Understanding media inflation is crucial for advertisers

Advertising is an investment: an investment that organisations make into their future success, to grow their business and secure their future. And those organisations, just like any other investor, must have a thorough understanding of how the market – and their investments – will fluctuate, in order to understand the eventual value delivered.

ECI Media Management’s Inflation Report offers analysis and context on media inflation

That’s why we at ECI Media Management we release our annual Inflation Report in Q1 every year, with an update in Q3. Our experts analyse data drawn from our global network of offices, cross-referencing it with industry sources in order to make the most accurate forecasts possible. We provide media inflation predictions for seven media channels – TV, Digital Display, Digital Video, Newspapers, Magazines, OOH and Radio, at a global and regional level as well as for 61 countries across North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania. As media inflation is intrinsically linked to global economies and events, and developing technologies, our reports provide the context that is so critical for brands making important advertising decisions.

The key finding for 2020: TV and Digital Video inflation set to peak

Our 2020 inflation report, released earlier this month, revealed the key finding that, while global media inflation in 2020 will remain largely consistent with 2019 figures, video media will experience a significant increase in inflation this year. TV will reach 7.1% and Digital Video will increase to 6.7%.

Political and sporting drama, and audience fragmentation are behind the rise in TV inflation

What’s behind this increased inflation? Given the technological and media context, it doesn’t really come as a surprise. Of course, 2020 is set to be a year of sporting and political drama, with the Olympics, the UEFA European Championships and the US presidential election, to name just a few key events taking place at the start of the new decade. Major events of this nature always inflate TV pricing but, more fundamentally, audiences are fragmenting and ad dollars are following tend to consumer eyeballs to digital video, particularly the growing amount of premium content that digital vendors are producing. As a result, TV vendors have fewer viewers, but increase their prices to maintain advertising revenues.

Is this digital advertising’s moment?

Despite rising costs, TV remains the best way to deliver mass, quality audiences. Digital inventory is of course plentiful, but it is of varying quality and is susceptible to ad blocking and data privacy laws. The decline of the cookie will exacerbate advertisers’ difficulties with digital advertising, forcing them to rethink how they reach audiences with relevant advertising. We believe that in the medium term this could herald a golden era for digital advertising, with a focus on high quality opportunities such as contextual marketing. In the meantime, TV offers advertisers a brand safe, brand appropriate way to reach quality audiences, build their brands and, with the advent of addressability technology such as Sky’s AdSmart, target specific audiences.

Actionable insights to navigate the complex media landscape and maximise effectiveness

It’s imperative that today’s advertisers take advantage of and respond to the changing media and global landscape in order to drive the highest possible value from their investments. In a context of rising media prices, we at ECI Media Management empower our clients to make the right investments by providing forensic analysis of their media activity, and actionable insights so they can successfully navigate the complex digital market and maximise TV effectiveness. The ultimate goal is to drive higher media value, and media-led impact on business performance.

You can read the ECI Media Management Inflation 2020 report here.

Contact us if you would like to discuss anything you learn in the report: value@ecimm.com