Guardian Australia offers to match advertiser spend with credit, addressing shrinking budgets
Guardian Australia has announced that, for every brand advertising with the masthead this financial year, it will provide a credit of the same value to be used in the same, or a future, campaign.
The ‘stimulus package’ will support the industry as it wrestles with the impacts of COVID-19, and follows Guardian Australia achieving record audience numbers last month. Its reach more than doubled to 11.6m Australian readers, meaning 47% of all Australians visited the site in the period.
Commercial sales director Mason Rook pointed to these results as a reason the media company is well-positioned to ensure brands reach sizeable and engaged audiences.
“For brands looking to run advertising this financial year, Guardian Australia would like to provide a credit to the same value, which can be used to drive greater impact of their current campaign or used in the future when marketing budgets are likely to come under increased pressure,” Rook explained.
“With the audience growth, we are reaching more people than ever before, and therefore generating more inventory.
“We could have commercialised this the traditional way, however we wanted to try and do our part, and support advertisers who may be struggling to reach audiences and get their message out.”
Rook
Rook added that the initiative will hopefully go some way to mitigate shrinking marketing budgets.
“This initiative will give them [advertisers] the opportunity to tap into our growing audiences, whilst taking pressure off the bottom line,” he said.
“We also know that when things get tough, marketing budgets are often one of the first things to be cut – it’s our hope that this will help future-proof business and support them when budgets inevitably tighten up later.
“We really want to do what we can to help keep Australians employed and the economy ticking along, and this is the best way we can leverage our audience growth to contribute to that common goal.”
Earlier this week, Guardian Australia announced it was a recipient of short-term funding thanks to the Judith Nielsen Institute (JNI), which will provide three months’ worth of budget for casual reporters and editors to continue and deepen its COVID-19 reporting.
It feels very strange to be starting a job in the middle of all this, BUT
I'm v grateful to say tomorrow I'm starting at the @GuardianAus a few days a week to help cover #coronavirus for the next little while.
Thank you to the @JN_Institute for funding the position.
— Justine Landis-Hanley (@justinel_h) April 20, 2020
Earlier this month, the JNI unveiled a COVID-19 package for publishers that includes increased funding for freelancers and casuals, provision of its news service to 450 community radio stations for free, and addressing COVID-19 misinformation by supporting RMIT ABC Fact Check.
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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