If the economy is reviving, many AAN papers are still waiting for the signs to show up in their ad revenues. Although national ad sales went up last year, papers reported mixed results in local advertising, their mainstay. Reasons to be hopeful in 2004 include increases in real estate and recruitment ads, diversification of ad categories, and the notion that merchants and the public have grown tired of brooding and want to feel optimistic about their economic prospects again. Sales staff need to "get the message out there" about what alternative newsweeklies have to offer, says Jim Wolf, Village Voice Media's vice president of national advertising.
Breaking with the long tradition of producing separate versions of ads for the Hispanic and non-Hispanic U.S. markets, a number of top advertisers such as Coca-Cola Co. and Volkswagen are using a single Spanish-language ad for all markets.
Deutsche Bank publishing analyst Paul Ginocchio cut his retail advertising growth forecast for the newspaper industry while warning that department store spending is migrating to TV as stores focus on brand-building.
Even without a recall election in California to help fuel its growth, advocacy advertising would still be a substantial category. Unions, ballot activists, political parties and other groups are spending more in recent years -- reaching some $300 million in the first half of 2003 -- on ads designed to sway public opinion on various issues.
Payments to access personals and dating; business and investment; and entertainment and lifestyles categories accounted for 65% of all online content buying in the first half. That was up from 61% a year ago.
U.S. auto sales slowed in September from their torrid August pace, but automakers on Wednesday said car and truck buyers shopped at a brisk rate last month, thanks to incentives, new models and an improving economy.
An ad for the prescription drug Zoloft asks: "Feeling sad? Anxious? Tired?" Zoloft is sold by Pfizer as a treatment for depression and other disorders. It is but one of many print and broadcast advertisements that pitch prescription drugs directly to consumers - a category of ads scrutinized last week at a hearing held by the Food and Drug Administration.
A new ad industry model for validating the effects of advertising is placing the onus on media to be responsible not just for delivering a message to consumers, but also to ensure consumers are attentive, are persuaded and actually respond to the ads they receive. The shift, part of a fundamental rethinking about the roles of advertising and media, has huge implications for how agencies plan and buy media and, ultimately, for how media companies sell their inventory.
Companies that have historically spent significant amounts on advertising, such as car manufacturers and telecommunications outfits, are stepping up their commitment to the Internet, according to a report released by Nielsen// NetRatings.
Viacom Inc. told investors Wednesday that its revenue and profit for the full year would come in below earlier forecasts because the market for local advertising has not recovered as strongly as the company had expected
