• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, September 18, 2023

Citing a healthier macroeconomics IPG Mediabrands' Magna forecasting unit boosted its U.S. advertising growth outlook for 2023 by one percentage point to +5.2% and its 2024 forecast by six-tenths of a point to +5.6%.

“Six months ago, the media industry was bracing for recession," noted Magna Executive Vice President of Global Marketing Intelligence Vincent Létang, adding, "but advertisers kept calm and continued to support their brands and sales through media investment."

Following consecutive quarters of "stagnation," Létang characterized an ad-growth rebound beginning in the second quarter and forecast to build through the remainder of the year as being due to improved growth in the U.S. economy, as well as easier year-over-year comparisons with the same quarters a year earlier, which were buoyed by the COVID-19 recovery.

With Magna's revision, MediaPost's Big 4 agency holding company forecasting consensus rises two-tenths of a point for both 2023 and 2024 vs. where it stood during the agency's mid-year updates in June.

The U.S. ad recovery nonetheless is not evenly spread out, with virtually all of the expansion coming from digital media -- including a big uptick in digital retail media spending, while traditional media remain in decline with the exception of out-of-home.

The recovery also is spread out across key advertising categories, with the exception of consumer technology and finance, which remain in decline.