Nielsen Insights: What Global Ad Spending Tells Us About the Future of Media

Marketing and ad spend are good barometers for measuring the overall health of the industry, and Nielsen Ad Intel data shows just what a turn-around the industry has made over the past 12 months. We know that long-term revenue can take a 2% hit for every quarter a brand stops advertising, but marketers worldwide dramatically pulled back on their spending as the pandemic set in last year. That pullback, however, was short-lived, as fourth-quarter 2020 and first-quarter 2021 spending levels were above their seasonal, pre-pandemic levels.

As brands, advertisers and agencies think about the future, which should include ample brand building efforts for revitalized consumers, the rebounding landscape provides clear guidance on channels that are attracting the most engagement from consumers. With connectivity and online engagement well above norms during much of 2020, we expect that many newer behaviors will stay in place even as people begin to resume some (or all) of their pre-pandemic activities. It comes without surprise that amid the high levels of online engagement throughout the pandemic, digital ad spend remained positive throughout 2020.

Markets: BE / CHF / CRO / HK / IND / IE / MY / NZ / NO / PH / PL / PT / SG / TH / ZA All market ad spend in shown in USD. Data was collected in local gross currency and a constant FX rate was applied over the period. Source: Nielsen Ad Intel

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