Global social media ad revenues stall

The winter update of the MAGNA (IPG Media Brands) Global Ad Forecast predicts that media owners’ advertising revenues will reach US$833bn in 2023, up 5% vs 2022. Despite challenging economic conditions, traditional media companies (TV, audio, publishing, out-of-home) saw ad revenues grow by 2.5% this year, while digital media companies grew by 9%. This is the narrowest growth gap ever observed by MAGNA, signalling that editorial media brands remain attractive and relevant as they now combine brand safety with cross-platform reach.

Multiple factors, including plateauing reach & usage and targeting limitations (as a result of Apple’s post-iOS 14 environment), combined to cause social media advertising to stall in 2022: global sales grew by just 4.4% to US$149bn, well down on the growth rates of 20-35% observed in the previous three years. TikTok is the only social media owner to post advertising growth, while incumbent social networks suffered flat or declining ad sales, especially in Europe and North America. MAGNA expects social media advertising to accelerate only slightly in 2023 (+6.8%).

Vincent Létang, EVP, Global Market Research at MAGNA and author of the report, said: “Advertising spending slowed down in the second half of 2022 because of economic uncertainty and issues affecting digital advertising formats, but traditional editorial media managed to grow by +2.5%. The gap in growth rates with digital advertising growth (+8.9%) was the narrowest ever measured by MAGNA, suggesting that the long-term transition to a digital-centric marketing landscape has slowed down following the Covid acceleration.“

Nicholas Hall Writes: “What are the ideal channels of distribution and communication post-Covid, when consumers clearly are omnivorous and want the best of all possible worlds and flexibility in choosing brands and spending their hard-won cash in this global recession? It seems that there has never been a greater need for searching questions about the validity of brand strategies and marketing execution, which is needed both within companies and in media like CHC.Newsflash.“

For more information on the news service, or to set up a trial of CHC.Newsflash or CHC.NewDirections to kickstart your 2023, contact melissa.lee@NicholasHall.com.

Ad Watch: 2020 A+P Trends

Two advertising stories caught our attention this week. First was the news that P&G is no longer the world’s No.1 advertiser, with Amazon taking the top spot, according to Ad Age, which publishes an annual list of the largest marketing spenders. The online retail giant spent US$11bn on A+P in 2019, 34% ahead of 2018, when it ranked fifth. P&G was placed second, with US$10.7bn in ad spending in its fiscal year ending in June 2020, while L’Oréal came in at No.3, spending US$10.3bn in 2019. Ad Age notes: “2020 ad spending figures for top marketers are going to be depressed – with exceptions for some advertisers that increased spending to take advantage of market opportunities amid the coronavirus pandemic.”

Secondly, Contagious published its review of the biggest trends in advertising and the best campaigns of 2020. Among the Top 25 campaigns of the year, there were several healthcare & beauty brands listed, including RB’s Dettol, backed by a huge social media initiative on TikTok (#HandWashChallenge) in India. According to Contagious, the campaign involved some of India’s biggest influencers and generated over 125bn views on Dettol’s TikTok page.

Another campaign highlighted was Bayer’s support of Berocca in Vietnam, an A+P initiative that we also profiled earlier this year. Working with digital agency Carnival, Bayer devised the Get Supercharged at 2pm campaign, creating a TikTok music video and encouraging people to post videos of themselves copying its dance moves by offering prizes for the most views. This led to 70,000 videos being created by people participating in the #BeroccaMango2PM hashtag challenge. The campaign directed users to e-Commerce platform Shopee, where they could purchase Berocca bundles and combos. Online sales rose 223% compared with the same period the year before, according to Bayer, while offline sales also increased 32%.

Various beauty brands also featured in the Contagious roundup of the Top 25 campaigns of 2020, most notably P&G’s Dove, which was backed by a Courage Is Beautiful campaign at the height of the pandemic, highlighting the strength and resilience of frontline healthcare workers. The Contagious report also cited recent YouGov research that places both Dettol and J&J’s Tylenol among the Top 25 Best Global Brands 2020 in terms of consumer awareness.

You can review innovation by region and country, including a review of the most active marketers globally in terms of NPD, in our recent report from CHC New Products Tracker, Innovation in CHC. This report also highlights ingredient and delivery format trends, showcases 100 innovative products in 2019, plus much more. For further details, or to order your copy, currently available with a 30% discount until 31 December, please contact melissa.lee@NicholasHall.com without delay. 

App helps cancer patients extend life

Scientists have discovered a new medical intervention that can extend the lives of cancer sufferers by a number of months. The discovery is not a novel drug or therapy, it is an app. Patients who reported their symptoms via a tablet survived for five months longer than those who did not, according to a large study which was presented at the world’s biggest oncology meeting yesterday.

The research highlighted the role that cheap and simple tech can play in providing healthcare at a time when drug makers are suffering controversy for the ever-rising cost of prescribed medicines.

Patients were told to report 12 symptoms such as sleeping and breathing difficulties using the app, which was referred to as an electronic patient report system or ePro. If patients took a turn for the worse, an automatic push notification was sent to alert a doctor or nurse. “The system proactively monitored symptoms, so that the care team was able to intervene earlier and catch things before they became more severe,” said Dr Ethan Basch, an oncologist and professor at the University of North Carolina, who led the trial.

Dr Basch said patients using the app were able to stay on chemotherapy “for substantially longer” than others because they were less likely to turn up to the hospital in a weak state and as a repercussion, not be strong enough to handle the punishing treatment. The ePro patients were also less likely to be admitted to hospital, meaning they did not become bed-bound or acquire an infection like C. difficile while on the ward.

Oncologists have long believed that ePro apps can improve a person’s quality of life, but this is the first time that is has been proven to boost survival in a large number of patients with a broad and varied range of cancers. Patients who used the purpose-built app typically survived for 31 months versus 26 months for those who did not, according to the research, which was unveiled at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco).

Ice Bucket Challenge Creates Medical Breakthrough

Holly Parmenter, Digital Projects Executive: Back in 2014, the charitable craze of dosing one another in ice-cold water (better known as The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge) went viral. This was all in aid of raising awareness and research funds for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The incurable progressive neurodegenerative disease predominantly affects the brain and spinal cord, resulting in entire paralysis. Physicist Stephen Hawkins is a well-known sufferer and helped raise awareness during the ALS Challenge as his children gallantly participated on his behalf.

Though seemingly buried deep within the vast world of social media, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has resurfaced; not with ice but with results. The Ice Bucket Challenge raised $115m (£87.7m), which funded six research projects.

One of these was Project MinE, an extensive study involving more than 80 researchers in 11 different countries. This study examined ALS risk genes in families affected by the disease and, thanks to the funding for research raised by the Ice Bucket Challenge, an important scientific discovery was made – the identification a new gene that contributes to the disease, NEK1.

The identification of gene NEK1 means scientists can now develop a gene therapy to treat it. Although only 10% of ALS patients have the inherited form, researchers believe that genetics contribute to a much larger percentage of cases.

Nicholas Hall Writes from Istanbul

Nicholas Hall’s Postcard from Istanbul: I’m here to scout venues for a May 2014 OTC Action Workshop (make a note in your diary!). We are also working with Turkish pharma association AIFD to lobby the Ministry of Health to set up a fully-functioning OTC sector and, along with Network Partner, Tulay Izbul, I’ll be feeling the pulse of the market on this trip.