The communications agency market - Italy (2025)

1.2 Booming global market

From **** to ****, the value of the global communications agency market in Italy grows steadily from $***.** billion to $***.** billion, with regular increases of ***.** in ****, ***.** in ****, ***.** in ****, and ***.** in ****

Global market value of communication agencies Italy,****-****,billion dollars Mordor Intelligence

Global advertising spending was over $*** billion in ****, according to Zenith Forecasts estimates, up +**% from the **** global downturn caused by the crisis, which severely affected business confidence and available capital. The global advertising market grew at a CAGR of +*% during ****-****.

The global advertising market can be estimated at $*** billion in ****, considering the largest players in the industry.

In ****, according to data from the largest companies, the global market would grow by *.* percent to $*** billion. The following year is expected to see a growth rate parts to crica double, +*.* percent, amounting to more than $* trillion.

According to WARC's study, **.* percent of global advertising spending in **** is related to a small cluster of * large media-owning companies -- Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, Bytedence and Meta. The share of spending related to this cluster is also expected to be confirmed in ****, with an increase of +*.*%.

Global advertising spending World, ****-****, in billions of dollars Source: ****

According to the Dentsu Group, the Asia-Pacific and North America regions will ...

1.3 The European market

From **** to **** in Western Europe, digital advertising revenue grows steadily from $**.** billion to $***.** billion, while traditional advertising revenue remains stable at around $**-** billion, starting at $**.* in **** and rising to $**.** in ****, with a slight decline until **** followed by a gradual recovery, showing a clear growing gap between the two types

Chiffre d'affaires du marché de la communication Europe de l'ouest, ****-****, milliards de dollars Source: ****

1.4 The Italian market

We refer here to two ATECO headings, one refers to **.** "Public relations and communication" and includes:

activities on behalf of third parties aimed at improving the public image of an organization or business, press office activities on behalf of third parties the promotion of the local economy.

From **** to ****, the turnover of the "Public Relations and Communication" sector in Italy grows from ***.* to *,***.* thousand euros, with an initially fluctuating trend between **** and **** ranging from ***.* to *,***, followed by a marked and continuous increase from **** with *,***.*, *,***.* in ****, *,***.* in ****, and *,***.* in ****

Turnover of the "Public Relations and Communication" sector. Italy, ****-****, millions of euros Source: ****

The other item, **.** "Advertising agencies," includes:

**.**.** The design of advertising campaigns, in which we find the following activities: conception of advertising campaigns: creation and placement of advertising for newspapers, periodicals, radio, television, Internet and other media creation and dissemination strategy of outdoor advertising, e.g.: billboards, billboards, brochures, window dressing, design of showrooms, advertising lettering on buses and motor vehicles, etc creation of booths and other exhibition structures and spaces **.**.** The conduct of marketing campaigns and other advertising services, in which we find the following activities: conducting advertising campaigns: placement of advertisements in newspapers, periodicals, radio, television, Internet ...

2.1 The advertising media

In ****, the media market share for advertising in Italy is dominated by the Internet with ** percent, followed by TV at ** percent, while traditional media account for a smaller share: print * percent, radio * percent and Out of Home * percent, highlighting the clear primacy of online advertising over other channels.

Market share of different media for advertising Italy, ****, % observatories.net

Traditional TV

In March ****, monthly contacts of traditional TV reached ** million individuals, thus almost ** percent of Italians consume at least one minute of TV.

This figure might reassure about the "ratings crisis" related to TV, however, after the hyper-consumption of the years referibil to the pandemic, there is a gradual trend of audience erosion. More like a polarization of video consumption, a phenomenon that affects both TV and platforms.

For television, the average consumption calculated over the entire population reaches an average of * */* hours per day.

According to Sensemakers' research, the population can be divided into * categories: the"strong" consumers (***) and, finally, the moderate consumers who make up about ** percent.

Strong consumers watch TV every day, and do so for very long times, exceeding seven hours a day. This is a concentrated consumption: in practice, **% of the population is responsible for **% of total ...

2.2 Italians and their relationship to the Internet

In **** in Italy, the average daily time spent on different media shows a clear prevalence of Internet use with *.** hours, followed by TV with *.** hours and radio with *.** hours; time spent on social media amounts to *.** hours, while print, streaming music and podcasts record *.**, *.** and *.** hours, respectively

Daily time spent on different media Italy, ****, in hours wearesocial.com

Main motivations for using social media (***)

In ****, the main motivations for Italian users to use media include mainly reading news (***), while motivations related to social interaction, purchasing and discovering new trends are less relevant but still significant, all between **.* percent and ** percent.

wearesocial

Types of accounts followed on social media (***)

In ****, Italian users mainly follow accounts of friends, family members or acquaintances (***) also stand out among the preferences, while interest in influencers, brands, journalists, experts and companies remains at medium-low levels, ranging between **.* percent and **.* percent depending on the category.

wearesocial

2.3 Demand trend: the influencer market and digital

In ****, the most used social platforms in Italy are WhatsApp (***) is used by only **.*% of users.

Most used social platforms Italy, ****,% techprincess.co.uk

Specific data on individual social

These data, extracted from a series of tables on the main social media in Italy in ****, show detailed information on advertising reach, the percentage of the population reached, and in some cases even the gender distribution of users. The social media analyzed include YouTube, Instagram, Messenger, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Pinterest.

For example, YouTube emerges as the platform with the highest advertising coverage, reaching **.* million users, or **.* percent of the total population, with a perfectly balanced gender distribution. Instagram follows with **.* million users reached, representing **.* percent of the population, while Messenger covers **.* million people (***). LinkedIn is present with **.* percent coverage of the population, and Snapchat stands at *.* percent with *.** million users.

