Affecting nearly all industries, the coronavirus pandemic has also had a major impact on the marketing industry as well as on global advertising. The COVID-19 disease, which reportedly emerged from the Chinese city of Wuhan rapidly spread all over the world in early 2020 and continues to impact nearly all aspects of life. In attempts to contain the spread of the virus, countries started to implement measures such as social distancing, work from home, or total lockdowns. This led to a significant change in how or when consumers are exposed to advertising and therefore to
. All regions worldwide saw a decrease in media budgets in 2020, for example by 46 percent in the LATAM region. However, the pandemic especially showed its effect in the first half of 2020, with the average allocated money being cut drastically.
The 2020 dive of the ad market
Due to the rapid changes in the industry, marketers had to adjust their plans, targets, and strategies to be able to tackle budget cuts and altered media consumption. While many
marketers decided to delay or review campaigns other marketing professionals reacted quickly to the pandemic and published
campaigns in direct response to the coronavirus outbreak. A study found that as early as April 2020, 68 percent of surveyed marketers said that they already had a campaign live in direct response to the pandemic, while a further eight percent had campaigns about to go live. Additionally, faced with stark declines in media expenditures, marketers had to open up to new avenues and started
taking different actions to counter the effects of the coronavirus. According to survey data, in the first six months of 2020, 29 percent said they explored new channels for new businesses and another 29 percent offered new services to clients, while 17 percent even ventured into new industries.
2021 – the ad market is bouncing back
In late 2020, the advertisers and marketers started seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. The industry managed to adjust to the new normal, having implemented online and hybrid events, webinars, videoconferences, and generally transferring the trade to the internet. Digital advertising soared throughout 2020 and carried the weight of the entire market towards the following year. In 2021, all
global regions saw an uplift in ad total spend of at least nine percent.
Media that suffered the most, are expected to see the highest growth rates, however, this may not necessarily be a long-term trend. By 2022, the
ad market is expected to slow down to pre-covid levels.
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