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Media Advertising Ad Spend

AU & NZ ad spends robust despite global economic uncertainty

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By Danielle Long, Acting APAC Editor

August 3, 2022 | 3 min read

Australia and New Zealand ad spends remain strong despite economic uncertainty, with both markets recording record growth in June, according to SMI figures.

Australia market

Australia’s media agency market has emerged confidently from Covid with record ad spends

The figures reveal the markets are yet to be impacted by the economic uncertainty and inflation pressures, unlike overseas counterparts such as the US, the UK and Canada, all of which recorded declines for the same period.

Australia achieved record levels of ad spend for June, up 0.4 percent year-on-year to reach $775m. This helped boost the June quarter spend by 7.1 percent to a record $2.26 bn – up $150m on Q2 2021.

Ad spend for the full calendar year reached a record $4.2bn – up 10.6 percent with total agency billings growing $1.1bn over the previous financial year to $8.8bn, representing growth of 14.5 percent.

Jane Ractliffe, managing director, SMI AU/NZ, said, “The latest SMI financial year ad spend detail confirms the Australian market has moved well beyond the COVID period, with the total financial year ad spend now 6.4% or $528 million larger than in the pre-COVID 2018/19 period,” she said.

“The data also affirms the ongoing growth of agency ad spend in Australia, with the market arguably on track to hit $9 billion in size next year, having grown by more than 35% - or by $2.3 billion – in the past ten years (since FY2011/12).”

New Zealand’s market achieved a record $106.8m ad spend for June – a 0.2 percent year-on-year increase. The figure marks the 31st month of consecutive growth for the market. The June performance contributed to a 6.3 percent increase in the June quarter ad spend.

Ractliffe said, “We’re also seeing for NZ an unusually high level of Forward Pacings for July, with the value of confirmed ad demand already equal to 86.5% the value of the July 2021 total, and that strongly suggests the ad market will continue to grow despite economic headwinds.”

“Clearly, advertisers in our region are more confident in the future than those in the northern hemisphere as they are continuing to invest strongly in their media investment,” she said.

Unsurprisingly, digital ad spending recorded the strongest gains in both markets.

Media Advertising Ad Spend

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