July 2021: New TV channels help maintain total Media Ad Spend at June levels

As a result of more movement restrictions, ad spend in July was lower than in June across all media except for FTA Television.

With ad spend for two new FTA TV channels, TVS (TVS DTT) and TV6 (TV6 DTT) initially reported at RM 28.7mil in July, total media spend was maintained at RM 420.3 million, showing a +RM1.1mil (+0.26%) movement from June.

Combined ad spend of the 2 new FTA TV channels accounted for 7% of the total media ad spend for July.

Month-on-month spend movements for July vs. June per medium were as follows:

● FTA TV at RM 292.7mil, +RM 18mil vs. June
● Newspapers at RM 47mil, -RM 4.3mil vs. June
● Magazines at RM 781k, -RM 1.7mil vs. June
● Radio at RM 19.9mil, -RM 203k vs. June
● In-Store Media at RM 2.4 mil, -RM 77k vs. June
● Digital at RM at RM 57.9mil, -RM10.6mil in June
● Cinemas remained closed in July.

Product categories that featured considerable decreases to adspend were:

• Women’s Facial Care (Toiletries) = RM 5.5mil, -RM 3mil vs. June
• Bath Additives (Toiletries) = RM 3.5mil, -RM 2.8mil vs. June
• Dairy-Other Milk (Non-Alcoholic Beverages) = RM 2.1mil, -RM 2.2mil vs. June
• Apparel Retail (Retail) = RM 1.3mil, -RM 1.9mil vs. June

Following were the categories that notably increased spend for July compared to June:

• Television (Media) = RM 26.3mil, +RM 17mil vs. June
• Dental Care-Toothpaste (Toiletries) = RM 10.6mil, +RM 3.1mil vs. June
• Foundations & Charities (Government, Social and Political Organizations) = RM 7.4mil, +RM 2.6mil vs. June
• Tonic & Vitamins (Pharmaceuticals) = RM 11.9mil, +RM 2.4mil vs. June

Moving forward, new announcements in August on the plans and timings to ease movement restrictions may encourage advertisers to resume more activity and spend.

The pullback to spending in recent months has been observed to adversely affect even digital advertising, which was expected to grow steadily during the stay-at-home period.

The launch of new TV channels like TVS and TV6, as well as the recent return of publications such as Harper’s Bazaar Malaysia, Glam, The Peak and Icon represent a bold and hopeful response from media owners to take the restrictions as an opportunity, even while these posed risk.

For their part, it would be up to the advertisers to act on these opportunities so as not to miss out on maintaining the connection of their brands with consumers.