The CANnual Report 2020 is now available!
The CANual Report is prepared annually with our network of local experts from WeCAN advertising agencies and media houses. All companies operate in 16 markets in the CEE region. In the Polish one, it is Media People media house and Walk Group.
From the CANual Report you will learn about each market in the context of trends, the economic situation, the legal situation affecting marketers' activities, media spending, significant changes in the media supplier market. This year's CANual Report examines the issues of environmental challenges and the impact of pandemics on marketers' activities.
During the lockdown, investments for media ad buying, in Central and Eastern Europe, decreased by 19 percent. The disruption was felt even in the most stable markets. A year earlier - in 2019 - investments amounted to 15.2 billion euros, 10 percent more than in 2018. The entire region saw stable growth sustaining the upward trend of the last five years.
One can see digital advertising spending growing dynamically and TV budgets gradually taking over. The average share of the total spending band by media type also correctly reflects the trend of previous years: although TV is still the most preferred medium in most CEE countries, it is slowly losing its market share (43 percent in 2019) to the rapidly growing online segment (34 percent on average in all countries of the region). The size of the digital market has already surpassed that of the TV market in terms of total amounts spent in the countries of the region in 2018. This means that in 2019. 45 percent of all advertising budgets (€6.9 billion) were spent on online advertising, while only 37 percent went to TV advertising. The market share of print materials has been experiencing a steady decline for years, while outdoor and radio ads have remained unchanged.
In 2019, there was a noticeable increase in public awareness of environmental risks to the environment and social problems. Data obtained on behalf of the European Commission clearly shows that the number of people who consider climate, energy and environmental issues to be among the two most important problems currently facing their country has risen by as much as 80 percent in just one year. Finding solutions to these problems will also be the responsibility of the business sector, so the onus is increasing. Hence, ours presented predictable directions for future trends in the Central and Eastern European region. Although the level of public awareness varies from country to country, a clear dependence of the views presented on the financial situation and social status of the respondents is marked. Studies of the segmentation of society using the criteria of the ESOMAR association show that the higher the quality of life in a country, the higher the expectations of ethical behavior of companies are also.
The most popular topic of corporate social responsibility programs - until the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic - was environmental issues. After the pandemic broke out, attention shifted to issues of the health care system and frontline workers. The coronavirus changed a lot and the lockdown declared in many parts of the world in connection with the pandemic led to new patterns of consumer behavior. The focus of shoppers has shifted to basic foods, hygiene products and health supplements. There has also been a complete change in consumer shopping habits. Sales and consumption of online content skyrocketed rapidly and led to profound digital changes in record time (just a few weeks). During the lockdown period, internet traffic across the region increased dramatically: viewership of the five most popular websites in each country increased by an average of 5 percent in the March-May period (compared to 2019 data). In the Polish market, that was an increase of 3 percent, as was Lithuania.
Pandemic does not treat everyone equally Interestingly, the boom in media consumption was not reflected in the advertising market. After the outbreak, exceptional uncertainty prevailed regarding advertising campaigns. Shortly after the lockdown was announced, most ongoing or planned campaigns were canceled or postponed, resulting in a 19 percent (year-on-year) decline in advertising spending in the region's countries between March and May. Not every industry was equally affected by the pandemic. Brands in the fast-moving consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications sectors held their ground, while the event, travel and automotive sectors shrank dramatically. Companies involved in online services and digital entertainment (as well as those producing detergents and disinfectants) also strengthened their positions.
- Our annual meetings and the result of the work of experts from 16 markets in Central and Eastern Europe emphatically demonstrate that despite our territorial proximity and the same challenges we face as part of Europe or the world, each country in the region has its own characteristics. The free flow of people, thought, and technology have not unified us, so consumer differences and different ways of using media are still evident. This is a very important aspect in thinking about communication in the region. The ability to listen to these visible dissimilarities, or nuances, makes marketers effective," comments Weronika Szwarc-Bronikowska, vice president of Media People.
