Online Ad Spending Eclipses Print Ad Spending

eMarketer just released the 2011 ad spending report (and forecast for 2012). The 2012 forecast suggests that online ad spending ($39.5B) will surpass print's (newspaper/magazine) ad spending of $33.8B. This of course is not surprising given the decline of newspaper/magazine revenues and closings over the past few years.

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Behind the Numbers:

eMarketer forecasts that by 2016, online ad spending will be double that of print ($62.0B vs. $32.3B). This illustrates the declining influence of the print as a medium for news, information and entertainment and the continued ascendency of digital. Print media joins the declining "legacy mediums" of film, music and book publishing as these platforms continue to rapidly convert to "on-demand" digital formats.

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Handheld digital devices have greatly accelerated this decline and will continue do so in the future (note Apple's record-breaking 4Q 2011 sales/profit report). Marketing services firms that embrace all forms of digital delivery will benefit most (increased revenue, profit and valuation) from this ad spending conversion. Those that fail to adapt/adopt to digital will decline.

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The greatest barrier to digital growth and expansion for marketing services firms will be lack of talent experienced in digital strategic planning, development and implementation. The talent shortage is particularly acute in mobile/digital tablet platforms. The effort to find and hire such talent has become fiercely competitive.