In my last post of 2006, I called for a reality check vis-a-vis the interactive talent shortage. Sure there's a shortage, but, I asked, how significant is the shortage given the actually work being done by marketing departments and ad agencies?
Well, here is your reailty check in all its info-graphical glory: Estimated US On-Line and Off-Line Ad Expenditure 2005/2006. Courtesy of MarketingSherpa
Gathered from a number of different sources, these charts make it clear that there is still a ton of money, upwards of $50 BILLION, spent on direct mail and the total amount spent on promotional items, $18 billion, roughly equals the amount spent on ALL on-line marketing put together.
Which is another way of saying that, while the demand for marketing and creative professionals with on-line experience will continue to grow (and, I'll admit, $18 billion isn't nothing), businesses still rely heavily on folks with strong print design abilities. And lets face it, many interactive designers are still called on to do print work. As one Flash developer put it to me, "People may or may not go to your website, but everyone has to get their mail."
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