NZ ad market defies lockdowns

AUCKLAND, Tuesday: New Zealand’s media agency market has shrugged off the recent lockdown to deliver yet another month of double-digit growth in ad revenue, reports Sydney-based Stan NZ MD Jane Radcliffe.

NZ’s August adspend lifted 17.9% year-on-year to $ 87.9 million.

Radcliffe said: “The result also ensures the NZ ad market has now moved well and truly out of the Covid doldrums, with the level of bookings over the course of this calendar year now 4.7% above that achieved in the same eight months of the pre-Covid world of 2019.

“This was the seventh consecutive month of year-on-year growth, and while the result was boosted by a week of the Tokyo Olympics broadcast it’s also clear that underlying ad demand was robust.

“Never would anyone have expected the New Zealand ad market to be hitting these levels given what we experienced last year and while most of the country has been in some form of lockdown.

“And the good news is continuing as the early data for September shows the value of adspend already 5.5% above what was achieved in September last year (ex-digital) with growth already evident at the TV, radio, magazines and cinema media.

“This was the seventh consecutive month of YOY growth, and while the result was boosted by a week of the Tokyo Olympics broadcast, it’s also clear that underlying ad demand was robust.”

“The Olympics especially assisted television adspend in August with that total up 11.2%, while digital adspend lifted 20.5% and reported the fastest growth in the programmatic and premium content markets.

“Radio adspend was also robust, up 11.9%, while outdoor and cinema continued their pandemic recovery by reporting growth of 34.2% and 255% respectively.

“At a product category level, banking again led the growth with a 91.5% increase on August 2020 investment levels while ad demand from the retail category was also strong (+45.8% ) and food/produce/dairy category ad spend grew 25.8% year-on-year,

“And over the last two months the industry has reported a strong start to the new financial year with ad demand lifting 25.1% and all major media reporting higher ad demand.

“For the eight months of the calendar year-to-date the market is well and truly above the pre-Covid 2019 levels after bookings lifted 29.3% year-on-year with strong growth from the media of TV (+26.5%), digital (+37.9%) and outdoor (+41.2%).

“New Zealand’s advertising market continues to deliver huge growth in advertising demand as it returns to a new normal, and it seems to be an environment in which growth in adspend looks set to continue.”

About Standard Media Index
SMI was established in 2009 in Sydney and has offices in New York, London and Madrid. SMI partners with leading global media buying agencies to provide independent advertising expenditure data. Data is sourced directly from advertising agencies’ billing systems and then aggregated to show the combined picture of media agency adspend across all major media, media sectors, 41 product categories and more than 140 sub categories. SMI works with media agencies 15 global markets.

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