Page 43 - Adnews Magazine November-December 2021

“I can see the run of momen- tum continuing all the way through 2022 as dormant catego- ries, such as travel and tourism, come back big, only further fuel- ling a red-hot ad market.
“Media is arguably in one of its strongest positions in years, off the back of growing audiences and structural consolidation within the industry. My prediction is that intelligent video will bring new opportunities for the more tradi- tional TV players to bridge the dig- ital divide.
“Foxtel Media’s revenue was up 4% year-on-year, but we saw a 75% increase in digital revenue. Smart media companies will be reinvest- ing this increase in the continued transition to the future.
“There will be big changes as we emerge from the past two years. Every business has had to reevaluate where it’s heading, to build new strategies around how we work and how we interact with our customers through significant advancements in ecommerce, both as advertisers and media businesses.
“I think in 2022 we’ll see some positive changes borne out of the challenges of COVID-19, but as a media business, brutal simplicity and ease of trade with our custom- ers will continue to win the day.”
For consultants, 2021 was worse than the first year of the pandemic. Pitch doctor Greg Graham: “Who would have thought in 2020
that 2021 would turn out
to be even more challeng-
ing? I certainly didn’t.
“This year has been a bit of a nightmare for a sole trader whose consulting business was going gang- busters and then came to a screeching halt. From turning down work to being on JobKeeper, it was a big adjustment and a per- sonal challenge for me.
“Plus, as an extrovert and lover of banter, I missed the buzz, passion and energy of the office. It was weird WFH solo. My major learning was the
importance of resilience.
I’m a glass-half-full person, but I gained renewed appreciation for the impor- tance of keeping a positive attitude and finding joy in a walk in the park.
“Next year, I’m relishing the opportunity to bounce back into live con- sulting on new business, imagine training and development live. To actually be in the room with the participants rather than blinking at rows of faces on Zoom — and to actually experience the energy, passion and commitment in person ... awesome! We are a people business and to not have that personal engagement and interaction is just a strange way to do business.
“As far as the health of the market goes, ad spend experienced a major rebound in the second half of this year and the ad market is incredibly robust at the moment. This will continue into at least Q1 2022, although forecasters are advising the growth may be moderate mid-year with some normalisation of demand. According to GroupM, we should expect 6% local growth at the halfway mark of 2022, and Zenith is forecasting global ad spend to grow 6.9%.
“My call is that ecommerce will finally come into its own, while gam- bling spend continues its crazy upward trend — we are a nation of punters, after all — and QSR spend is faster than ever.”
Mark Coad, CEO, Mediabrands Australia, looks to the surge in consumer spend around the world post-lockdown, and the ad spend that follows.
“There’s been a number of sectors that have had no reason to spend, such as travel, or been constrained by external supply factors, such as auto,” he says. “These sectors will work their way out of their problems in 2022 and that should see an uptick of spend in these categories.
“Globally, the pattern would seem to be one of strong growth in digital channels, which makes sense in light of the transformation we have seen in the ways we consume digital media during the past 12 months.
“In particular, we would expect strong growth in addressable comms as our clients start to take advantage of the opportunity to step past
demographics and target their high-value audiences. “OOH is another area that will be interesting next year. Certain sectors of OOH have been either shut down or severely hampered by lockdowns and travel bans. We would expect these to bounce back as borders open in 2022, and as people’s new modes of living in a COVID-normal
world are likely to see a great deal of mobility restored.” Coad says the pandemic hasn’t fundamentally
changed the impact of advertising on consumers.
“It might have changed the potential of various mediums or ecosys- tems, but the need to drive consumers to brands is as fundamental now
as it was two years ago,” he says.
“We expect H1 2022 to be very strong as brands look to bring
consumers back into the fold, and consumer spending surges on the back of coming out of lockdowns and travel restarting.
“H2 2022 might come back a bit on the first half but we still expect to see growth on 2021 in the region of 4% to 6%.”
Jeremy Bolt, CEO of Hearts & Science: “In the past two years, I learned the true value of toilet paper, the difference between Peter Alexander pyjamas and a formal shirt on a Zoom call, and that I can now roll my eyes so far back, I can see my brain.
“I also learned that whatever we thought was going to happen can change on a dime and, while I hate armchair opinions, I think that is as good as it might get for 2022.
“GDP growth per the RBA is 4.5%, as with the unemployment rate. The last time we were at those levels was 2012 and 2008, respec- tively. Research indicates media spend follows GDP, give or take a couple of industry sectors and media types. But while said research was conducted across 21 countries over 14 years, it never included a pandemic or ‘rebound’ growth as a result of lockdowns.
“Consumer savings, summer and a sense that we can now see light at the end of the proverbial lockdown tunnel are all
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