Global advertising spend is forecast to grow by 5.8% globally and 5.9% in Australia in 2021, according to the dentsu 2021 Ad Spend Report.
Australia's ad spend growth in 2022 will lift to 6.2%, say analysts at dentsu.
The report combines data from 59 markets and anticipates that $US579 billion will be spent globally with all regions enjoying growth to offset a fall of 8.8% in 2020.
“The Australian market has seen quite a resurgence in ad spend from Q4 last year and those who invested will have momentum with an established brand presence in market," says Michael Bass, dentsu ANZ’s media chief investment officer.
"The opportunities that existed for brands to grow during difficult times last year are still here now, and if 2020 showed us anything, it’s better to spend than pull back."
Dentsu's Australia forecasts are in line with others analysts. Steve Allen at pearman puts the rise in 2021 at 5%. Zenith is forecasting 8% and Magna 11%.
Australia’s forecast from dentsu is marginally lower than other markets such as India (up 10.8%), the United Kingdom (10.4%) and France (8.9%).
Gigital will account for half of all spend for the first time, with Social (18.3%), Search (11.0%) and Video (10.8%) expected to benefit the most.
TV is expected to drive a 1.7% increase globally to $US169 billion, which accounts for a third of all ad spend globally, driven largely by the return of large global sporting events as clients look to capitalise on the audiences they draw.
Bass says 2020 shaped how we navigate and respond to global events from an advertising and media investment perspective, in the best interests of clients.
“While panic began to unfold in March and clients pulled spend, confidence has since returned with people becoming more adaptable to the changing landscape," he says.
"Rather than pulling spend, clients now simply shift their investment to other channels, or adjust their messaging. This will undoubtedly continue in 2021."
Despite the positive signs of in 2021, a return to pre-pandemic levels of advertising spend is unlikely until 2022, when spending is likely to reach US$619 billion and grow at a rate of 6.9%.
“We’ll naturally see strong growth in Q2 this year but for Australia to see total industry growth, we really need all categories to fire," he says.
"Momentum will continue to build in categories such as retail, food, and gaming, however the big spenders – travel, tourism aggregators, entertainment – haven’t bounced back yet in our market.
"Until these categories start to spend again, it’s unlikely we’ll see the market return to pre-2019 levels."
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