- Katy Bachman

NEW YORK The ad market may have hit bottom, but it has also changed. As agencies begin to spend, they are shifting dollars from traditional to digital media and advanced forms of advertising, according to Strata's quarterly survey of 40 agencies of various sizes.

"While many people have cut back their approach this year, many are looking at other ways of advertising such as video on demand," said John Shelton, CEO and president of Strata, a company that provides buying and selling software to agencies.

Of those polled, 22 percent felt business was improving in the quarter; 67 percent believed the market would rebound by the end of the year.

Spot TV is still at the top of the media list for 45 percent of agency customers. However, that's down 25 percent compared to the end of last year. Agencies are diverting dollars to advanced advertising or digital media, such as video on demand or interactive television, with 62.5 percent of respondents predicting their customers were either very or somewhat likely to add cutting-edge media to their plans.

Spot radio plans have remained the same or increased since last year, according to 65 percent of respondents. But 75 percent also said they were more focused on the Internet than they were a year ago -- and that's up 20 percent compared to the first quarter of 2009.

Print took the biggest hit with 65 percent responding that they would be focusing less on the medium, a 37 percent drop from Q1 '09.


Nielsen Business Media