Ad spend projection scaled back by more than half for 2011
Projected advertising expenditure has been revised down for 2011 according to Starcom MediaVest’s Media Futures Mid-Year Update.
The announcement:
August 15, 2011 –
Optimism among Australian advertisers in late 2010 about their advertising budgets for 2011 has been replaced by a considerably more cautious outlook, with overall advertising expenditure growth projections for this year more than halved revised down, according to the Starcom MediaVest Group Media Futures Mid-Year Update.
Taking into account actual advertising spend for the first half of 2011 and predicted spend for the remainder of 2011, expenditure growth is forecast to reach 2.2 per cent overall, compared with a forecast of six per cent at the end of last year.
While 44 per cent of advertisers reported an increase in their year-on-year budgets in the first six months of the year compared with 2010, more than a third of those surveyed for the report update predicted budgets to decrease over the rest of the year.
An actual advertising expenditure increase of four per cent was reported for the January-June period but advertisers have downgraded their predictions for the second-half of 2011 to growth of just 0.4 per cent.
“While the first half of 2011 was roughly in-line with what advertisers were predicting to spend, continued global financial uncertainty is weighing on the Australian industry and a revised growth figure for the second half has significantly lowered the annual projection to 2.2per cent,” Starcom MediaVest Group CEO John Sintras said
The first six months
Online display advertising was the clear winner in ad spend increases, with 64 per cent of advertisers indicating their spending has increased by 10 per cent or more on internet advertising.
Radio took the largest hit from reduced budgets in the first half of the year, with 60 per cent of advertisers reporting their spend is down by 10 per cent or more, and 40 per cent of advertisers cutting budgets on free-to-air TV and magazines on each of these channels.
“It’s no real surprise that ad budgets are being driven to digital media – it’s just a continuation of a long-term trend,” Sintras said.
The next six months
Advertisers anticipating budgets to increase, decrease or remain the same for the remaining six months of the year are almost even (36 per cent, 32 per cent and 32 per cent respectively).
Among those who are predicting a decrease, a large majority (75 per cent) say these budget forecasts are the same as they anticipated at the beginning of the year, while among those who expect an increase in advertising budget growth, advertisers are divided, half say the change is more than they expected at the beginning of the year and the remaining half say the changes are in line with their expectations.
The Starcom Media Futures survey was launched in 1985 and is one of Australia’s most authoritative predictors of expected advertising budget growth over the coming year. It is the only survey that interviews both national advertisers and key media executives around the country.
The survey is conducted by McNair Ingenuity on Starcom’s behalf via online methodologies. Respondents from the annual survey drawn from Australia’s top 600 advertisers were reengaged to participate in the mid-year update.
Source: Starcom MediaVest Group press release
