Ad spend, ethnicity in advertising, inflation: 5 killer stats to start your week

Ad spend forecasts cut as auto and FMCG pull back on spending

Growth expectations for the global ad market have been downgraded for both 2018 and 2019  as “stress” in the auto category and the absence of a rebound in FMCG investment in traditional media hit forecasts.

GroupM now expects global ad spend growth to be 4.3% this year, down from a previous forecast of 4.5%. In 2019, the projection has been cut by 0.3 percentage points to 3.6%, meaning new investment will now be $19bn rather than $23bn.

Of that growth, just 10 countries will account for 83% of increased spend. China remains the biggest contributor to growth, with investment expected to be up $4.84bn next year, although this is the sixth successive year of single-digit ad growth and the lowest yet recorded. The US will contribute $4.30bn in new ad dollars, followed by India ($1.36bn), Japan ($1.34bn) and the UK (1.26bn).

Source: GroupM

GDPR leads to ‘minimal change’ in consumers receiving unwanted calls and emails

There has been “minimal change” in the number of consumers receiving unwanted calls and emails over the past six months despite the introduction of GDPR in May.

A survey by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) found that 42% of respondents have received communications from a business they have not given permission to contact them in the six months since the new data regulations came into place. This is only a “marginal decrease” from 48% in the six months before GDPR.

Trust in companies’ ability to handle data responsibly has also hardly changed. Only a quarter (24%) believe businesses treat people’s personal data in an honest and transparent way, up slightly from 18% six months ago.

And still just 47% of respondents say they know their rights as a consumer in relation to data protection, up from 43% in the run-up to GDPR.

Source: Chartered Institute of Marketing

Advertisers are failing to bridge the ‘race gap’ in the UK

Despite representation of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups doubling over the past three years – from 12% to 25% – many still feel underrepresented, according to a new survey.

This is in part because less than one in 10 (7%) of adverts position people from BAME groups as the sole or main protagonist. Respondents highlighted the representation of ethnic stereotypes and failing to acknowledge cultural differences as the main issue.

This has led to a third (32%) of black people, 28% of Asian and 29% of multi-racial people feeling advertising is not representative. Just 13% of white people feel underrepresented in advertising.

Source: Lloyds Banking Group

Inflation returns to UK shops for just the third month in five years

Shop prices were 0.1% higher in November compared to a year ago, only the third month in five years that there has been inflation.

In non-food, prices declined by 0.8% year on year, although the rate of deflation eased to the lowest level since March 2013. Clothing and electricals kept non-food pricing in deflationary territory, while all other categories saw modest inflation.

In food, inflation accelerated to 1.6% year on year in November, up from 1.3% in October. For fresh food, inflation was 1.2% while for ambient food it was 2.1%.

Inflation in food was caused by tough comparisons with last year, when there was a dip in inflation, and the rising cost of cereals.

Source: British Retail Consortium

Facebook users still use the service despite a loss of trust

A huge majority (98%) of Facebook users that no longer trust the platform to protect their personal data will continue to use it anyway, claims new research.

In total, one in four people that use Facebook say they do not trust it with their personal data, rising to one in three in the US and India – two of its biggest markets – and one in two in the UK.

But of those that say they have stopped using social media platforms in the past year, just 8% said it was due to data concerns, while 51% cited boredom.

Source: Streetbees