According to the report of ‘Estimated Media and Advertising Investment in Turkey in the First 6 Months of 2020’, the total media investments was amounted to 6 billion 294 million TL and the total amount of media and advertising investments was 7 billion 867 TL.
The report is prepared by Deloitte, the independent consultancy company on behalf of Advertisers Association (RD), Publicity Agent Association (RVD), Interactive Advertising Association (IAB), Outdoor Advertising Foundation (ARVAK), National Radio Broadcasters Association (URYAD) and Mobile Media Research, Marketing and Advertising Association (MMA TR).
The effect of the pandemic on the investments is prominent
There is a direct influence of pandemic on Turkish media and advertisement investments. In this period, advertisers carried out campaigns primarily to maintain brand awareness and then sales-oriented campaigns. The new priorities of advertisers, especially those with a ‘’lifestyle’’ product scale, have been to gain new customers with the increase in time spent at home. Many advertisers have also turned to media that is consumed more in the home in direct proportion to the increase in time spent at home. The impact of the pandemic process on advertising investments was felt most in the second quarter of this year. While the negative impact of the pandemic was less than the TV and other digital channels, there was a big decrease in cinema and outdoor media investments.
Total TV viewing time increased
TV media investments had a share of 34.7 percent in total Turkish media investments; it reached 2 billion 186 million TL in the first six months of 2020 and increased by 4.9 percent compared to the same period of 2019. 2.5 percent growth was expected in pre-pandemic global TV ad spending before the pandemic, it is now expected to result in a 13.8 percent shrinkage after the pandemic influence.
Total TV viewing time increased with the increase of time spent at home in Turkey due to pandemic. The cancellation of the shootings due to the restrictions made it mandatory to repeat broadcasts on the main channels while the thematic channel viewing increased in the March-May period. Some advertisers cancelled or postponed their campaigns significantly due to difficulties in production while dynamism was achieved with campaigns addressing the recent conditions in the retail, finance and especially e-commerce sectors. Therefore, the fast-starting television advertising investments grew less than expected. As the demand for thematic channels increased, advertising investments, especially in live broadcasts, on these channels gained importance. The cancellation or postponement of all sports competitions negatively affected the thematic channel content.
Television received an increasing demand, in contrast to seasonal effects as a result of the partial return to normal life as of June and the introduction of the incentive loans in July and August. According to the year-end report, a significant increase is expected in the advertising investments that will be done in second half of 2020.
People started to consume digital content more
Investments are handled in a wider scope while reporting digital media investments with the methodology change that is made this year. Although the total digital media investments cannot be compared with the same period of 2019 due to the methodology change, it is seen that there has been a significant growth. Digital media investments had a share of 55.3 percent in total Turkish media investments; it reached to 3 billion 479 million TL in the first six months of 2020.
Quarantine, teleworking applications and increased time spent at home during the pandemic period increased the digital consumption in Turkey just as it did in all over the world. There was an increase in the consumption of news content and consequently the number of visitors to news portals, newspapers and news channels’ websites. The number of people who read magazines on digital platforms has also increased. Similarly, playing games, watching videos and listening to music on PC and mobile have increased. Live content sharing and consumption of these content by both individual and corporate accounts via social media and video platforms increased significantly. There has also been an increase in the subscriptions of platforms that broadcast movies and series on digital platforms, and the habit of listening to digital radio and podcasts.
During this period, the shares of search engine, video ads and social media from digital advertising investments increased compared to previous years. The mobile share gained from digital advertising investments increased significantly to 71.6 percent, while the share of investments purchased through the programmatic method rose to 81.4 percent.
Digital advertising investments will increase in the second half of 2020, especially with the effect of back-to-school and online sales campaigns in November-December; on the other hand, it is predicted that the digital share gained from total advertising investments in the first half may change due to the reduction of the effects of the pandemic on daily life, the increase in investments in the channels that have lost investment and related share in the first half.
