SMI’s Q1 Ad Spend Data Hits Pre-COVID Levels

Standard Media Index collects and publishes real media agency ad spend and our data shows a strong rebound in the US UK Australian New Zealand and Canadian marketsamp160In those markets the combined ad spend has lifted 4 above the total recorded in Q1 2020 and 1 above the preCOVID Q1 2019 periodAnd given the level of economic disruption from the COVID pandemic itamp8217s phenomenal to see such a positive increase in advertising expenditure back to preCOVID levelsamp160 It clearly highlights the resilience of the advertising industry in these key markets and points to a healthy future for all adsupported mediaThe Q1 results have been boosted by a very strong March result across all markets 18 in total after small declines in January and February But in March strong rebounds in the US and Canada 22 and 20 respectively underpinned the global gains with New Zealand reporting the next highest level of percentage growth 9 followed by Australia 2 and the UK 04From a media perspective there was also strong commonality with Digital media emerging as the main growth driver in all marketsamp160 The highest growth weamp8217ve seen this quarter is for the Digital media with total investment up 22 on the 2020 numbers as all the key Digital sectors delivered large double digit percentage growth and the highest gains seen in the Programmatic Social Media and Video Sites sectorsamp160 And when compared to the first quarter of 2019 Digital spend has grown an even stronger 25 Indeed first quarter ad spend for all Digital sectors exceeded the 2019 and 2020 totals in every countryAs a result Digital mediaamp8217s share of the total advertising pie in these combined markets has grown to 48 of all ad spend which sees it overtakes Televisionamp8217s share of total spend at 44 for the first time and leaving just 7 of ad spend for all other media typesWhile most markets reported much stronger growth in Television ad spend in March softer January and February results meant combined ad spend was back 4 on the Q1 2020 level and back 10 on Q1 2021On the negative side the SMI data also showed the impact of COVID on the worldamp8217s largest Outdoor media markets was universal with the collective decline for Q1 still at 43amp160 In all our markets that Digital and then TV are really the media that are driving the advertising recovery and itamp8217s going to take some time for media more affected by the pandemic amp8211 such as Outdoor amp8211 to recoveramp160 But weamp8217ve seen some positive growth in large Outdoor sectors such as Retail Outdoor so the tide is also turning for this media amp8211 itamp8217s just that it may happen more slowlyamp8217The report also highlighted the large differences seen across markets when it comes to Category ad spend and shows there is little consistency among global marketersFor example in the first quarter it was the Government category that delivered the strongest increase in ad spend in Australia while in the US it was the Consumer Electronics market reporting the highest growth in the UK it was the Gambling category in Canada advertisers in the Household Supplies market were rapidly growing their media budgets and in NZ the same trend was evident among Utilities advertisersSMIamp8217s data again proves that marketers do not assign their global marketing budgets in a blanket fashion but instead take into account the idiosyncrasies within each market and tailor their spending accordinglyAnd as SMI updates this data every month it gives marketers the fastest update of their Categoryamp8217s varying ad spend trends so they can easily track their share of voice within their Category across all markets and also within the major media within each marketClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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SMI’s Q1 Ad Spend Data Hits Pre-COVID Levels

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James Fennessy

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SMI’s Q1 Ad Spend Data Hits Pre-COVID Levels

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