Total online advertising spend continues to grow, reaching just over $1.88 billion for the three months ending 30 September 2016 according to the latest PwC/IAB Online Advertising Expenditure Report.
The industry growth represents a 3.7 per cent gain on last quarter and a 20.3 per cent gain over Q3 2015.
The data is in line with the recently released Commercial Economic Advisory of Australia (CEASA) report which showed digital media represents over 48 per cent of the total Australian expenditure for the first half of financial year 2016.
The PwC/IAB report shows that FMCG advertisers are continuing to shift their attention to digital video responsible for 23.5 per cent of total video expenditure and spending almost three-times as much on video as General Display advertising (8.2 per cent).
This shift in spend has been validated by Nielsen in its recent Pathmatics Q3 data, which reported Kimberly Clark, Unilever and Proctor & Gamble as the top FMCG advertisers in the digital video market.
“The dominance of FCMG in video shows marketers are warming to the longer term effects of cross-device, and even cross-media campaigns that are underpinned by digital video,” said IAB CEO, Vijay Solanki.
“Marketers understand relationship building and its value and they are re-investing dollars where they can realise strong, measurable ROI and brand recall. The spend on digital video in these major industry categories speaks volumes in that regard.
“Screens deliver video and personalised, optimised experiences. We’ve seen almost two-thirds of the market going to screens, with digital also strengthening the outdoor ad industry. Digital video can drive brand uplift in a targeted, immersive and measurable way. It can put the right creative on steroids.”
The PwC/ IAB report showed that all digital advertising categories experienced strong growth in the quarter against the comparative 2015 quarter, with Classifieds up 13.4 per cent, Search and Directories showing a 22.8 per cent increase and General Display increasing 21 per cent.
Expenditure on mobile advertising grew to reach $570.7 million in the September quarter, a five per cent increase on last quarter and a 56.6 per cent jump compared to Q3 2015. Smartphones continue to attract a majority of the mobile dollars, making up 64 per cent of the total mobile expenditure.
