Market Monitor (Cont. from page 2) Athletic footwear and apparel As to sources’ top IT spending trends – US priorities in 2022, they include security, cloud computing and digital transformation. Looking ahead, 65% To gauge the impact of inflation, and outerwear in the next three months, expect a mix shift in IT spending Grassroots commissioned interviews with 41% on non-athletic footwear, and 40% priorities post-COVID-19 lockdowns/ consumers in the US who shop for athletic on non-athletic apparel, while 14% are work-from-home (WFH) environment footwear and apparel. When asked their planning on spending more on athletic as things return to normal, while top concern about the future, 63% of footwear. Apparel, electronics and grocer- 25% do not, and 10% were not sure. sources said coping with inflation, 37% ies are the categories in which sources Among sources who expect a shift, said COVID-19 spread, and 35% said not expect to do the most online shopping in security, digital transformation and being able to pay rent/mortgage. In the the next three months, while jewelry, toys cloud computing are the areas seen next 30 days, 45% expect their overall and games, housewares, and accessories as the greatest increases in IT spend- spending to be about the same vs. the last are the categories in which they expect to ing priorities, while these are also the 30 days, while 32% expect to spend more do the least. areas seen as the greatest decreases and 24% less. Meanwhile, 91% of sources As to how sources typically shop for in IT spending priorities. In the event think prices of everyday goods are more branded footwear and apparel, 37% said of cuts to the IT budget, these three expensive or significantly more expensive it did not change during the pandemic, areas reportedly would be affected vs. last year. In addition, 58% said higher while 29% shopped more online during the most. In 2H 2022 vs. 1H, sources gas prices are causing them to purchase the pandemic and will continue after a full said spending has increased most significantly fewer things, 29% said some return to normal, and 19% shopped more significantly for remote/WFH technol- fewer things, and 14% cited no impact. online during the pandemic but will return ogy, cloud computing and security. Compared to last year, 43% of sources to pre-pandemic shopping patterns after In the next five years, the technology are planning on spending less on coats a full return to normal. that sources expect to have the greatest impact on their company is cybersecurity, followed by AI/machine learning and hybrid cloud. Regarding AI, 57% of sources have Out-of-home media advertising – one or more ongoing projects currently or it is already incorporated Australia in some processes or offerings, while 26% have none but plan to in the future, 8% said it is extensively To examine the advertising spending In the next 12 months, sources expect incorporated in their organization, outlook and check on spending allocation outdoor, online and social media to see and 8% have no plans to adopt AI. trends for outdoor advertising, Grassroots increasing advertising budget alloca- Among those who have one or more commissioned interviews with sources tions and become more important to projects currently, 94% said results at advertising agencies in Australia. advertisers for audience attention and from big data and AI are measurable Eighty-seven percent said forward reach, while print and TV are expected or very measurable; 90% started at advertising bookings until the end of to see decreasing allocations, as they least some last year, and 97% plan 2022 are uncertain due to economic are considered less relevant now that to start at least some this year; and factors, changes of government in an consumer attention has shifted to online. the top objective of investment is election year, new COVID-19 variants If advertising budgets were tightened, advanced analytics/better decisions, and paused spending around the end of 87% of sources said spending on outdoor followed by innovation/disruption. the financial year. In 2H 2022 vs. 2H 2019 advertising would continue to grow (pre-COVID-19), 60% of sources expect because of more creative use of the As to sources’ current mix of cloud overall advertising spending to remain workloads, it is 37% private, 32% flat, while 40% expect it to decrease, as medium and return-to-office movement, hybrid and 31% public; the expected advertisers are remaining cautious due to while 13% said it would be flat. In the next mix in five years is 37% private, 34% consumer spending still being lower than 6–12 months, all outdoor advertising hybrid and 30% public. In 2022, pre-COVID. In 1H 2023 vs. 1H 2022, 93% media are expected to grow due to the the top security priority is network expect it to increase, while 7% expect it to movement of people outdoors, events, security, followed by cloud security remain flat, citing more visibility moving and more creative focus on and broader and data security. into 2023 as COVID and economic use of the media. uncertainties dissipate. 3