Aussie banks have cut their advertising expenditure Off the back of the Hayne Royal Commission and intense public scrutiny, early data from the STandard Media Index has revealed.
The index data, which measures ad bookings from major media agency holding groups globally (excluding IP Mediabrands), reported Aussie banks have reduced their spending on metro TV ads by 49 per cent in February, compared to the same month in 2018.
Domestic banks, including the big four— NAB, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ — reduced overall media ad spending by 31 per cent year-on-year.
The sizable reduction in ad spend follows the widespread media coverage around the bad practices of the big four banks, which were uncovered by the Hayne Royal Commission.
While part of the banks’ ad decrease can be explained by the increase in spending ahead of the royal commission, as the revelations of misconduct emerged, the spend began to decline.
In the first quarter of 2018, the domestic banks category ad spend hit 28.6 per cent year-on-year, yet by the end of the year, the category spend fell by 23.4 per cent.
The interim data shows metro TV ad bookings fell 11.7 per cent compared to February last year.
The figures exclude government spending and SMI also does not capture direct spending not funneled through agencies.
Excluding government ad spending, total bookings were down 17.6 per cent year-on-year, according to initial data.
The biggest dives in ad spend were newspapers and digital, down 17.4 per cent and 36.8 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, regional TV bookings fell 11.9 per cent for the month, but regional radio was up 0.6 per cent, which was the only sector to report growth.
Metropolitan radio ad spend fell by 5.9 per cent, and outdoor advertising slumped by 4.4 per cent.
