B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Cannes Lions
  • State of Origin
  • WPP
  • NRL
  • AFL
  • B&T Women in Media
  • Pinterest
  • Thinkerbell
  • imaa
  • Anthony Albanese
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Meta
  • EssenceMediaCom
  • Foxtel
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: SMI Data: Aussie Ad Market Shows Strongest Improvement Since COVID Outbreak
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Media > SMI Data: Aussie Ad Market Shows Strongest Improvement Since COVID Outbreak
Media

SMI Data: Aussie Ad Market Shows Strongest Improvement Since COVID Outbreak

Staff Writers
Published on: 8th October 2020 at 12:55 PM
Staff Writers
Share
4 Min Read
Digital Display, Internet, Technology, Concepts & Topics, Rocket
SHARE

Australia’s media industry is continuing to show more signs of recovery as it emerges from the crushing COVID period, with August ad spend back just 17.2% in what has been the strongest improvement in ad market demand since the depths of the crisis.

The result is the third consecutive month of lower declines but also the best improvement with the level of decline improving by 13 percentage points.

Digital media reported the lowest year-on-year fall of 4.7%, driven by strong growth among Social Media and Video-based websites (such as TV streaming sites), and TV reported a solid result (- 11%).

The improvement in the Australian market mirrors that seen in other global advertising markets, with SMI reporting an 18.1% fall in NZ ad demand in August, an 18.7% decline in UK ad spend and a 10.6% fall in Canadian ad spend.

And SMI AU/NZ Managing Director Jane Ractliffe said the US market returned to growth in August, driven by higher ad spend to both the US Television and Digital media.

“The great news is that in all sophisticated media markets the level of decline in ad spend has now fallen well below 20%, while in the US advertisers have quickly returned to TV with most of the extra advertising spend flowing to news and the revived sports programs,’’ she said.

“We’re also seeing strong improvements in TV advertising in Australia with the level of decline significantly reducing from 27% in July to 11% in August.’’

An important driver of the market improvement in August was the second month of stronger spending from retailers – mostly supermarkets, chemists and online retailers – which drove a combined 20% increase in Retail category ad spend.

Ractliffe said that in August a quarter of all SMI Product Categories reported growth, which was an incredible turnaround from the situation two months ago when the ad spend for all 40 categories was in decline.

“Demand is clearly picking up quickly as this month we’ve also seen strong double digit growth in ad spend for household cleaning products, technology businesses (both for hardware and software products and services) and smaller categories such as oral and haircare,’’ she said.

“Of course the COVID-affected categories such as Travel, Live Entertainment and Movies/Cinema/Theme Parks are still reporting devastating declines in ad spend but outside of those areas the higher demand from other categories is beginning to move the market to a far more stable position.’’

Given the lower August decline, the trend for the calendar year-to-date also continues to improve with the market now back 24.0% over the previous eight month period.

And all major media continue to report double digit declines in ad spend over that time given the fact the market was initially affected by the natural disasters at the start of the year, followed quickly by the COVID pandemic.

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: SMI Data
Share
Staff Writers
By Staff Writers
Follow:
Staff Writers represent B&T's team of award-winning reporters. Here, you'll find articles crafted with industry experience spanning over 50 years. Our team of specialists brings together a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to delivering insightful, topical, and breaking news. With a deep understanding of advertising and media, our Staff Writers are dedicated to providing industry-leading analysis and reporting, both shaping the conversation and setting the benchmark for excellence.

Latest News

Cindy Rose Appointed WPP CEO
10/07/2025
Dame Lisa Carrington.
Zespri Teams Up With World Champion Kayaker Dame Lisa Carrington In Global Partnership
10/07/2025
Agency Scorecard: EssenceMediacom
10/07/2025
Agency Scorecard: It’s Friday
10/07/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?