Standard Media Index

The New Zealand ad market continued to strengthen in August, with spend climbing 9.8% year-on-year to $93.2 million, Guideline SMI data shows. August marked the eighth consecutive month of growth, pushing calendar year-to-date spend up 3.9% to $725.9 million.

Key highlights

• Digital reached 50% of total ad spend for the first time, rising 18.4% year-on-year to $46.6 million. Digital Display was the main growth driver, up 29.6% to $22.6 million.
• Newspapers posted a 33.9% increase to nearly $2.0 million, with double-digit growth across all sectors.
• Outdoor rose 8.9% to $16.7 million, led by Billboards, which increased 14.9% to $8.5 million.
• Radio edged up 1.1%, while Cinema jumped 46.6%.
• Television slipped 6.0% to $18.5 million, while Magazines fell 22.4%.

Advertiser categories

• Government advertising surged 55.7% to $8.9 million, fuelled in part by the Electoral Commission's enrol-to-vote campaign ahead of the 7 November General Election.
• Retail advertising jumped 28.0% year-on-year in August, although it remains down 15% for the calendar year-to-date.
• Food, Produce and Dairy rose 11.4%, while Communications gained 14.7%.

Calendar year to date

Calendar year-to-date ad spend is up 3.9% to $725.9 million.

Forward pacing

Forward pacing remains positive, with September already at 84% of last year's total. Food, Produce and Dairy, Automotive Brand, Media and Consumer Electronics are all running ahead of the comparable period.