Economy Keeps Pounding B2B Pubs

December ad pages down 19.7%,
spending down 21.7% vs. last year.

American Business Media’ s December Business Information Network (BIN) Report showed the economy continuing to affect the B2B marketplace, with ad pages down 19.7% and ad spending down 21.7% compared to one year ago.

December Ad Pages

B2B ad pages posted declines in all 12 of the BIN report’s megacategories:

• Horticulture & Farming, down 3.7%;

• Travel, down 11.1%;

• Drugs & Toiletries/PERQ, down 11.6%;

• Home & Building, down 12.3%;

• Retail, down 13.3%; Automotive, down 15.5%;

• Manufacturing & Electrical Equipment, Materials& Components, down 19.2%;

• Services, Direct Response, Classified, down 22.5%;

• Software, down 25.3%;

• Computers, down 25.4%;

• Finance, Business & Advertising, down 31.6%; and

• Telecommunications, down 35.1%.

December Ad Spending

Ad spending was down in all megacategories as well. Specifically:

• Horticulture & Farming was down 1.1%;

• Retail, down 7.1%;

• Home & Building, down 7.6%;

• Automotive, down 7.9%;

• Travel, down 10.9%;

• Drugs & Toiletries/PERQ, down 11.5%;

• Manufacturing & Electrical Equipment, Materials & Components, down 19.0%;

• Computers, down 19.8%;

• Software, down 23.6%;

• Services, Direct Response, Classified, down 23.9%;

• Telecommunications, down 31.3%, and

• Finance, Business & Advertising, down 34.6%.

On the bright side, Mediaweek’s March 18 Market Indicators showed advertising picking up in most of the sectors it measured, if only slighty.

• Consumer magazines were boosted by strong apparel sales, which led to strong advertising in the apparel and accessories sector.

• Cable TV was helped by pharmaceutical-company spending in the second quarter.

• Radio benefited from increased spending by automotive, telecommunications, movie, and beer advertisers.

Whether any of these increases will spill over into the B2B market remains to be seen.

Related Links:

• ABM’s December Annual Page Comparison

• ABM’s December Annual Spending Comparison

• Mediaweek’s current Market Indicators