Media investment declined in June for first time in 15 months

Monthly adspend entered negative overall year-over-year growth territory last month for the first time this year, according to the latest data from Standard Media Index.

The 3% downshift broke a 15 month-long expansion in year-over-year US adspend growth, with the last monthly decline occurring in February 2021 compared to February 2020.

Though digital spend continued to grow 9% year-over-year in June, linear TV receded by 19%. Such a decline in linear adspend last happened in July 2020, not long after the Covid pandemic disrupted live sports. According to the report, only two product categories — travel services (+84%) and apparel and accessories (+21%) — sustained growth on linear.

Overall TV spend declined 11%, alongside declines in radio (-12%), newspapers (-4%), and magazines (-16%). Out-of-home, on the other hand, maintained the fastest growth rate in Q2 as it continues to recover from pandemic cutbacks.

June marked the first time this year that the majority of product category groups considered by the index reduced adspend. Just five sectors increased adspend compared to 10 growing categories in January, February, and March, when major global events such as the Olympics and Super Bowl drove increased interest in buying ads.

The sectors that shifted into declining spend included entertainment & media and financial services. Meanwhile, retail rose to peak levels for the month of June, led by discount stores quadrupling their marketing investment to appeal to value consumers as more households are forced to tighten belts amid 40-year-high inflation figures.