Australian ad spend hits pre-COVID high in May

July 1, 2021 4:39

The Australian ad market has surpassed pre-COVID levels for the first time since the pandemic, with Standard Media Index (SMI) data showing the May figures represent a 4.5% (or $30.7 million) increase on May 2019 ad spend. That result is based on data that’s been normalised to account for the Federal Election that occurred in May 2019 by removing Political Party category ad spend from both reporting periods.

The results have prompted SMI AUNZ managing director Jane Ractliffe to call the results “unprecedented” and “extraordinary”.

Jane Ractliffe

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Olivia Kruimel

Olivia Kruimel was the managing editor at Mumbrella. She has more than 15 years of experience in journalism, communications and marketing. Her journalism career began at Fairfax Media (now part of Nine) and includes various B2B publications such as B&T, Travel Today and ALB. As a marketer Olivia has worked for Standard Chartered and various global law firms.