Online advertising and sponsorship spend increased by 17% during the third quarter of 2003, to a total of over R20-million for the quarter, the South African Online Publishers Association (OPA) has announced.
This figure is collated by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), and represents invoiced rand sales as submitted by OPA member sites, rather than the more commonly reported grossed-up sales figures at rate card values.
The quarter-on-quarter growth seen in Q3 contributes to a total online ad spend of R70-million per annum for OPA members in the South African online marketplace.
OPA chairperson Russel Yeo said, “These results vindicate our view that online publishing is a viable and efficient medium for marketers to reach a key niche of South African decision makers.”
“We see many professional marketers devoting significant funds to the online industry. The growth in the last quarter is proof of the professionalism and hard work put in by our members.”
Russell Hanly, OPA Monitoring and Auditing Committee Head, said Q3 was the second consecutive quarter with strong growth, “It indicates that those advertisers who have adopted the medium have sustained their investment because of solid and efficient returns.”
“Without doubt the measurability and accountability of the online medium is attractive to advertisers, especially those with a direct marketing approach who have the systems in place to accurately assess the efficiency of their spend on a day-to-day basis.”
The categories dominating online spend fall into the following broad groups, according to the audited spend figures of OPA members: Business to Business, Travel, Transport and Leisure and Banking.
The OPA is a grouping of South Africa’s most prominent online publishers. Members include The Mail & Guardian Online, 365 digital, Ananzi, BDFM, CareerJunction, iafrica.com, iol, ITWeb, Johnnic Publishing, Media24 Digital, Moneymax, Moneyweb, MSN SA, M-Web, Ramsay Son & Parker, SuperSport, and Tiscali WorldOnline.