The media agency market has had “muted growth” in the start of the financial year, with Standard Media Index (SMI) figures pointing to a drop of 1.5% in July bookings compared to the same month last year.
July bookings hit $601.0 million, a drop of $8.9m from July 2014 which hit $610.0m.
While the SMI said the growth for the market was "muted" it noted that "late digital bookings will ensure the market reports a slightly higher year-on-year result in July, with the digital media again the main growth media with its bookings so far up 6.7% from the same month a year ago."
Cinema grew by 43.6% over July to reach $5.8m in spend from $4.1m in July last year. Digital grew 6.7% to $123.5m from $115.8m and television grew 3.2% to $301.4m, from $292.2m.
Outdoor media dropped 10.1% to $53.3m from $59.3m in July last year, partially as a result of “lunar month issues.”
Magazine and newspapers also dropped 16.9% and 29.4% respectively.
The top spending category for July was automotive with $58.3m, despite a drop of 3.4% from July last year. It is followed by insurance on $35.3m, a drop of 4.1% from last year, and food, produce and dairy on $35.0m, a drop of 2.2% last year.
The biggest monthly growth was food and alcoholic retailers which boosted 33.5% from last July to reach $32.3m from $24.2m.
Calendar year growth
The calendar year period shows the market generally remaining strong, with total agency spend up 4.6%, or $192.4 million, to a record $4.37 billion.
Cinema has seen a 38.2% boost in the calender year to date compared to the comparable period last year, reaching $46.2m compared to $33.4m. Outdoor increased 14.4% over the period reaching $431.0m from $376.8m, while radio grew 10.2% to $354.2m from $321.4m.
Digital and television also grew over the calendar year to date; with digital boosting by 19.0% to $980.4m and television by 1% to $2.02bn.
By calendar year to date automotive is still the biggest spending, reaching $422.3m - a boost of 4.1%. The biggest growth in calendar year to date is still the government, and entertainment and leisure categories, recording a boost of 39.2% and 18.7% respectively.
Click the image above to see the full infographic from Atomic 212.
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