The number of daily active mobile users increased
Mobile commerce, mobile banking, the use of mobile applications serving homes, mobile games, and the use of mobile services and applications making life easier have increased significantly with the increase in digital transformation and the rate of working from home during the pandemic period. Mobile advertising investments reached 2 billion 491 million TL in the first 6 months of 2020. The increase in e-commerce data, the intensive use of mobile communication technologies and social media for communication, especially the consumption of music, entertainment, recipes, sports content, hobby content and series repetition content on mobile media as of March captured the attention of the advertisers. There was a 15 percent increase in the number of daily active users in mobile games and the number of daily active users of some games in Turkey reached the level of 5 million. On this occasion, there was an increase in in-game advertisements. In addition, new formats such as Audio advertisement etc. have also entered our lives.
Serious losses occurred in circulation
Print media investments had 2.9 percent share in the total media investments in Turkey; it became 185 million TL in the first half of 2020 and decreased by 37.3 percent compared to the same period of 2019. Consumer media habits changed drastically; the agenda has evolved into news portals and television due to pandemic restrictions.
There were circulation losses in print media with the effect of alternative distribution methods on the days when newspaper distribution is not possible due to the curfew. Many magazines changed from paper printing to digital publication during the restriction period. Again, a decrease was reported in the first six months, as the advertisers preferred news portals and thematic channels instead of newspapers and magazines.
It is predicted that the open air will recover quickly
There was a lively performance in terms of open air in January and February of 2020, and even until the middle of March, which is seen as the beginning of the pandemic. In mid-March, when the pandemic took over the agenda, curfews caused the city traffic to nearly stop. The most basic feature of the open air was its direct access to the masses who went out on the streets without using any vehicle; so, the inability of the masses to leave their homes stopped the open air.
With these circumstances, the outdoor media investment share, which was 4.6 percent in the total media shares, decreased to 289 million TL and by 26.7 percent in the Jan-June period compared to the same period of 2019. It is an unexpected result for the outdoor channel, where regular growth is observed, to experience such a shrinkage for the first time. Although it cannot fully compensate the contraction in the first half until the end of 2020, it is expected to recover rapidly.
Radio is expected to compensate it’s losses in the second half
Radio media investments had a share of 2.1 percent in the total media investments; this share decreased to 130 million TL and by 17.1 percent in the first six months compared to the same period of 2019.
However, according to the results of the first quarter of this year, the radios that started the year very well, especially during the curfews, almost completely blank their advertising belts. Although the listening of the radios actually increased during the pandemic period, there was a serious decrease in the revenues with the perception that the radio, which has been settled in the advertiser for years, is listened in the car. Studies show that the radio is still listened at home. It is predicted that the radios will compensate the losses in the second half of the year and close this year with an increase, even if a little.
Cinema was negatively affected the most
The cinema sector showed a growth in the January-March period compared to the previous year; the sector felt and continue to feel the most negative pandemic impact along with the open air.
Cinema media investments had a share of 0.4 percent in the total media investments; this share decreased to 25 million TL in the first six months, by 54.1 percent compared to the same period of 2019.
A growth of 5.0 percent was expected in global cinema advertising investments before the pandemic; yet with the pandemic effect, 31.6 percent shrinkage is expected in this channel. The closure of cinemas in March and their opening with strict restrictions in August are among the most important problems faced by the media. It is stated that advertising investments dropped sharply in the first six months, as both Hollywood and Turkish producers stopped filmmaking due to restrictions.
Brands accelerated the digital transitions during the pandemic period
Brands reviewed their information channels and methods, turned towards digital solutions and accelerated their digital transformation processes in line with changing consumer behaviours. They increased their investments in this field.
For example, as there was a significant increase in online shopping and new users were gained in this period, digital advertising investments of both e-commerce companies and other companies with online sales channels grew. Sponsorship and brand integration practices in live broadcasts on social media, the inclusion of many social media platforms with an increasing number of users in this period, the increase in influencer marketing efforts, etc. show the effects of changing consumer behaviour and emerging trends on media investment distributions during the pandemic period.
source: egirisim.com / translated by Melisa Karayusufoglu