Most categories saw improvement.
January 2003 —Business-to-business advertising figures for November 2002 indicate that ad spending is once again poised for growth. That’s according to a report from Business Information Network, which tracks B-to-B ad spending and pages in 12 megacategories. In the majority of the categories, spending was up from the same period last year.
Overall, ad dollars were up 1.6% compared to November 2001, while pages were down 4.5%. Year-to-date spending decreased by 15.2% and pages by 15.9%.
November 2002 B-to-B Ad Spending | |||||||||
| Megacategory | November 2002 | November 2001 | % Change | ||||||
| Finance, Business & Advertising | 117,399.3 | 120,433.6 | -2.52% | ||||||
| Telecommunications | 15,505.1 | 26,727.1 | -41.99% | ||||||
| Computers | 53,197.2 | 52,206.7 | 1.90% | ||||||
| Software | 60,240.2 | 66,010.0 | -8.74% | ||||||
| Manufacturing & Electrical Equipment, Materials & Components | 51,490.4 | 51,575.2 | -0.16% | ||||||
| Drugs & Toiletries/PERQ | 76,603.2 | 69,763.2 | 9.80% | ||||||
| Horticulture & Farming | 13,618.4 | 12,142.1 | 12.16% | ||||||
| Services, Direct Response, Classified | 107,685.8 | 106,974.2 | 0.67% | ||||||
| Retail | 47,607.1 | 47,910.2 | -0.63% | ||||||
| Home & Building | 42,643.9 | 38,581.7 | 10.53% | ||||||
| Automotive | 30,166.4 | 25,520.0 | 18.21% | ||||||
| Travel | 40,713.5 | 28,540.8 | 42.65% | ||||||
| TOTAL | 656,870.4 | 646,384.9 | 1.62% | ||||||
| Source: American Business Media | |||||||||
Ad Spending
Seven categories showed improvement in ad spending in November 2002 compared to the same period the year before.Highbrow:
- The Travel sector led the way, with a 42.7% jump in ad dollars.
- Automotive was up 18.2%;
- Horticulture & Farming up 12.2%;
- Home & Building up 10.5%;
- Drugs & Toiletries up 9.8%;
- Computers up 1.9%; and
- Services, Direct Response & Classified up 0.7%.
The remaining categories were down:
- Finance, Business & Advertising by 2.5%;
- Telecommunications by 42%;
- Software by 8.7%;
- Manufacturing by 0.2%;
- Retail by 0.6%.
Quarter-to-Date B-to-B Ad Spending | |||||||||
| Megacategory | QTD 2002 | QTD 2001 | % Change | ||||||
| Finance, Business & Advertising | 239,186.3 | 268,012.0 | -10.76% | ||||||
| Telecommunications | 31,813.4 | 54,036.8 | -41.13% | ||||||
| Computers | 99,280.2 | 108,942.5 | -8.87% | ||||||
| Software | 118,562.3 | 138,312.8 | -14.28% | ||||||
| Manufacturing & Electrical Equipment, Materials & Components | 109,799.0 | 114,035.1 | -3.71% | ||||||
| Drugs & Toiletries/PERQ | 156,335.1 | 141,721.2 | 10.31% | ||||||
| Horticulture & Farming | 25,164.1 | 23,549.2 | 6.86% | ||||||
| Services, Direct Response, Classified | 228,085.9 | 236,220.8 | -3.44% | ||||||
| Retail | 95,923.0 | 98,860.0 | -2.97% | ||||||
| Home & Building | 93,266.0 | 87,087.1 | 7.09% | ||||||
| Automotive | 58,009.2 | 56,044.7 | 3.51% | ||||||
| Travel | 81,532.6 | 65,993.7 | 23.55% | ||||||
| TOTAL | 1,336,956.9 | 1,392,816.0 | -4.01% | ||||||
| Source: American Business Media | |||||||||
Ad Pages
Leading the field in ad pages in November was the Travel category, up 33.4%.
- Automotive was up 5%;
- Drugs & Toiletries up 3.3%; and
- Home & Building up 1%.
Telecommunications continued to be the hardest hit, with a 41.9% decline.
- Finance, Business & Advertising fell by 11.8%;
- Computers were down 4.2%; Software down 15.6%;
- Manufacturing & Electrical Equipment, Materials & Components down 11.9%;
- Horticulture & Farming down 8.3%;
- Services, Direct Response & Classified down 6.2%; and
- Retail down 4%.
Year-to-Date B-to-B Ad Spending | |||||||||
| Megacategory | YTD 2002 | YTD 2001 | % Change | ||||||
| Finance, Business & Advertising | 1,173,612.1 | 1,519,292.0 | -22.75% | ||||||
| Telecommunications | 175,342.8 | 316,489.2 | -44.60% | ||||||
| Computers | 471,754.9 | 591,423.1 | -20.23% | ||||||
| Software | 624,824.1 | 772,411.0 | -19.11% | ||||||
| Manufacturing & Electrical Equipment, Materials & Components | 565,332.0 | 692,817.1 | -18.40% | ||||||
| Drugs & Toiletries/PERQ | 821,702.9 | 800,320.4 | 2.67% | ||||||
| Horticulture & Farming | 139,588.9 | 173,290.3 | -19.45% | ||||||
| Services, Direct Response, Classified | 1,144,391.7 | 1,355,108.7 | -15.55% | ||||||
| Retail | 444,677.0 | 484,276.2 | -8.18% | ||||||
| Home & Building | 470,435.0 | 479,704.5 | -1.93% | ||||||
| Automotive | 258,021.0 | 268,702.8 | -3.98% | ||||||
| Travel | 364,142.5 | 389,779.6 | -6.58% | ||||||
| TOTAL | 6,653,824.9 | 7,843,615.0 | -15.17% | ||||||
| Source: American Business Media | |||||||||
“We’re forecasting that B-to-B ad spending will be up about 3% in the first quarter of 2003, and the November data supports our projection,” said Gordon Hughes, president & CEO of American Business Media. “The fact that ad spending in November was up from the year before is a good indicator of what’s to come.”
To get the complete report, visit American Business Media’s Web site.
American Business Media, the association for B-to-B media companies, has 222 member companies representing more than 1,200 publications in 181 industries.