The latest booking numbers from media agencies are an indication of a lift from the depths of the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis, say industry analysts.
Ad spend, as reported by media agencies, fell 17.2% in August.
While this is still a large negative number, it does show a steady improvement and is the third month in a row of progressively lower ad spend falls, according to SMI (Standard Media Index) numbers.
In July, SMI numbers marked a 28.4% fall in national marketer advertising spend compared to a 35.7% drop in June and a record slide of 40.4% in May.
Pia Coyle, national head of investment at Ikon Communications, sees the market moving in the right direction.
‘It’s certainly positive to see signs of a recovery, especially when we see big, but highly sensitive categories like retail clawing back,” she says.
“August SMI is a good indication that Q4 will buck the lows of COVID, which is good for the industry.
“We won’t get back to former glory, but edging closer out of double digit declines is the start we need.”
Dominic Pearman, founder and managing director of Pearman Media, is seeing a lift in the market.
“I have no doubt things are improving, evident by the fact that more media vendors and agencies are no longer able to qualify for JobKeeper,” he says.
“Television and digital lead the way in terms of increasing advertising bookings and it is now difficult to get the TV airtime you want in December.
“Radio released its first survey in six months a week or two back and that seems to have coincided with very strong recent bookings for them.
“Outdoor is also beginning to get some availability issues in particular with digital panels although of course sectors such as transit and airports are still slow.
“For the print media COVID has actually boosted their sales in supermarkets and certain magazine categories such as homemaker are doing particularly well.”
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