A renaissance for Australian advertising
As soon as Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg landed in Australia late last year, a buzz ensued in the gossip papers speculating why he was here. They reported the reason The Departed star was here — fast-tracked to two-weeks quarantine in Byron Bay — was to film a global campaign for betting company Ladbrokes. Wahlberg was just one of a string of US celebrities Down Under, including fellow US star Natalie Portman who was reportedly shooting her latest campaign for Dior in Potts Point’s Manor apartments during her time here.
Additionally, big brands are giving more of Australia their attention for local campaigns. For example, Coca-Cola’s new regional campaign celebrates the uniqueness of places such as Bunbury, Port Macquarie and Batemans Bay.
The local projects from Hollywood celebrities, and big campaigns in regions quiet for months due to the bushfires and then the COVID-19 pandemic, are a sign of the vibrancy coming back after months of lockdowns, anxiety, and caution.
Economic experts and business leaders around the world have predicted an economic boom to come after the pandemic, expedited by the rollout of vaccines.
Ad spend, which is tied to consumer and business confidence, began to pick up late last year after falling a record 40.4 per cent to $345.6 million in May, according to the Standard Media Index (SMI). In October, ad spend was down 24.3 per cent and Australia was declared to have passed the worst of the pandemic fallout. Then in November, Australia saw its first growth in ad spend in 26 months, up 8.3 per cent year-on-year, driven by strong TV and digital demand.
But the 2021 boom won’t be a regular one.
In Australia, Deloitte Digital’s chief creative officer and partner Matt Lawson is hoping the economic uplift and surge in creativity will lead to an Australian “re-Renaissance”, which will sweep up the advertising sector with it.
“The Black Death directly led to the Renaissance. So right now, I’m really hoping for a re-Renaissance,” Lawson tells AdNews.
“And many of the factors that made Renaissance 1 so great do seem to be coalescing again.
“Artists and engineers working closely together, and in some cases, becoming one, did seem to have been a powerful propellant for progress. So it’s great to see creativity and technology canoodling again. Now everyone just needs to find
