The world economic crisis and effective media
The economic crisis will greatly help to develop digital media all over the world. A crisis rages worldwide - not just in our own country. The information we are receiving from various parts of the world via Internet and newspapers about the advertising economic sector is rather misleading.
Whatever the unique local conditions, the reaction of the business sector to the crisis has been approximately the same. Advertising budgets have been considerably and dramatically slashed; all remaining advertising expenditures are strictly monitored and justified.
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| LED screen at the facade in the city of Nurdualet (Kazakhstan) | LED screen at the shopping center in the city of Kaliningrad (Russia) |
Today a company cannot afford to embark on an advertizing campaign that may be ineffective. An advertiser wants to see proof of the effectiveness of his campaign, wants to adjust advertising campaign in the process, if necessary. Consequently, the duration of advertising campaigns has been radically shortened. Since the resources are limited, advertising techniques that favor the most effective media should be considered.
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| LED screen at the shopping center in the city of Stavropol (Russia) | LED screen at the facade of Regent-Hall in St. Petersburg |
For example, the giant Swedish bank, Swedbank, recently entered into the Russian market. Due to the reduced resources mentioned above, the advertising campaign ran into several difficulties. The question about what particular media should be used depends on the aim of each advertising campaign as well as the target audience.
This situation is common throughout the world, regardless of the country and region. The consequences can be predicted with mathematical accuracy. The competitive struggle among different media for survival in a constantly changing market environment is getting nastier by the day. This applies to all types of media on the market.
Nevertheless, prior financial investment and the most favorable conditions for further development during these times will provide maximum effectiveness. This is the main consequence of the crisis to the advertising market.
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| LED screens at the shopping center in the city of Voronezh (Russia) | LED screen at the shopping center in the city of Ugorsk (Russia) |
As noted the previous article “One day with LED screens in Paris and Bucharest”, only 20% of traditional billboard space is being used in Bucharest, while the streets and squares of the city are filled with digital dynamic advertising and LED screens 100%. This obviously shows that this approach is economically viable.
The Internet. The advertising on the Internet has grown in spite of the crisis. For young and progressive thinking audience (a select group of motivated people) Internet remains the best media of all.
The advertising segment, in “Outdoor” and “Out of Home”, has also shown a small increase. According to international forecasts, this has been achieved by using a revolutionary Digital Media, and redistributing the existing financial flows to digital advertising market.
One might say that the Russian analysts are more reserved in their estimates than their foreign counterparts. In Russia estimates show a 10-30% decrease for Out of Home. Local city governments initiated campaigns against intrusive advertising in city centers (St. Petersburg is probably the best example). Although the crisis affects everyone, the situation may not be so bad for Russia. Advertising remains strong and shows signs of recovery.
TV has got a second wind. In spite of the growing cost of advertising on the central channels, and doubts about capabilities of this media to reach the minds of many customers, it continues to be the nationally favored media. Radio, magazines, and newspapers are going through difficult times, and looking for advertisers. Once again, it seems that the Internet-dimension has the advantage.
To sum up, during this economic crisis, digital media will remain a priority and will continue to receive financial backing.
