“One out of every $4 spent on advertising and marketing will be earmarked for alternative media,” says PQ Media President and CEO Patrick Quinn.
By 2012 PQ Media expects 27% of all advertising and marketing spending will be on alternative media. That alternative media will represent more than a quarter of all media expenditures, and that it will accomplish this in just a decade, speaks to a dramatic change in consumer behavior and market forces.
“Technological advances have led to critical changes,” says Quinn, and a “confluence of trends is fueling the migration of dollars to alternative media.”
It All Boils Down to (Billions of) Dollars and Cents
Spending on alternative media rose 22% in 2007, accounting for $73.4 billion. This year PQ Media anticipates expenditures on alternative media will rise another 20% to more than $88 billion, despite a slow economy. This number will then soar to $160.8 billion in 2012, or so forecasts PQ Media.
The segments with the largest and fastest growth were online and mobile advertising as well as entertainment advertising, whose spending climbed 25.8% to $39.22 billion. More specifically, spending on online classified ads and displays, online video, Internet yellow pages, and mobile advertising rose 29.1%, with an average growth of 31.4% from 2002 to 2007.
The largest alternative media segments in 2007 were event sponsorships and marketing (think sporting events), search and lead generation, e-direct marketing (is the age of the direct mailer coming to an end?), and online classifieds and displays.
Alternative Media Report Analyzes Many Factors
In the PQ Media Alternative Media Forecast 2008-2012, 18 alternative media segments are defined and analyzed. The report studies how spending is dividing between traditional and alternative media and how this spending changes over time. As alternative media recorded double-digit growth in 2007, the PQ Media report explores how this happened, looking at current and historical trends.
PQ Media also forecasts how each segment of alternative media is poised to grow over the next few years, as well as what the long-term implications are past 2012.
Digital and Alternative Media Is Where It’s At: Job Prospects
Although it is still too early to determine how this tremendous growth in digital and alternative media has affected and will impact the job market, it is clear there will be a growing demand for digital and alternative media professionals.
With the staggering figure of $160.8 billion in spending on alternative media alone, it can be safely assumed that all types of advertising, marketing, and media professionals will be needed. Sales, design, IT, media, and an unforeseen number of jobs will indeed grow at the same rate. With this information and forecast, it’s time to think about a career in alternative media.
