A report by media agency ZenithOptimedia has predicted that the Australian ad market will increase just three per cent in 2016 with a predicted spend of $13.5 billion.
Although any increase is good news the figures do seem underwhelming in a year that will feature both the Rio Olympic Games and a federal election.
According to ZenithOptimedia the big winners in ad spend will be the out of homers and, of course, digital (namely mobile). Outdoor’s transition to digital in recent years continuing to pay handsomely for the sector which is expected to rise almost nine percent from 2015, while digital is expected to snare just under $6 billion of all ad spends this year.
But with any winners there are always a loser. And, you guessed it, the predictions aren’t great for print with both newspapers and magazines to take a hit. Spends on newspapers are predicted to fall 18 per cent to $1.3 billion and magazines a similar amount to $319 million.
Speaking to Fairfax Media this morning, ZenithOptimedia’s trading director Sue-Ellen Osborn said: “We also expect that a recent improvement in consumer sentiment will translate into improved advertising spend coming out of the retailer and the consumer goods categories. Digital and OOH (out of home) mediums continue to be the mediums that benefit the most from this growth.
“Growth in digital has primarily been driven by an increase in mobile advertising, which grew over 50 per cent year on year, and by OLV (online video), which doubled in spend and was responsible for almost all of the growth in digital display.
“Mobile and OLV will continue to drive digital growth into 2016 and ZenithOptimedia is forecasting that before the end of the year, mobile advertising spend will have overtaken newspapers,” Osborn said.
The study found that it looks like being another tough 2016 for the free-to-air TV players with their revenues predicted as flat. Radio spend is predicted to increase 2.9 per cent and cinema advertising up five per cent.
