INTERNET ADVERTISING IN CANADA SURPASSES THE $1-BILLION MARK Keith MacArthur – Globe and Mail Online advertising in Canada broke the $1-billion mark for the first time in 2006, and is expected to grow another 32 per cent this year, according to a study to be released today.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada, which represents advertisers, agencies and websites, said online advertising spending totalled $1.01-billion in 2006, up 80 per cent from $562-million in 2005.
IAB president Paula Gignac pointed out that it's been just 13 years since the first online ad was purchased in Canada. The bureau predicts that spending will increase a further 32 per cent in 2007 to $1.4-billion.
"While it took us 13 years, from when the first banner was served on the Internet until now, to reach the billion-dollar mark in Canada, it may only take us another two to three years to reach the second billion," she said.
Spending on online classifieds and directories showed the fastest growth, up 120 per cent to $273-million in 2006, according to the IAB. E-mail marketing grew 82 per cent to $20-million; search marketing grew 79 per cent to $353-million. And display advertising - the most mature online ad medium - grew 58 per cent to $364-million.
While a healthy Canadian economy has seen marketing budgets increase across the board, Internet advertising continues to show the greatest gains. Those findings are confirmed in a separate survey also being released today by the Institute of Communications and Advertising and Canada Post.
The survey of 270 senior marketing executives found spending on traditional advertising (such as television and newspaper ads) will grow at the slowest rate since 2004, while spending in nontraditional areas (including Internet advertising and public relations) will grow at the fastest rate since the survey began in 2003.
The survey asked marketing executives whether they were setting their marketing budgets higher or lower in 2007. The survey reports on the gap between the percentage of executives boosting their budgets and those reigning them in. (The higher the number, the better for ad industry growth.) In the "all other" category, which includes online marketing, sponsorship and public relations, the point difference is 25 per cent. But in traditional media advertising, budget boosters outnumber budget cutters by just 5.9 per cent, down from a much more robust 22.8-per-cent gap last year.
Jennifer Davidson, brand director for Coors Light at Molson Canada, said when she joined the company six years ago, marketing efforts for the mainstream brands focused on television, radio and billboards.
While television remains important for Coors Light, spending on Internet advertising is growing even more rapidly, Ms. Davidson said.
"More and more, in order to connect with a consumer who is not necessarily watching TV, it's important that we approach this from a holistic way and look at mediums that not only can magnify the message, but will deliver it in a different way." |