The value of advertising revenue, as measured by media agency bookings, rose by 15.4% in January compared to the same month the year before.
The market is now 5.1% higher when measured against January in pre-pandemic 2019.
For the first seven months of the financial year, ad spend is running 16.1% higher and has cracked the $5 billion mark.
Jane Ractliffe, SMI AU/NZ managing director, sasy the results atestament to the strength of the Australian advertising economy.
"The value of Australia’s advertising market in January is not only well above pre-COVID levels but also 4.5% above the last record level of January ad spend set in 2018, which underscores the strength of the ad demand we’re currently experiencing,’’ she says.
The stand-out result came from the outdoor media with January ad spend up 18.6% year-on-year to be just $1.8 million under its pre-COVID January 2019 total.
Cinema’s recovery also continued with ad revenues up 81% in January and have now trebled over the previous financial year period.
The government category was the market’s largest for the first time in January after lifting the value of its media investment by 51% year-on-year as various governments continue messaging in response to the COVID pandemic.
However, Ractliffe says the SMI data shows the current level of ad demand was being fuelled by a concentrated number of product categories, with 18 major categories reporting lower ad spend than in January 2019.
"The growth in government category ad spend is underpinning the market, but there are many large categories which are spending less now than in January 2019 with key examples being Retail, Domestic Banks and of course Automotive Brand,’’ she says.
"Media companies need to be well across these changing trends to maximise revenues during this highgrowth period.’’
The SMI detail for January 2022:
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