Page 33 - AdNews Sep-Oct 2021

“The forward planning horizons remain shortish, however, and agility remains a tension point still today,” says Bale. “But the health of the brand and its role in future demand creation is evident in con- versations, over a singular focus on short-term activations, which was the order of the day in 2020.”
The SMI (Standard Media Index) shows New Zealand moving back to pre-COVID-19 levels of ad spend faster than the Australian market.
Jane Ractliffe, SMI’s managing director, AUNZ, says the NZ ad market has delivered strong growth for most of 2021.
In June, SMI NZ reported year-on-year market growth of 67% with the total ad spend 13% above the pre-COVID-19 level of June 2019.
“The June numbers we saw for TV in NZ were the highest we’ve seen in that market since June 2017, while each of the radio, outdoor and digital media also reported levels of June ad spend well beyond that of the pre-COVID-19 June 2019 period,” she says.
“And that continues the trend we’ve seen in NZ for most of this year, leading to a 30.6% increase in the value of first half ad spend buoyed by an especially strong 64.3% second quarter increase.’’
“All major media are benefitting from the deluge of advertising returning to the market with every major media reporting growth in
Opposite page: The Warehouse Group. Below: ‘Have a Hmmm’ for the ACC by VMLY&R.
June, and SMI’s Forward Pacings data shows these positive trends look set to continue.’’
Zac Stephenson, managing director, MediaCom New Zealand: “Coming out of 2020 and into a relatively liberated NZ marketplace — notwithstanding our predominantly closed bor- ders — there has been renewed optimism in the market, with several sectors showing signifi- cant YoY media investment.”
GroupM forecasts a 23% rise in 2021 media investment compared to last year. That would mean a net 9% increase on 2019’s figures.
“This is definitely shown in mar- ket demand forecasts, with media such as TV and OOH experiencing extremely heavy — and arguably unprecedented, although I now hate that word — demand this year, with the all-important, and always heavily demanded Q4 to come,” says Stephenson.
“This demand is seen across most sectors as they invest to recapture growth lost in 2020, bar- ring those whose businesses are still unfortunately heavily impacted by the closed borders and associated knock-on effects.
“Within this demand-driven environment, things still feel a lit- tle volatile, and definitely short; meaning as a business, and indus- try, we need to lean on all those things we learned in 2020: agility, resourcefulness and resilience.
“The hard work we put into pro- tecting our clients in the short- term, while setting things up best for the long-term, allow us to bet- ter navigate this current landscape and look forward to demanding the attention of an increasingly confident marketplace in 2022.”
Green describes the NZ market as competitive and at the pointy end world class.
“The top agencies have been consistently the same for many dec- ades and, like anything, while that might seem challenging, it also
presents an opportunity,” he says. “We have found clients are also looking for something different. The Monkeys, along with the rest of Accenture Interactive, can be that. I see a great opportunity and am loving the challenge of being
in a new country.”
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