TV advertising is more affordable than ever
Advertising spend across the UK media fell by more than £1bn year on year during the Coronavirus lock-down, but opportunities have been created to help smaller brands get on TV for the first time.
UK advertising spend on traditional media – TV, newspapers and magazines, radio and cinema as well as on poster sites and billboards across the country – almost halved from the start of lockdown on 23 March to the end of June.
With the public told to stay at home, high streets shut and travel halted, many companies froze marketing budgets, resulting in a 48% fall in ad spend from £2.3bn to £1.2bn year on year.
TV advert spend steeply fell between March and June 2020 by £500 million, a fall of 43%.
Although TV advertising bookings have therefore dramatically fallen with usual advertisers such as Sky and Mcdonalds freezing their TV spend, this proves great news for smaller businesses as broadcasters have had to reduce airtime rates and potential TV advertisers are able to capitalise on great deals.
Help for smaller brands
With TV advertising in pre-Covid times generally too expensive for companies with smaller marketing budgets, broadcasters such as ITV and Channel 4 have launched schemes to subsidise smaller advertisers to allow them to embark on TV advertising for the first time.
Over 50 smaller advertising budget companies have taken advantage of the opportunity, including Naked Bacon and the disinfectant range Zoflora.
TV advertising helps build brand confidence and are often viewed by the public in a different way once seen on TV.
Though this is great news for companies who would not have been able to advertise on TV pre-covid, this revenue is not going fill the deficit that broadcasters face – ITV’s share price has fallen 60% since the start of the year. With many smaller brands turning to the low-cost attraction of digital marketing, where Facebook and Google gain a predominant share of the spend, broadcasters want to prove that TV is still an option.
Forecasts for TV recovery is looking positive with the expectation of a quick recovery.
If you are considering TV advertising and would like to find out more before prices start rising, contact our friendly team today on [email protected]. If you have never advertised on TV before, we can help you through the process from beginning to end.