2018 Trends: Advertising & Marketing Industry

27 Nov 2017

2018 Trends: Advertising & Marketing Industry

As 2018 approaches, advertisers and marketers are preparing for the new year, Provoke Insights is providing a comprehensive look at what to expect over the next 12 months. In other words, what are in-house marketers and ad agencies up to?

In the last decade, the marketing industry is changing immensely from new technologies to more specialty advertising agencies. As a result, in-house marketers are pushing for more project-based work, and an ever-increasing number of consumers are cutting-the-cord to their TVs.

This change leads us to ask some questions:

How has this change affected advertisers as well as in-house marketers? In addition, is this impacting advertising and media budgets? Subsequently, are the changes affecting the longevity of the relationship between an ad agency and their clients? Next, what advertising and marketing initiatives are marketers commissioning in today’s market? Beyond, how satisfied are marketers with their job in this fast-evolving environment?

For instance, in 2014, only half of the advertisers surveyed were very satisfied with the process. Thus, with the ever-increasing frequency of ad pitching in the advertising and marketing industry, are agencies and clients still dissatisfied with this process? Especially, is there some room for improvement? Furthermore, what makes marketers most likely to select an advertising agency? In summary, find some of our new findings below.

Who Conducts the Research

Companies are split almost evenly between those who hire advertising agencies (56%) and those who conduct all marketing in-house (44%). Companies with 500 or more employees are twice as likely to hire advertising agencies than those with under 500 employees.

Ever-Changing Landscape

To keep up with the ever-changing marketing landscape, companies are increasingly commissioning multiple specialized ad agencies to meet various needs. Companies typically have four vendors on the roster. Businesses are focusing on digital advertising initiatives more than traditional offline channels. Banner ads paid social, and social media community management is the most commonly used digital initiatives. However, don’t discount the tried and true conventional channels, as these are still a core part of the marketing plan. The channels include print ad (55%) followed by events (46%) and commercials (40%).

Partner Companies

Incidentally, in-house marketers, on average, have worked with their primary agency for five years. However, only two-fifths of companies claim to be ‘very satisfied’ with this partner; revealing that there is room to improve the relationship. ROI, distrust, and expectations not being met are the reasons for dissatisfaction with primary agencies. Companies are most satisfied with their partner’s understanding of the company’s goals/objectives (54%); they are least happy with their agency’s cost (34%). On the other hand, smaller firms are less satisfied with access to research/data and prior experience in their industry.

Provoke Insights conducted a survey looking at both advertising and in-house marketers to best answer these questions. This extensive advertising survey among 736 respondents will help you plan the 2018 year right. Thus, if you would like to learn more about the results of this survey and receive the whitepaper of this research in December, follow this link and we will send it to you.

About Provoke Insights

Provoke Insights is a full-service brand consultancy and market research firm. Our innovative approach helps brands navigate through today’s cluttered marketing space. We are the nerds behind the advertising, branding, media, and content marketing initiatives. Our obsession with data and research makes your marketing strategy compelling and impactful.