US business-to-business print advertising spend fell by 3.6% year on year in August, according to the latest figures from American Business Media. Ad pages were also down, by 6.4%, from last August.
The summer months saw a noticeable decline in B2B advertising (see
US B2B Advertising Slows In July) and in the year to date, spending was down 0.2% and pages had fallen 4.1%. The outlook for the rest of the year has also been downgraded.
“We anticipated a soft summer, so the August numbers are not surprising,” said Gordon Hughes, president and CEO of ABM. “However, what we’re hearing from our members is that early fourth-quarter results are not as strong as expected. We’re now estimating 1% to 3% growth in ad dollars for 2003.”
| US Business To Business Adspend By Sector, August 2003 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Â |
Aug-03 |
Year To August |
| Â |
Revenue ($000) |
Year On Year Change (%) |
Revenue ($000) |
Year On Year Change (%) |
| Finance, Business & Advertising |
85,552 |
-14.0 |
1,004,360 |
-5.2 |
| Telecommunications |
14,084 |
-9.0 |
117,542 |
-26.4 |
| Computers |
36,648 |
-16.6 |
329,660 |
-12.9 |
| Software |
42,422 |
-17.2 |
461,558 |
-10.6 |
| Manufacturing & Elec. Equip., Mat’s & Components |
42,405 |
-15.5 |
391,602 |
-6.1 |
| Drugs & Toiletries/PERQ |
67,696 |
6.1 |
698,000 |
7 |
| Horticulture & Farming |
7,979 |
-7.8 |
90,760 |
-9.1 |
| Services, Direct Response, Classified |
115,632 |
7.5 |
1,047,965 |
9.2 |
| Retail |
44,963 |
2.3 |
431,436 |
13.3 |
| Home & Building |
37,700 |
-2.8 |
372,660 |
2.7 |
| Automotive |
34,525 |
36.7 |
308,121 |
27.9 |
| Travel |
25,971 |
-6.3 |
239,733 |
-13.4 |
| Total |
555,578 |
-3.6 |
5,493,395 |
-0.2 |
| Source: American Business Media, October 2003 |
