The market
The Italian advertising market ended the year with overall growth in spending of 3.8%. Compared with 2009, a black year for the industry (-13.4%, Source: Nielsen), this confirms a progressive improvement in line with the positive signals that were first seen in the middle of the year, particularly for certain media.
| Advertising market |
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| (in €m) | 2010 | 2009 | % change |
| Television | 4,619.3 | 4,358.9 | 6.0% |
| Total print media | 2,289.6 | 2,391.7 | (4.3%) |
| - Magazines | 829.9 | 877.6 | (5.4%) |
| - Newspapers | 1,459.7 | 1,514.1 | (3.6%) |
| Radio | 470.0 | 436.3 | 7.7% |
| Internet | 363.0 | 302.2 | 20.1% |
| Other | 881.5 | 819.8 | 7.5% |
| Total advertising market | 8,623.4 | 8,308.9 | 3.8% |
The Company
| (in €m) | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising revenues | 229.1 | 244.3 |
| Other revenues | 4.8 | 6.1 |
|
|
233.9 | 250.4 |
| Operating costs | (239.4) | (255.1) |
| Gross operating profit | (5.5) | (4.7) |
| Amortisations & depreciations | (0.1) | (0.3) |
| Operating profit | (5.6) | (5.0) |
The revenues of Mondadori Pubblicità were down for the year by 6.6%. The elements that contributed to this included the ending of the contract for Società Europea di Edizione SpA (November 2009) and the move of internet advertising sales, from January, to the new company Mediamond. Meanwhile, the company benefited from advertising on behalf of Radio Kiss Kiss, which began in March 2009.
On a like-for-like basis, the fall was a more contained -1.9%.
In magazines, after a good final quarter, Mondadori titles ended the year with a downturn of 2.1%. On a like-for-like basis, this was essentially in line with the previous year (-0.8%) and is in any case noteworthy in a competitive context characterized by uncertain forecasts and high volatility in advertising investments.
Weeklies remained positive (+1%) thanks to the strength of the entire women’s area. In addition to significant performances by Donna Moderna (+3.8%), Chi (+4%) and Grazia (+2,4%), the stand out title was TuStyle which, with growth of around 40%, is an authentic success story not only for the Mondadori portfolio, but also for the entire market. Of note among the other magazines was Panorama, which ended a very difficult year for the segment more or less in line with the previous year thanks to an expansion of its offering, now available not only in printed formats (Special and Tabloid) but also in a digital version for the iPad.
Although monthlies were down compared with 2009, cooking and interiors titles, two sectors that are particularly important for Mondadori, held up well.
In concert with the publisher, efforts continued to develop the new fashion-focused events that had enlivened the previous period, with innovative communication formats such as those based on the winning combination of Fashion-Design (Grazia and Interni) and others centred on interiors, such as the “Milano Design Week”, which takes place in October.
Among the most innovative commercial activities was the hugely successful Rete Prospect, which caters specifically to the requirements of advertisers that are not a permanent or regular feature of the Mondadori client portfolio.
Radio, which saw overall growth of +16.5%, also confirmed the positive trend of R101, which grew by 5.1% in 2010. Radio Kiss Kiss, which only began in March of last year, also posted good sales results.
In general, the advertising company’s revenues were essentially stable compared with 2009 (net of Società Europea di Edizioni SpA and Internet), thanks to significant efforts in the segment of small and medium-sized clients.