Ad spend, as measured by media agency bookings, smashed records in calendar 2021, hitting $8.6 billion, up $1.6 billion on 2020 and $550 million on pre-pandemic 2019.
The value of advertising bought by media agency partners of SMI (Standard Media Index) was $323.5 million above the previous record set in 2018.
December ad spend lifted 7% to move beyond $700 million for the first time.
Metropolitan TV delivered a record level in 2021 with linear TV ad spend up 20.1% to $2.52 billion. Regional TV ad spend was just 1.6% back on the high set in 2018.
The COVID experience has also changed the shape of Australian media.
For the first time, digital media delivered the highest level of annual ad spend in 2021, growing 35% from 2020.
Digital media now accounts for 38.6% of all agency ad spend and grew its share by 3.2 percentage points from 2020.
Within Digital, Social Media was the fastest growing sector with total ad spend +51% on 2020.
Regional Radio reported a record level of annual ad spend in CY2021
National print mastheads grow 19.3% in 2021 to deliver its highest result since 2016.
Jane Ractliffe, SMI AU/NZ managing director, says the show the advertising economy is one of the more robust.
"Given advertising expenditure is so strongly correlated to GDP, this SMI data provides a very strong indication that the broader Australian economy is moving well beyond the original COVID downturn and has instead learned to function extremely effectively in the new COVID era,’’ she says.
"The SMI data clearly shows the economy is being fuelled by a level of advertising expenditure that’s never before been seen, and among the 20 largest of SMI’s product categories we can see the media investment of 14 categories is well above that reported in pre-COVID CY2019.’’
"Today’s data shows, for example, the level of ad spend from the Communications category in CY2021 was 47% higher than in CY2019; Alcoholic Beverages ad spend has grown 52% from that time, Food/Produce category ad spend has grown 25% and Technology ad spend has soared 59%.
"This all underscores the fact that the level of confidence in today’s market is at unprecedented levels."
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