Six months out from the next NSW state election, advertisers are preparing for a major windfall in light of massive government spending in recent history.
Following on from Nielsen’s mid-year report that showed political parties dominating the advertising spends for 2022 so far, hopes are high for another boom to the industry in the lead up to March 2023 when NSW will hit the polls once again.
With five political parties in the top twenty spenders for Australian advertising and total estimated government spending sitting at around $196.6 million, the expectation is for a massive injection into NSW-based advertising agencies in the coming months.
The NSW Government already sits fourth on Nielsen’s ladder for ad spending, so a sizeable spend for this election wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.
Additionally, the previous state election in 2018/19 saw the NSW government drop $84 million on advertising campaigns in an effort to swing voter preferences, and given 2023 represents the first election post-covid the spending could easily be higher this time around.
The remainder of 2022 could be the highest value period for agencies, as a ban on government ads will start on January 26 and run through to election day (March 25), but such a restriction hasn’t stopped ads going to air in the past.
Thanks to a narrow definition of politicisation in advertising, several campaigns have snuck through the cracks in the lead up to past elections, including 2018’s $5 million ‘Cost of Living’ campaign which saw backlash for its inappropriate use of voter sentiments.
Should the regulations on government advertising remain unclear between now and March, there could certainly be an influx of ads right up until election day on the 25th.
