The advertising industry is under siege. The continuing economic slump continues to affect revenues as the industry's traditional big spenders tighten their belts.

According to research firm AIS/Nielsen, government - SA's second-biggest advertiser six years ago - ranked fifth in 2008, spending R440m.

Other traditional big spenders who slid down the ranks include Absa, which spent R195m in 2008. It has fallen 12 spots to number 21. Standard Bank - which spent R254,5m last year, down from R313m in 2007 - fell to the 11th spot from seventh. Embattled furniture company JD Group and SABMiller, the world's second-largest brewer, are also cutting down on traditional advertising spend.

The troubled auto manufacturing sector's financial woes are also having an effect on the media and ad industry. A glance at AIS/Nielsen's top 30 biggest advertisers' list reveals the sector to be hovering at the bottom.

Ford is out of SA's Top 20 biggest advertisers and is now 23th, spending R183m in 2008, while Toyota SA has held onto its 29th position, upping its spend to R151m from R147m in 2007.

General Motors fell down four spots to 30th last year, spending R18m less at R165m. Of the traditional big spenders, Unilever continues to reign supreme, holding onto its country's biggest advertiser status - spending R645m in 2008, up 44,6% from about R446m in 2006.

But an economic depression is an opportune time for great innovations, says Simon Silvester, WPP head of planning for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He's in charge of planning for two of the company's agencies - Young & Rubicam (Y&R) and Wunderman.

The author of several books on branding, marketing and the growth of digital media, Silvester says around the world, advertising and media planning agencies are re-evaluating how they do business. The local arm of his agency, Y&R SA, handles Top Companies giants Pick n Pay at 19, Pikwik (20), and JD Group (44).

He says firms no longer look at digital media, which includes mobile and the Web, as optional but as a must-have.

He says given the limitation in access to broadband services in emerging markets, agencies should be leveraging penetration of mobile in their markets.

Mobile advertising is expected to take off in the coming few years to fetch about US$250bn by 2018. The global online advertising industry is growing rapidly in developed regions despite the economic slowdown.

In the US, Internet advertising revenues topped $23bn, according to the 2008 Internet Advertising Revenue Report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Local advertising agencies such as TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris and morrisjones&co, and media planning and implementation firm Universal McCann are already embracing this reality.

Morrisjones&co, which handles Discovery, ranked at 91 in this year's Top Companies, launched Mojo Interactive earlier this year.

But it will be some time before the industry reaps the rewards of its digital investments. Clients still need to buy into its effectiveness and get to understand how the platforms work.

Meanwhile, the industry's outdoor sector faces a looming ban on alcohol advertising, its biggest source of revenue.