A federal election could be called as early as this weekend but whatever the date advertising will change during campaigning.
Political parties will open the floodgates but some brands will pause, pull back, not wanting to be caught in the poll crossfire.
According to SMI (Standard Media Index), government ad spend was the largest category in January for the first time after lifting the value of its media investment by 51% year-on-year.
SMI AU/NZ Managing Director Jane Ractliffe: “The growth in government category ad spend is underpinning the market.”
However, this will mostly stop during the campaign to be replaced by political party spend.
Social media is ready with a few rules to keep play fair.
TikTok has launched an in-app election guide developed with the support of the Australian Electoral Commission.
Meta (Facebook) is boosting its fact-checking tools and bringing in tougher rules around political advertising.
Google says it's working with campaigners, candidates, elected officials, political parties, and civil society to help everyone understand digital best practices and their responsibilities through Google Ad policies and YouTube Community Guidelines.
"To give Australians more information about paid election ads they see across Google’s platforms, we require that any ad which mentions a political party, candidate or current officeholder for the House of Representatives or the Senate, is included in our new political advertising transparency report, and that the advertiser is verified," says Google.
Pinterest says it’s taking action to strengthen its commitment to identifying, preventing and removing false and misleading content that could interfere with the election.
Media analyst Steve Allen, Pearman’s director of strategy and research, says the present Coalition Government appears to be iin deep trouble with the voting public.
Roy Morgan’s latest data shows Liberal/National parties still 10 points behind Labor.
“The budget handed down is unquestionably political, more so than most, as it is six or so weeks out from the federal election,” says Allen.
“Thus much of what is in the budget might never be implemented, though Labor, up until this point, has generally said, it supports and concurs with most of the consumer directed measures.”
Brett Elliott, Managing Director, UM: “What makes a federal election particularly interesting for advertising is that no one knows exactly when it will be called and how volatile the market will be between the calling of an election and polling day, which is a period that can run anywhere between 5 and 8 weeks.
“Once an election is called all Australian Government advertising must cease immediately and UM will work with media partners to get this done in a matter of hours.
“At the same time this inventory is being cancelled we must also book the Australian Electoral Commission campaign with key messages around enrolment and where to vote.
“This is all done against a backdrop of other advertisers looking to increase or decrease their presence in market, so it creates an intense period of media vendors selling and changing their inventory allocations.
“To complicate the market further, some Australian Government campaigns may receive bipartisan approval during the caretaker period, meaning they can recommence.
“This adds additional pressure back into the market right up until the blackout period, beginning on Wednesday midnight before the Saturday polling day where once again, all broadcast media for Australian Government campaigns ceases.
“So it’s impossible to know how it will play out given the process and unknown timelines, but the appetite to get messages to the public from various stakeholders means it is always an exciting time to watch.”
Sam Buchanan, General Manager, IMAA: “With a looming Federal Election, government spending will increase significantly, even above its already high levels, which will see the ad market rise again in coming months.”
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