Revealed – How Labor outspend the other political parties for TV advertising in April

Welcome to Unmade’s exclusive monthly rundown of Australia’s highest spending TV advertisers.

The data below – which covers April – was generated exclusively for Unmade by media intelligence service Canda.

The full content of this post is for Unmade’s paying members only. Others will hit the paywall a little lower down.

This month is the first occasion on which Canda estimates both the level of activity by the number of ad spots booked across both peak and off peak, and what that is likely to amount to in actual advertising spend.

April’s top TV spenders

First we turn to the advertisers who Canda estimates spent the most with the free to air TV networks last month.

The following brands are featured: ALP, Cadbury, Finish, Garnier and Stayz.

1. Cadbury: Bring it with Favourites

With Easter falling half way through April, Cadbury was estimated by Canda to have spent the most on TV during the month on a single campaign.

The ad, set at a dance competition, features an evolution of the advertising line “What to bring when you’re told not to bring a thing” which was created by GPY&R a decade ago. The line has now been shortened to “Bring it with Cadbury Favourites”. Although the launch of the campaign was not publicised, Ogilvy is listed as the local agency of record.

The 30 second spot was played 2593 times in April, largely in primetime, with a skew to Sydney. Peak plays outnumbered off-peak plays in all metro markets. 

2. Stayz: Holiday homes for you

A localised version of a North American ad created for the Superbowl earlier this year had the second biggest TV budget put behind it in April.

Featuring the the voice of Muppets frontman Kermit, performing “Right Where I Belong”, the ad was originally created by US ad agency Wieden+Kennedy for holiday homes company Vrbo. The ad has been repurposed for the Australian market for Stayz, which, like Vrbo, is owned by Expedia’s HomeAway group.

The US-origin of the ad may also explain why, unusually for Australian television, most of the subjects of the ad are persons of colour.

Stayz focused its budget on Perth, with the WA capital getting twice as many plays as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. 

3. Garnier: Brightening Micellar Water

Garnier featured two different products in a single ad in the TV spot with the third biggest budget in April. The ad featured Micellar Vitamin C Cleansing Water followed by Vitamin C Brightening Serum.

Although the ad aired more times than the work for Cadbury and Stayz, a greater proportion was off peak and on secondary channels.. 

4. Australian Labour Party: A better future

Despite the Federal election only being called midway through the month, on April 10, Labor was still among the estimated biggest spenders.

The strategy behind the campaign ad was to put Labor leader Anthony Albanese – less well known to uncommitted voters than rival Scott Morrison – central to the message. Featuring a montage of Albanese in action, while he spoke about his agenda, the message focused on positive agenda points.

Intriguingly, this campaign did not run in Perth, the market Albanese recently restarted his campaign in after recovering from Covid. 

The advertising strategy differs from rivals. Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party was more active, with 46 different spots running this month. Further down the list of top spending advertisers, the UAP took positions 14, 15 and 19. That’s compared to 10 spots from the ALP and three from the Coalition which has mainly been running negative ads, attacking the ALP.

The only other political TV ad that makes it into the top 20 by spend is from the Australian Electoral Commission with its usual ‘enrol to vote’ messaging coming in at number 20. 

5. Finish Quantum: Finish Ultimate Pro 

Reckitt Benckiser’s dishwasher product Finish Quantum was heavily promoted in April, with this ad airing nearly 5,000 times.

Tapping into eco-conscious consumers, it features a couple waking to the detritus of a dinner party and racing to get their recycling out while the bin collectors’ truck can be heard backing up outside. The ad spruiks the environmental credentials of using a dish washer rather than cleaning dishes in the sink.

April’s highest rotation ads

The TV ads that ran the most

1. Mailchimp: Built for growing businesses 

Email company Mailchimp was another brand repurposing international content with local voiceovers

Now owned by Intuit, the EDM specialists went large on TV spots in April covering all major metro areas. Its large number of spot purchases saw it almost crack into the top five by spend as well.

Perth saw the most Mailchimp spots overall.

2. Maybelline: Colossal Curl bounce

Maybelline worked hard to promote its new mascara product, again using repurposed work from overseas markets. The 15-second ad ran in all five metro markets, a total of 7,469 times.

3. Cross Bet: For proper punters

Classy punting? Queensland-based Cross Bet would like its potential punters to think so. The message, designed to appeal to customers who think they know more about gambling than others, targets what it labels as “proper punters”.

The 30 second spot didn’t air in Adelaide, with Perth notching up the most spots, mainly in off peak. 

4. Ampol: Australia’s own

The brand awareness strategy continues for Ampol, which rebranded from Caltex in 2020. The campaign has licensed the classic The Go-Betweens 1988 hit Streets of Your town

5,436 spots were purchased which saw the TV ad run across all major metro areas with a skew towards off peak on secondary channels. 

5. Tip Top: Baked into Australia

Taking a strategy of talking up its regional credentials while advertising to metro audiences, the Tip Top ad promoting its use of Australian wheat aired more than 5,000 times, mainly in off peak.

The top fives are compiled for Unmade by Canda. As ever, we welcome your thoughts to letters@unmade.media.

And don’t forget, Unmade’s first event, Marketing in a Cost of Living Crisis, takes place at Forrester’s in Surry Hills on May 24 at 5pm. Cost of living is a topic in every major news outlet at the moment, particularly with the expected rate rise today.

My colleague Tim Burrowes will moderate a panel featuring Optus CMO Melissa Hopkins, GroupM CEO Aimee Buchanan, Macquarie University’s Professor Jana Bowden, a leader in marketing research, and Shapeshifter founder Al Crawford.

Tickets are on sale now from $10 for Unmade members which includes you. Simply click here and use the code MEMBER.

See you there.

Damian Francis

Unmade