Marketing Spend on Brand Activation will top $595 Billion in 2016: ANA Report | About the ANA | ANA
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Marketing Spend on Brand Activation will top $595 Billion in 2016: ANA Report

New Study Provides First All-Encompassing Definitions
of Brand Activation Disciplines, Platforms, and Channels

CHICAGO (April 19, 2016) — Spending on brand activation marketing in the U.S. rose 5.5 percent in 2015 to more than $560 billion, accounting for almost 60 percent of advertisers’ budgets, according to a groundbreaking new study by the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) in partnership with PQ Media. This year, brand activation is expected to grow 6 percent, to nearly $600 billion.

The study, called “The U.S. Brand Activation Marketing Forecast 2016,” provides the first market research to clearly define, segment, size, and analyze brand activation by platform, channel, and end-user sector. It was introduced today in a presentation by PQ Media at the 2016 ANA Brand Activation Conference.

The report also projected that activation spending will top $740 billion by 2020. It is the first study to provide a clear definition of brand activation and to measure the size of the industry, said Bob Liodice, ANA president and CEO.

“This report is groundbreaking in that it represents the first comprehensive examination of this industry,” Liodice said. “The ANA and our partner in this initiative, PQ Media, are putting a stake in the ground and stating definitively that brand activation — across both B2C and B2B — includes six platforms and 32 channels.”

The study defines “brand activation marketing” as “the convergence of media platforms and channels to shape the way consumers experience brands by employing actionable marketer insights and strategies to bring a brand to life. What defines strong brand activation is the way they are used together, and with traditional media, to drive results through consumer behaviors and/or actions.”

Spending on brand activation — including relationship, influencer, promotional, content, experiential, and retailer marketing — accounted for 59.8 percent of overall marketing expenditures, the report revealed. At the same time, spending on traditional and digital measured advertising represented 25.2 percent, and investment in trade promotions came in at 15 percent. The latter includes primarily brand spending in which brands work directly with retailers on promoting select products or services.

“End users are spending more time with media, but they are less engaged with advertising and marketing as a result of several key trends, including the fast growth of smart-tech products and mobile media, consumer adoption of ad-skipping devices, increased media multitasking with digital devices, and the growing consumption of media outside the home,” said Patrick Quinn, president and CEO of PQ Media. “As a result, it’s imperative for brands to more effectively use media strategies and channels that provide opportunities for higher engagement. And strong brand activation marketing will develop emotional connections with target audiences to drive brand loyalty.”

FINDINGS
The report predicted that brand activation spending would continue to outpace spending on advertising and trade promotions over the next four years, and included the following findings:

  • The number of media outlets has tripled in the last 40 years, with media buyers now having to choose from over 200 options.
  • Technology and data are affecting the media buying process with the advent of omnichannel campaigns.
  • Technological advancements such as virtual reality are affecting how consumers will engage with marketing in the future.
  • About 57 percent of brand activation marketing is outsourced to media and other companies.
  • Relationship marketing is the largest of six brand activation marketing platforms, while content marketing is growing the fastest.
  • Customer services and telesales are the largest of 32 brand activation channels; mobile apps and proximity services are growing the fastest.
  • Automotive is the largest category of 21 industry verticals using brand activation marketing, at $54.5 billion in 2015.

PQ MEDIA’S RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Work on the report began in mid-2015 and was completed in April of this year.

PQ Media’s proven research methodology and proprietary mapping system, PQ Medianomics, utilizes proprietary data collection techniques, algorithmic models, and analytical approaches to track, analyze, and forecast spending, consumption, and trends in all major media, platforms, and channels of the media and entertainment industries. PQ Media’s system, driven by its SpendTrak, UsageTrak, and InfoTrak databases, layers the impact of key data and variables, including economic, demographic, behavioral, technological, and regulatory.

Additionally, PQ Media analysts sought input on brand activation marketing from its exclusive Global Opinion Leader Panel, which includes hundreds of executives at media and entertainment companies, financial institutions, consulting firms, media agencies, and brands. Thousands of public and private documents from approximately 5,000 sources pertaining to brand activation marketing, the advertising and marketing ecosystem, and other factors (such as economic growth trends that might affect brand activation marketing) were also examined. By using this methodological approach, PQ Media made every effort to avoid double-counting any data, and provided descriptions in the report of what data was and was not included in each brand activation channel.

The report will be available to ANA members in May.

About the ANA

The mission of the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) is to drive growth for marketing professionals, brands and businesses, the industry, and humanity. The ANA serves the marketing needs of 20,000 brands by leveraging the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda, which has been endorsed by the Global CMO Growth Council. The ANA’s membership consists of U.S. and international companies, including client-side marketers, nonprofits, fundraisers, and marketing solutions providers (data science and technology companies, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, suppliers, and vendors). The ANA creates Marketing Growth Champions by serving, educating, and advocating for more than 50,000 industry members that collectively invest more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually.

About PQ Media

PQ Media is a leading provider of actionable competitive intelligence and strategic guidance to management teams of the world’s top media, entertainment, and technology organizations. PQ Media delivers intelligent data and analytics to high-level executives to empower them to make smarter, faster business decisions amid the transforming global media and technology ecosystem. PQ Media’s well-respected team of industry analysts and proven econometric methodology drive the annual Global Media Intellicast Series, a three-report suite of exclusive market intelligence that helps drive client growth objectives with a laser focus on the media economy’s critical KPIs: media operator revenues, consumer time spent with media, and consumer spending on media content and technology.

Media Contacts

ANA
John Wolfe
Director of Communications
Office: 212.455.8011
Cell: 914.659.8663
Email: jwolfe@ana.net

PQ Media
Patrick Quinn
President and CEO
Office: 203.569.9449
Cell: 203.921.5249
Email: pquinn@pqmedia.com

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