In 2022, business owners will have to be even more patient: 2021 will end the advertising industry with a 51% drop.

Jānis Āboltiņš, owner of the marketing company “BSMS”

In 2022, business owners will have to be even more patient: 2021 will end the advertising industry with a 51% drop.

The end of the year is a good time to stop for a moment and think about what we have succeeded in. Looking back at the twenty years of BSMS business history, this year should be highlighted as a year of uncertainty, where business owners and their teams have had to adapt to rapid change. During this period, it is more important than ever for leaders to be patient, not to make hasty and ill-considered decisions, but to have mutual respect and trust in the team. As an owner, I don’t interfere in the company’s operations, but I simply rely on professionals and let them work.

As for the advertising industry represented by my company, SIA “BSMS”, in 2021, like most others, it faced the challenges posed by the pandemic, which will have to be met to a greater or lesser extent in 2022 as well. This year is also marked by rising energy prices and the inevitably associated inflation. Data* on exports of services, which could be used to measure the health of the industry, show that the export market in the advertising industry is currently declining for the second year in a row. In 2020, the decline in the industry’s exports compared to the previous year was 41%, while in 2021, taking into account the official, average annual indicators, the decline in the exports of the advertising industry compared to 2019 could already reach 51%. I will share, that BSMS also had a similar year in 2020 as the industry as a whole, with a decline of 34% compared to 2019, given its core business and close links with the event organization and retail industry.

Overall, 2020 provided an opportunity to look at the company from the sidelines, and although the strategic goals were not changed, we reviewed tactics and moved forward with a new perspective. This was justified, because this year the growth of exports compared to 2019 will be about 15%, and it can be observed that the total export indicators of Latvian companies have reached unprecedented, high indicators, in total about 20% more. During the year, companies in the advertising and marketing sectors are characterized by stabilization and review of their operations. This is how we managed to introduce the podcast “Tirgziņu Tērzes” this year, which promotes the exchange of knowledge of industry professionals, but from the perspective of organizing the company’s operations, we have moved to a more flexible work model.

Be patient and make decisions thoughtfully - it pays off!

*Informative sources:

Data from the Central Statistical Bureau.

Structure of exports and imports by kind of activity of enterprises (NACE Rev. 2) - Exports of goods and services.

Exports of advertising and market research services from January to September 2019, 2020 and 2021 inclusive.