Ad spend jumps a record 39.7% YoY from admittedly ‘low base’

Standard Media Index (SMI) has declared that Australia’s COVID-driven advertising market downturn is over, with ad spend jumping a record 39.7% in April.

This time in 2020 Australia’s ad market was in decline as lockdowns rolled out across the country, but thanks to a surge in ad bookings in recent months, and strong early bookings in May, the market is on track to report growth for the financial year ending June.

In April, the highest growth area was digital audio which was up 97.1%, while radio grew 37.6%. Television continued health upward spend with a 44.2% increase, while outdoor spend increased 48.7%.