Ebiquity Regulatory News (EBQ)

12 Feb 2007 07:02

Thomson Intermedia PLC12 February 2007 12 February 2007 Thomson Intermedia plc BRANDING ADVERTISING SUFFERS FOR A QUICK BUCK The first comprehensive media spend estimates for 2006 are published today byThomson Intermedia. The barometer encompasses TV spot advertising, Press display, Outdoor, Internetdisplay, Direct Mail, Door Drops, Radio spot advertising and Cinema media spend.It is the first to provide a true picture of spend levels by reporting Press atcost based on actual industry discounts. The key findings are: • Quick returns are fuelling advertising decisions • TV and Radio losing out to conversion oriented media • Internet and Press were main beneficiaries from focus on faster returns • Overall media spend year on year was actually flat in real terms • Press spend rose 6% thanks to national newspapers and consumer magazines. • Internet display spend (excluding search and classified) rose 19% year on year. • TV spend fell 4% as all networks income declined with exception of some multi-channel broadcasters who saw revenue growth averaging 16%. • ITV's 12% drop in terrestrial revenues reduced to 8% overall thanks to strong gains across its digital channels. General Observations: The dominant trends of 2006 have now been confirmed in the full year analysis.Rather than reflecting short term trends or business cycles, the protracted fadeof TV advertising and inexorable rise of online look set to continue. Only the top two sectors Retail and Finance gave TV broadcasters any reason tobe cheerful in 2006 as other traditionally TV dependent sectors reducedcommitment. Most telling given moves to content delivery through any amenabledevice was the 29% reduction in TV spend by IT/Communications advertisers, whichcontrasted with their 32% increase in Online display spend. Entertainment, Media& Leisure advertisers, another TV stalwart, reduced TV investment by almost £15mwhilst raising Online spend 35%. Consequently this sector now runs Financeextremely close as the highest spending sector Online. With commercial audience growth still coming from digital channels and TV pricesat 1995 levels, recovery is not expected this year. New regulations giving thegaming industry access to TV audiences for the first time might help mitigatethe effects of incoming food and drink advertising restrictions. However, the phenomenal growth of online is expected to slow slightly, as demandbegins to outpace supply. Resulting pressure on inventories will allow somesites to increase costs as internet penetration itself slows and broadbandaccess among UK online households, last year's main driver of growth, reachessaturation. Sarah Jane Thomson, Chief Executive of Thomson Intermedia commented: "The overarching trend seen against this deflationary TV background and Online'senthusiastic response to its burgeoning audience has been a shift toward quickerreturns on investment. Advertisers are beginning to move away from 'brand'activity that pays back over a number of years to that which can be proven toaffect sales this fiscal year." Enquiries: Tony SquiresManaging DirectorThomson IntermediaT: 0207 321 4000tsquires@thomson-intermedia.com About Thomson Intermedia group www.thomson-intermedia.com Thomson Intermedia Plc is the largest independent media business in the UKemploying more than 200 staff including 65 media specialists. We provideadvertising creative capture and media expenditure evaluation services acrossall media to over 350 UK advertisers. billetts, a Thomson Intermedia company, isthe UK's leading media auditor offering consultancy services to 150 UKadvertisers. The group works for over 70 of the UK top 100 advertisingcompanies. Thomson and billetts combine to offer unrivalled expertise andexperience advising to major advertisers on communications strategy. Media Spend (2006 compared to 2005) (£000s) Ca Total 2006 2005 Media Spend £ Spend % Diff Spend 000sTV £3,980,322 -4% £4,135,856Press £2,635,179 6% £2,487,348Direct Mail £1,329,306 20% £1,106,889Door Drops £1,264,939 21% £1,046,410Outdoor £765,598 1% £754,816Radio £300,024 -8% £327,166Internet £235,730 19% £197,700Cinema £139,702 0% £139,075 TOTAL (All) £10,650,801 4% £10,195,259 Sector Spend (2006 compared to 2005) (£000s) Total 2006 2005 Sectors Spend £ 000s Spend % Diff SpendRetail £2,122,631 14% £1,868,039Finance £1,790,342 6% £1,689,659Entertainment & Media & Leisure £1,281,664 7% £1,195,002FMCG £1,150,883 -5% £1,207,719Automotive £917,161 -3% £949,314IT/Communications £828,393 -7% £886,724Toiletries/Cosmetics £683,391 2% £667,083Travel £538,130 4% £516,406Pharmaceutical £357,333 5% £340,568Government & Utilities £307,080 -4% £318,631Education & Charities £345,054 25% £276,019Electrical & Household £257,300 22% £211,698Other £71,440 4% £68,397 TOTAL (All) £10,650,801 4% £10,195,259 Sector Spend by medium 2006 (£000s) 2006 TV Press Direct Mail Door Drops Outdoor Radio Internet CinemaSectors Spend £ 000s Spend Spend Spend Spend Spend Spend Spend SpendRetail £650,391 £549,629 £325,628 £452,806 £69,593 £57,700 £12,222 £4,662Finance £492,280 £267,174 £541,586 £353,924 £55,480 £23,188 £55,338 £1,371Entertainment & £541,462 £232,970 £116,401 £113,463 £162,022 £41,842 £53,900 £19,605Media & LeisureFMCG £813,129 £151,799 £11,350 £6,503 £110,884 £24,129 £2,171 £30,918Automotive £267,257 £453,099 £22,249 £30,032 £57,613 £39,259 £23,494 £24,158IT/Communications £241,291 £221,856 £51,960 £81,009 £128,735 £30,166 £45,481 £27,896Toiletries/Cosmetics £375,450 £242,348 £5,947 £2,517 £37,882 £4,713 £2,761 £11,772Travel £99,824 £264,321 £54,155 £26,708 £51,796 £14,133 £20,703 £6,491Pharmaceutical £215,599 £57,228 £19,971 £32,202 £17,695 £10,907 £2,790 £941Education & £49,761 £35,521 £145,137 £90,159 £12,978 £5,780 £4,753 £966CharitiesGovernment & £115,452 £50,533 £19,710 £23,154 £43,888 £42,745 £5,810 £5,788UtilitiesElectrical & £96,584 £79,164 £13,678 £47,759 £8,608 £2,738 £3,829 £4,939HouseholdOther £21,840 £29,538 £1,536 £4,702 £8,424 £2,725 £2,479 £195 TOTAL (All) £3,980,322 £2,635,179 £1,329,306 £1,264,939 £765,598 £300,024 £235,730 £139,702 Thomson Intermedia Methodology Overview Media Creatives Available Spend Available Press National Dailies 8:00am day of Rate card baseline Same as publication creatives(Jan. National Sundays Close of day Actual average discounts by1998) Press segment National Weeklies Close of release date (subject to post) Regionals Close of next day (subject to post) Monthly Titles Within 1st week of (Consumer/Business) cover date (generally far sooner) Direct ABC-audited panel of Within first 2 Unit cost per pack based on By 27th ofMail 6,000 individuals weeks of following postage and weight following month multiplied by estimated month national volumes(Feb. Demographically-weighted1998) Nationally-representative All contents scanned including cover letter, envelope, etc. Door Same as Direct Mail Within first 2 Unit cost per pack based on By 27th ofDrops weeks of following postage and weight following month multiplied by estimated month national volumes(Oct.2001) TV Automated monitoring and Within 2 hours of CPT using monthly BARB Updated capture: airing commercial spots audience daily, data and channels' declared 10-days in revenues arrears(Jan. National terrestrial Spot updates often Advertiser & brand buying2000) as little as 20 audience specific CPTs minutes Regional terrestrial Channel specific CPTs, including differentiated key multichannel station groups Multi-Channel Commercials/Sponsorships Radio Automated monitoring and Within 48 hours of As TV. Audience figures Updated capture: airing sourced from RAJAR combined weekly, with industry-standard J-ET 12-days in booking data arrears(Jan. Primary nationals Spot updates often2002) as little as 20 minutes Other regionals Outdoor Team of photographers Every 2 or 3 days UK national spend data By 20th taking digital photos of: supplied by OAA (Outdoor for the Advertising Association) / previous IPA Outdoor calendar month(Jan. Top 1200 outdoor sites in Twice per month1999) Greater London area Ambient (bus, taxi, etc.) London Transport Internet Proprietary web spiders Close of business Methodology updated from Close of day July 2006 to employ gold following standard inputs from business comScore and billetts day interactive plus revised sites list.(Jan. Crawl the top 334 UK Calculate using banner2001) websites several hundred frequency (%) and fully times each per day differentiated cost structure based on banner size, website category and placement multiplied by averaged actual market CPTs. Capture banners, buttons, logos including gif's, flash, pop-ups (inter/ super-stitial) Search advertising product in development Cinema Industry-sourced from By 20th for the Industry-sourced from media By 20th media owners previous calendar owners for the month previous month(Jan.2000) This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange