $674 million; and cut TV budgets by $406 million.


TNS Media Intelligence reports a slowdown in the growth of online display advertising: from 16.7% growth in 2007 to 8.5% growth in 1Q08.

Two thoughts on what's at work here:

1. It's the economy: Of course, that's not really thinking, it's just stating the obvious. What's interesting is that even in the face of overall spending that is flat, advertisers continue to see the web as a place to invest. And with CPM rates continuing to fall online, there would seem to be little downside to advertisers taking their ad dollars there.

2. Display advertising reflects the advertisers using it: the top 100 advertisers, who control 41% of all advertising only control 37% of the display advertising online. Many of these companies are particularly sensitive to economic conditions.

So, maybe for those top 100 advertisers, it is about the economy. When times get tight, sometimes less is more. In this case, continued superior growth online suggests that, well, more is more.

Friday fun music link: One Les that's more (in the right hands)