Canadian media spending is far different from any other nation...

Toronto, Canada April 27, 2012

Local businesses in Canada spent $686 million on online advertising in 2011, or 12% of their total budgets, according to new research from Borrell Associates. Local online ad spending is poised to grow 18% in 2012 based on Borrell Associates forecasts. This data comes from their new Canadian “Compass” report (see http://adspending.com).

This new Canadian data is the product of a nationwide assessment that Borrell Associates conducted on behalf of several media companies. Borrell Associates also compiled ad-spending back-casts to 2000 and forecasts to 2016 for each local market. The project allows Borrell Associates to deliver ad-spending detail for any Canadian market across any business category, by all 12 media types (newspapers, radio, TV, magazines, online, etc.). It is being incorporated under Borrell’s Local Ad Spending (LA$R™) report set as an extension of the company’s popular U.S. Compass report and is now available for purchase by media companies and ad agencies.

In addition, using Borrell Associates’ SMB survey product, thousands of local businesses detailed their ad spending habits. The SMB survey was run across all 10 Canadian provinces in Q1 of 2012. Media companies can participate in the ongoing survey by contacting Borrell Associates.

“We’ve been able to build on our U.S. experience to create a really superior Canadian product,” said Kip Cassino, Borrell Associates’ chief research executive. “Canadian media spending is far different from any other nation, and has to be examined separately.”

Join Borrell Associates CEO Gordon Borrell as he unveils the new local ad-spending Compass report and SMB survey for Canada in a free Borrell Associates’ Webinar. Cassino and SMB survey analyst Greg Harmon will also be presenting and available for Q&A. The Webinar is Monday, May 7, at 1:00 p.m. ET. Space is limited, reserve your Webinar seat now at this link.

Among the findings:

• Advertising in Canada totaled $16.5 billion last year, of which $5.7 billion, or 35%, was spent by local businesses.
• Total online advertising totaled $2.7 billion nationwide, of which $686 million was local.
• Local businesses are increasing their online ad spending at a rate of 18% this year. By year’s end, the total will come to $810 million, or 14.4% of all local ad spending.
• Spending in some markets varied wildly from the average. In Abbotsford, for instance, local businesses devoted only 10% of their ad budgets to online media – less than $8 million in total.
• Almost 89% of local businesses have a website; 59% maintain a social network account such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn; 15% of businesses have participated in a deal-of-the-day program.
• Eight percent of local businesses said they have used mobile marketing, while 43% said they are likely to do so in 2012.

For more information on the Canadian Compass, contact Borrell Associates at 1-757-221-6641, or email - info(at)borrellassociates(dot)com. A version of the U.S. Compass is available for testing at http://adspending.com