SMI Data: Ad Spends Remain Buoyant, Up A Healthy 4.1% In October

Australia’s advertising market remains incredibly buoyant, reporting its 21st consecutive month of year- on-year growth in October despite a very strong comparative period, with SMI’s data showing total ad demand lifting by 4.1 per cent.

And that growth put the October 2022 total just $3.9 million shy of the record set in October 2017.

SMI AU/NZ managing director Jane Ractliffe said the market’s remarkable run of growth looks set to continue into November, with SMI’s Forward Pacings data showing that ad spend equivalent to 86.8 per cent of last year’s November total has already been paid (excluding digital).

“The continuing confidence in our ad market is very much highlighted by the fact that these forward pacings are so strong, as the market delivered a very high record level of ad spend in November 2021 – the total was more than $50 million larger than any previous November month,’’ she said.

“And we can already see that ad spend representing 98 per cent of last November’s Cinema bookings are confirmed; 91 per cent of last November’s Radio bookings are confirmed and 90 per cnt of last November’s TV bookings are confirmed.’’

As was the case last month, the market has again been lifted by huge returning demand to the Outdoor and Cinema media in October with Outdoor’s ad spend soaring 51 per cent year-on-year to be back above the $100 million mark. Similarly, Cinema ad spend more than doubled in October.

Ractliffe said the success of Outdoor and Cinema in October looks to have again affected demand for the TV and Digital media this month, with TV bookings back 0.4 per cent and Digital’s growth limited to 1.5 per cent.

“This trend looks set to continue as Outdoor ad spend returns to `normal’ levels, as even though the media has achieved year-on-year growth of 51 per cent in October the total Outdoor spend is still 15 per cent below that recorded in October 2017,’’ she said.

Another key feature of the October advertising month was the strong demand from the Retail category, with its ad spend lifting 10 per cent year-on-year, and the return of Automotive Brand ad spend with its total up 29 per cent year-on-year. And in a sign that this growth will continue, the level of Auto Brand ad spend remains 25 per cent below its peak fin October 2018.

Ractliffe said the month was notable for the number of product categories reporting record levels of October ad spend, as apart from Retail there were also record October totals from the Insurance, Communications, Clothing/Fashion Accessories, Travel, Wealth Management, Education and Technology product categories.

“It’s clear that the ad demand we’re currently seeing in the Australian market is broad-based, reflecting a strong underlying economy and a good sense of confidence in the market,’’ she said.

And given the months of growth it’s not surprising that SMI is reporting a record level of ad spend this financial year with that total up 4.9 per cent, while over the calendar year the total ad spend is up 8.8% to another record level.

Ractliffe said SMI has never before reported ad spend above $3 billion in the first four months of a financial year, nor ad spend above $7 billion in the first ten months of any calendar year.

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Jane Ractliffe SMI Data