Source: www.insideradio.com, February 2024
December revealed a promising 10% year-over-year increase in total ad sales, though active advertisers still lag by 13%. This year should continue to improve as the tightened budgets of late 2022 and throughout last year start to loosen.
However, MediaRadar says the rebound will not be even, but categories including electronics, financial services, housewares, pharma, sports, and software, “stand out as pockets of growth.”
That’s one nugget of information from the report, “7 Advertising Trends That Cannot Be Ignored In 2024” presented by CEO/Founder Todd Krizelman.
Political advertising is primed to reach unprecedented heights during the 2024 election cycle, far exceeding the $1 billion during the 2020 presidential election, with both sides of the aisle ready to invest in advertising.
“Historically, election advertising was concentrated in swing states — but trends point toward more national allocation this cycle,” Krizelman writes in the report. “We already see political ads penetrating every state.”
Meanwhile, the 2023 trend in total local advertising – down 11% year-over-year and down to just 16% of all media spend – should see a recovery this year in select markets. MediaRadar uses Phoenix as an example of a market primed for a rebound, following the 2022 CHIPS Act’s $53 billion investment in the manufacturing of semiconductors in the U.S.
“This is just one key area in which we expect an uptick in local ad spend,” Krizelman notes. “It will be important for media companies to understand how local advertising is affecting overall ad spend in 2024. It will be necessary to adjust the narrative and offerings to key advertisers as budgets shift.”
Apple’s Vision Pro reality headset is the company’s first major product release since the Apple Watch in 2015. Radio should be proactive in securing ad money supporting the launch.
“Historically, Apple spends $35+ million advertising key launches across their product lines each year,” Krizelman says. “We expect Vision Pro to earn substantial marketing backing given the effort Apple has poured into this brand-new product push into VR.”
MediaRadar also expects Defense Advertising to continue to rise due to the ongoing global conflicts. Defense contractors like Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin have marketed their brands across media entities including CBS, Fortune, Wired, and the Wall Street Journal.
Krizelman argues that the continuing development and consumer curiosity surrounding artificial intelligence is going nowhere fast. While there are advertising opportunities surrounding the technology, “Media companies should strategically embrace applications that help organize outreach, provide insights, and personalize interactions at scale to sell smarter and faster,” MediaRadar suggests. “The technology now exists to handle these responsibilities so sellers can focus on other aspects of the job.”
