Digital Agency Edition | September 2021
While the COVID-19 Delta variant has slightly slowed the return to normalcy, the Digital Advertising sector is healthy and active as the economy recovers. This industry anticipates strong growth tailwinds in the United States, with a 12.6% increase in ad spending this year and a projected 9.5% increase in 2022.
Digital advertising will continue to expand due to the strong return of brand advertising and demand for newer digital advertising channels such as retail media. There are some headwinds, such as regulatory issues imposing hypothetical data use limitations. These will be more than offset by consumers’ and businesses’ continued shift to digital and the corresponding dollars associated with advertisers. Furthermore, Google and Facebook’s massive user bases and continued use of their apps will continue to attract advertisers. Government agencies are putting pressure on the industry’s biggest firms, namely Google and Facebook due to claims of market dominance. Although true, digital advertising remains competitive as Amazon and smaller firms continue to prosper in this market.
Current projections for ad spending are bolstered by continued improvement in the unemployment rate. It’s forecasted that the unemployment rate will fall below that of the pre-pandemic period and remain low until 2025. This expectation is based on the view that strong aggregate demand will keep the labor market tight, and as wages rise to attract more people into the labor market, the labor force participation rate will increase. These two trends also indicate the demand for advertising.
The Download
The best articles from around the web for Consumer Products & Retail industry leaders
- Mercedes-Benz Consolidates Its Global Marketing Entirely with Omnicom Group via Adweek
- Thanks to SPACs and VCs, the World’s Biggest Ad Agency is Growing Again via Fortune
- Omnicom Agrees to Acquire Antoni via Cision PR Newswire
- How Agencies Can Win the Great Data Privacy Reset via AdAge
- The Battle for Digital Privacy Is Reshaping the Internet via The New York Times
Transaction Talk
Insights and intelligence on recent notable industry transactions
Dutch integrated marketing group Candid has acquired PR and corporate communications agency Coopr for an undisclosed sum. Coopr, which was founded in 2009 and is based in Rotterdam and Antwerp, works with clients including Adidas, Coca-Cola, Coolblue, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Coopr’s founders, Jody Koehler and Jos Govaart, will join as partners of Candid and continue to manage the agency. Candid CEO Ruud Wanck said the move was the “next step in bringing together all marketing and communications disciplines into a fully integrated platform for advertisers.” (1)
Creative production agency Tag has acquired MoniMedia, a digital commerce agency, for an undisclosed amount. This is Tag’s fourth acquisition since 2019 and, according to the company, further strengthens its digital and e-commerce capabilities, enabling it to drive more connected brand and customer experiences across channels at speed and scale. The company said the deal brings together agencies with adjacent capabilities. Tag offers marketing execution services, from content creation to brand activation. Its clients include Coca-Cola, Estée Lauder, GSK, and Heineken. MoniMedia focuses on delivering e-commerce and has strategy and UX design expertise. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. (2)
Mediaocean LLC has agreed to acquire advertising-technology shop Flashtalking, as the company known for its ad-agency billings software adapts to a future dominated by digital media consumption. The two companies announced the purchase. Majority-owned by Vista Equity Partners, Mediaocean will pay $500 million for Flashtalking as the company sets its sights on an initial public offering next year, according to people familiar with the matter. Flashtalking generates between $100 million and $150 million in revenue, the people said. The acquisition — Mediaocean’s 11th and largest purchase since it was bought by Vista, Mediaocean said — is part of a recent boom in the AdTech sector, reflecting a surge in digital ad spending and changing habits by consumers who are spending more time online shopping, reading, and entertaining themselves. (3)
1. PRovoke Media, 2. Campaign, 3. WSJ
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