AdNews asked industry figures for their assessment of 2022 and outlook for next year
Lucy Formosa Morgan, managing director, Magna Global
2022 is the first year of the ‘new normal’ post 2019 and post COVID. There were no lockdowns, people started returning to the CBDs and social lives resumed after two turbulent years so demand across most channels has been strong.
From a business perspective, talent retention and attraction remain a key focus. We all hoped the talent pressure would ease as the borders reopened but unfortunately that hasn’t necessarily been the case, so it has put extra pressure on some of the teams. Bringing back the spirit and fun of the media industry is so important.
One area Mediabrands has been driving for the last couple of years is automation and taking the grunt work off the teams so that they can get on with focusing on the more interesting parts of their roles. We’ve rolled out bots across a number of implementation areas and are constantly seeking feedback to fine tune how these work & continuing improving. As someone who’s been with the Group for less than six months, it’s been a real eye-opener to see how advanced we are in this area.
Although consumer spending remains high (at this stage anyway), we do expect ad revenue to temper as we move into 2023.
Inflation, rising cost of living, interest rate hikes and supply issues will mean consumers start to feel the pinch and that’ll have a knock-on impact on ad spend. Consumer confidence levels tell you that consumer spending won’t remain at these levels.
Mediabrands are forecasting low single digit revenue growth for 2023 with that growth focused around Digital and those channels still not yet back to pre-COVID levels.
Key themes from conversations with clients:
- We’re finding clients are even more focused on accountability and proving the effectiveness of every dollar they spend to ensure they’re delivering outcomes for their businesses.
- Attention is a hot topic and will continue to be.
- Sustainability: More and more of our clients are engaging with us on sustainability and the impact their media investment and placement has on the environment and their carbon footprint.
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