Combined Ad/Marketing Spending To Outpace Madison Avenue Estimates

by Joe Mandese , October 31, 2019

Advertising and marketing spending combined will outpace all of the ad industry’s conventional forecast growth by a percentage point this year and a point-and-a-half next year, according to an annual report being released today by industry economists PQ Media.

Combined worldwide advertising and marketing spending will rise 4.9% this year and 5.9% in 2020, according to PQ’s Global Advertising & Marketing Revenue Forecast 2019-23 report.

That beats a consensus of Madison Avenue’s leading forecasters' most recent estimates (see below) for 2019 global ad-spending growth of 3.9% by a full percentage point, and their 2020 consensus growth of 4.4% by a point-and-a-half.

The estimates suggest that other marketing expenditures are expanding at a faster rate than conventional advertising.

The PQ Media analysis includes more than 100 digital and traditional media platforms and channels in every major media market worldwide, and factors marketing channels likely not included by traditional Madison Avenue forecasters, such as the non-advertising components of direct marketing, promotion and public relations.

It also includes experiential marketing, which represents the most substantial category in the report, generating an estimated $115.4 billion in 2018.

Search advertising remained the largest digital advertising channel, totaling $52.8 billion.

While most mobile media channels are among the fastest-growing categories, the PQ Media report notes that “some major brands are reevaluating their digital media investments due to various strategic challenges, questionable tactics and privacy issues that have emerged in recent years.”

Explains PQ Media President Patrick Quinn: “While digital & alternative media operates in a complex ecosystem that includes alarming fraud levels, shifting social media algorithms and disorderly measurement systems, brand marketers will continue to invest in media strategies and tactics that can prove engagement with elusive non-Boomer target audiences.”

Global Spending By Marketing Silo:

U.S. Spending By Marketing Silo:

ad spending, advertising, content marketing, digital, direct marketing, experiential marketing, forecast, magazines, marketing, mobile, newspapers, out-of-home, promotion, radio, search, television

4 comments about "Combined Ad/Marketing Spending To Outpace Madison Avenue Estimates".

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Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, October 31, 2019 at 4:05 p.m.
Joe, if those bar charts at the end are for 2019 they seem to be saying that advertisers in the U.S. are---or will be---spending over $100 billion on broadcast and "pay TV" ( cable ) combined. Doesn't that seem rather high compared to most other estimates. I wonder if product placement deals are included.
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Joe Mandese from MediaPost Inc., October 31, 2019 at 4:09 p.m.

@Ed Papazian: The first one of those charts at the end -- the one I think you're eye-balling at +$100 billion -- is PQ's global estimate. The one below it, is for the U.S.

Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, October 31, 2019 at 4:24 p.m.

Joe, I'm referring to the second chart, labeled U.S. spending. As you can see the broadcast TV figure looks like $60 billion while the "pay TV" line seems to extend to about $40 billion.

Joe Mandese from MediaPost Inc., October 31, 2019 at 4:58 p.m.

@Ed Papazian: I see your point, and I'm eye-balling it the way you are. U.S. TV ad spending is probably about $68 million or so, based on other industry estimates. I'm not sure what PQ Media means by the Pay TV Advertising category, so let me check. They may mean pay TV subscription revenues. Let me check, and we'll update based on what they say.

Joe