Finally, Pinterest reaches **.* million users, mostly women (***). These data are crucial for understanding the structure of the communication market because they provide a comprehensive picture of audience distribution across different digital channels, an essential element for communication agencies planning advertising strategies.

Analyzing the penetration, demographics, and potential impact of social media makes it possible to assess the effectiveness of platforms in disseminating ...

2.4

3.1 Industry enterprises in Italy: how many, where and what are they?

Let us analyze as explained earlier the structures of two Italian sectors, the first recorded under **.** "Public relations and communication" and the second under **.** "Advertising agencies."

From **** to ****, in Italy, the number of enterprises in the "Public relations and communication" sector grew from *,*** to *,***, while employment increased from **,*** to **,***, showing continuous growth from ****, after a significant decline between **** and ****

Number of enterprises and employees in the "Public Relations and Communication" sector Italy, ****-****, units Source: ****

From **** to ****, the number of enterprises in the "Advertising Agencies" sector in Italy doubled from **,*** to **,***, while the number of employees increased from **,*** to **,***, with particularly marked growth from **** onward

Number of enterprises and employees in the "Advertising agencies" sector Italy, ****-****, units Source: ****

Italian media agencies

In ****, among the major companies active in the Italian advertising market, OMD/Omnicom had the highest turnover with more than **.* billion euros and annual growth of **.* percent, followed by Zenith with **.* billion (***).

3.2 Structure of the competitive dynamics of the ADV world

These data, extrapolated from the *Pitch Report *****, clearly and comprehensively show how the demand for advertising services in Italy is distributed, highlighting which types of assignments are most in demand, such as creative, social and influencer marketing, and media planning, and which industries invest the most in communications, including food, utilities, retail and finance. The report also returns a concrete overview of the most active agencies in the market, based on the number of assignments actually obtained during ****.

We have chosen to use only data referring to this year, without historical comparisons, in order to provide an up-to-date and focused representation of the current industry configuration. This information is fundamental to understanding the structure of this market, because it allows us to capture the real articulation of supply and demand, the services on which companies focus most, and the competitive intensity among agencies active in Italy. Within the research therefore, these data represent an indispensable reference to describe the concrete and current functioning of the communication sector, based on verifiable numbers and authoritative sources.

Overall of all major assignments that occurred through the actual bidding process communicated to press sources (***)

The image shows a classification of major advertising holding companies by ...

3.3 The organization of a communications agency

Working in a communications or advertising agency offers different types of jobs, which can then lead to different job titles. The main ones are:

Account Manager: is a figure who manages clients in the post-sales phase, also manages the advertising budget and accounting of the agency. Account Executive: is a figure who maintains contact with clients, coordinates the work of the agency. In fact, it is this figure who oversees the creation and organization of the agency in order to ensure the launch of the advertising campaign desired by the client. Strategic Marketing Director: is a figure who coordinates the team of technicians and experts who regulate the activity of promoting the client's service or product. Strategic Planner: is a figure who is in charge of researching the market and its trend so that the client who wishes to advertise a product can have in mind all the essential elements for the commercialization of the product. Media Planner: is a figure who is in charge of studying the best platforms for the advertised product: where, when, how, with what medium... also keeps an eye on the budget allocated to the advertising campaign. Art Director and Copywriter: these are two essential figures ...

4.1 The opening of a communications or advertising agency

To practice in the world of communications and advertising there are no specific educational requirements required by law, however, for a successful and functioning business it is advisable to have certain characteristics, for example:

Follow an appropriate educational background (***) Keep up to date (***) on digital media Know the industry well and have contacts to promote the business

Requirements:

First of all, there is a bureaucratic path to follow, as with any business.

Thus, the main steps, to be followed with an accountant or other competent figure, are:

Opening a VAT number Registration with the commercial register at the Chamber of Commerce Application to the municipality for the opening of a new business, SCIA Opening of an Inps and Inail position (***)

Note: In the case of also opening a premises, an application must be submitted to the referring ASL.

Next steps:

After completing the bureaucratic steps, a very detailed business plan must be in place to operate a business. Pursuant, one must understand the prices charged by the industry to remain competitive with other businesses. Then, in the world of advertising, it is important to stay up-to-date with the latest news, trends, or media in the market.

As mentioned earlier, having a ...

4.2 Prices charged in the market

The following table lists the different services offered by communication and advertising agencies and their prices, in a non-exhaustive manner.

Each agency may have its own range of services, so it is possible that more specific services may be offered and the range may be broader. In addition, rates vary according to the specific characteristics of each service.

The services offered may be requested individually, or on a periodic basis.

(***)

5.1 The legal regulation of advertising

As seen during the study, advertisements are broadcast on different platforms: television, radio, online, in digital form... For this reason, the rules governing their use and dissemination are different and specific to each platform. Nevertheless, there are rules to follow:

Penal Code rules to prohibit advertising abuses regarding images broadcasts, which must respect moral ethics EEC Directive No. *** of ****, on prohibitions of misleading advertising, later updated by the document Legislative Decree No. *** of August *, **** Specific rules for online advertising An Institute for Advertising Self-Regulation created by the industry to self-regulate The establishment of the Authority for the Protection of Competition and the Market, deals with the supervision of the content of advertisements, and intervenes after reporting

6.1 Segmentation of actors

The following are the main advertising agencies (***) in Italy by revenue value.

Companies Register

• Publicis Web Performance
• Nielsen
• WPP
• Omnicom Media group
• Havas Groupe (Groupe Vivendi)
• Teads Italia s.r.l
• Incentive Promomedia s.r.l
• Hearts & Science s.r.l
• Starcom Mediavest Group Italia s.r.l
• Publicis s.r.l