Marketers losing confidence in TV

A survey reported at the ANA's TV Ad Forum says that 78% of advertisers "have less confidence today in the effectiveness of TV advertising than they did two years ago." Those surveyed were significant advertisers, so the findings have weight:

The study asked 133 national advertisers representing more than $20 billion in ad dollars about their attitudes toward TV advertising and how new technologies such as digital video recorders and video on demand will have on their TV ad budgets.

Among the findings:

70% believe that DVRs and video-on-demand will destroy the effectiveness of the 30-second spot.

80% are planning to spend more on web advertising (and 68% on search engines).

Other alternatives are branded entertainment within TV shows (61%), TV program sponsorships (55%), interactive TV advertising (48%), on-line video ads (45%), and product placement (44%).

With DVRs projected to go from 10% penetration today to 43% by 2010 according to Forrester, the problem is a real one. Media fragmentation is having a huge impact on marketers (and society) already, an effect that is only going to grow.

I loved the summary presented by Kia's CMO: "“Don’t get up and bitch and moan and then do the same thing you’ve always done."