Expect advertisers to approach the marketplace with new adaptive strategies and expectations in the third quarter and for the remainder of 2020, utilizing new messaging, tactics and partners in the process.
That’s according to Wave 5 of The Coronavirus Effect on Advertising, a six-part biweekly report from Advertiser Perceptions. It says advertisers are expecting to launch more new products in 2020 and are treating Q3 as a restart, rather than a rebound.
“The second half of 2020 will be a more dynamic advertising market than we’ve seen in many years,” Justin Fromm, EVP/Business Intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions, says in a release. “Advertisers are restarting in a crowded space with lots of moving parts — product launches, an election, and competitors trying to make up for lost time. They’re prepared to explore alternatives to tent-pole media they had originally planned, and they need help balancing the nuances of timing and pricing that regional differences present.”
Expect an array of products and services coming to the marketplace. According to the latest research, about 90% of advertisers who had launches scheduled for this year plan to execute them in the second half. With that in mind, more than half of advertisers plan to enhance Q3 spending, with 28% accelerating spending before the arrival of July.
Among other findings, Advertising Analytics says strategies are in flux, with more than half of advertisers scrapping their initial strategies and starting on new plans. Twenty-nine percent say they have a strategy for the ‘new normal,’ but more than half (52%) say they’re still working on one.
The study also suggests a new willingness to explore alternatives. More than half of advertisers planned to utilize now-postponed live programming, and three-quarters of them say they’re open to “acceptable substitutes.” But brand safety is key, and many advertisers are passing on media featuring user comments.
Advertiser Perceptions also determined that big regional differences in the reopening of the U.S. economy are causing challenges for some 68% of advertisers to plan national campaigns.
“This presents a great opportunity for media with broad reach and targeted, digital platforms,” Fromm said. “TV and cable have lots of regional, audience-based messaging opportunity and social has become an important reach and performance medium. Now’s the time to bring them together in a thoughtful way, to help advertisers ensure regional relevance.”
Advertiser Perceptions says it surveyed 151 advertisers from May 18-21 for the latest installment of its report. The respondent breakdown: 34% marketers and 66% agency executives, all of whom are part of the company’s Ad Pros proprietary community.