Business confidence in the European advertising and marketing sector has taken a slight turn upwards, according to the latest European Advertising Business Climate Index, issued by the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA).
The report, based on a sample of nearly 1,500 advertising and market research companies across Europe, shows that business confidence in the ad industry has increased from +3.5 to +6 over the last quarter (see Graph 1).
Graph 2 illustrates developments over a 5-year period.
The results show particular satisfaction with business developments (from -2.4 in Q3/2018 to +3.9 in Q4/2018) and the level of demand for advertising services (from -2.9 to +2.1) over the last three months. The expectations of prices for the beginning of 2019 are increasingly positive (from +7.7 to +9.1).
The improved results in three major advertising markets – the UK, France and Italy – are likely to have played a role in the overall outcome. In the UK, the overall confidence index increased from -11.1 (Q3/2018) to -6.9 (Q4/2018), in France from +2 to +3.5 and in Italy, from -22.4 to -2.6. Because of their large shares of the advertising market in Europe, they have some of the highest coefficients.
’The latest results of the Ad Index show that the European advertising industry is showing strong confidence in their business. Regardless of Brexit, we have a positive outlook into 2019 and look forward to seizing new opportunities’, says Tamara Daltroff, EACA’s Director General.
Although half of the countries measured report declines in their business confidence, there are no significant drops. The lowest confidence level can be found in Greece (-26.8) but it is up from the previously recorded -36.7 in Q3/2018. the highest confidence level can be found in Lithuania (+32.2).
An area of future concern, however, could be the level of employment in the advertising sector. The latest findings show a trend of declining evolution and expectations. Compared to one year ago, confidence is down by 7.1 for evolution and 2.8 points for expectations.
Download the full report on the IPM website here.
