Latest SMI data for August shows third consecutive month of lower decline in advertising spend in Australia, mirroring global improvements
Australia’s advertising spending continues to rebound, with August figures showing total spend to be just 17.2 per cent short of pre-COVID figures.
According to the latest SMI data, this is the third consecutive month of lower declines in ad spend nationally and also the best in terms of improvement, with level of decline improving by 13 percentage points. This compares to the -43.5 per cent year-on-year drop reported in May, -35.2 per cent reported in June and -30.2 per cent reported in July.
Digital media was the least affected channel, reporting a year-on-year fall of 4.7 per cent in ad spend. Driving growth in this category are social media and video-based websites, such as TV streaming sites.
TV was also solid, reporting an 11 per cent drop in ad spend in August compared to a 27 per cent fall in July. By contrast, the most affected channels remains cinema, which saw an 85.4 per cent variance in August; print magazines, which saw a 52.3 per cent variance; and outdoor, which saw a 48 per cent decline.
SMI A/NZ managing director, Jane Ractliffe, said the Australian market improvements mirror circumstances in other regions such as the UK (18.7 per cent fall in August), Canada (10.6 per cent fall) and New Zealand (fall of 18.1 per cent). The US market also returned to growth during August, driven by higher ad spend in both TV and digital media channels.
“The great news is that in all sophisticated media markets, the level of decline in ad spend has now fallen well below 20 per cent, while in the US, advertisers have quickly returned to TV with most of the extra advertising spend flowing to news and revived sports programs,” she commented.
According to Ractliffe, a major driver of growing ad spend was a second month of stronger spending from retailers including supermarkets, chemists and online retailers. Combined, this drove a 20 per cent increase in retail category ad spend.
For Ractliffe, it’s a significant turnaround from just two months ago, when ad spend in all 40 categories was in decline.
“Demand is clearly picking up as this month we’ve seen strong double-digit growth in ad spend for household cleaning products, technology businesses and smaller categories such as oral and haircare,” she said.
Yet it’s not all rosy. Travel, live entertainment and the cinema and theme park categories are still reporting devastating declines in ad spend as they continue to be impacted by Australia’s ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and climate, SMI reported.
Overall, SMI said spend for Australia’s calendar year-to-date also continues to improve, with the market now back 24 per cent over the previous eight-month period.
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, follow our regular updates via CMO Australia's Linkedin company page, or join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia.
In the third and final episode of our 3-part CMO50 video series exploring modern marketing and why it’s become a matter of trust, we’re delighted to be joined by Telstra’s former CMO and now digital services and sales executive, Jeremy Nicholas, and Adobe VP Marketing Asia-Pacific and Japan, Duncan Egan.
Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.
Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?
As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.
