- Home appliance advertising will exceed pre-pandemic level by 24% in 2023
- Digital to increase share of home appliance adspend from 55% in 2020 to 57% in 2023.
- In Australia, digital ad spend is expected to increase by 22% this year, with growth due to almost double compared to 2020
Zenith forecasts that home-appliance advertising in 12 key markets* will grow ahead of advertising as a whole in 2021, expanding by 12.6% while total advertising grows by 11.5%. Forced to spend more time at home, consumers are investing in making their homes more pleasant to live in, using some of the money freed up by being unable to socialise or go on holiday. This is fuelling rapid growth in demand for both large and small appliances, particularly cookers, washing machines, dishwashers and air conditioning units. Despite the easing of coronavirus restrictions, Zenith expects consumers will continue to devote more of their time and budgets to the home than they did before the pandemic, and forecast 6% annual growth in home appliance adspend in 2022 and 2023.
In Australia, Zenith predicts that advertising expenditure by home appliance brands will rise from US$260m in 2020, to US$318m this year – ahead of the US$303m spent before the pandemic in 2019. By 2023, adspend will reach US $337m.
According to a national ZenPoll carried out last month**, with more Australians now working from home, 58% agree that it is more important than ever to make their house a home. One in three (34%) are investing more in home improvements, and more than a quarter (28%) have invested more in home appliances since the start of the pandemic. Further, with many people cooking at home in lockdown, 62% are making an effort to eat healthier.
Overall, the ZenPoll found that when it comes to purchasing large appliances, 80% of Australians still prefer to purchase these in-store than online, with 67% preferring to purchase small appliances in-store.
Zenith Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Nickie Scriven, said: “In this category, shoppers enjoy being able to physically see and compare features, to feel confident that their purchase will suit their specific needs. That said, given how greatly our lifestyles have evolved since the pandemic, consumers are no longer delaying purchases of appliances, rather they are seeking items that bring enjoyment and ease to their at-home experience.”
Brand building and ecommerce to drive 10% annual growth in digital adspend
Digital advertising accounted for 55% of home-appliance adspend in 2020, up from 51% in 2019. It is essential both for brand building – mainly using online video, native advertising and social media – and performance, using paid search. Most purchases of large home appliances are distressed: made out of urgent necessity, to replace a broken appliance. With few distinguishing features between physical appliances, brand advertising is essential for creating differentiation and placing the brand at the top of mind when the consumer realises they need to buy. Paid search is then used for conversion during the short window of opportunity when the consumer is researching replacement options.
Digital advertising will become even more important to home-appliance brands over the next few years as they continue to embrace ecommerce. Home-appliance brands were already well ahead of the market in adopting ecommerce before 2020, but the pandemic led to a step-change in home-appliance ecommerce. According to Euromonitor International, ecommerce rose from 23% of home-appliance retail sales in 2019 to 32% in 2020, compared to 16% of the market as a whole in 2019, and 21% in 2020. Zenith expects home-appliance brands to continue to invest in ecommerce over the next few years, driving 10% annual average growth in their digital adspend between 2020 and 2023. Digital advertising will rise from 55% to 57% of their ad budgets over this time.
In Australia, digital ad spend is expected to increase by 22% this year, almost double compared to 2020. Zenith Australia’s National Head of Digital & Data, Joshua Lee, said: “To remain top of mind, brands are turning to video, social and mobile for reach and cut-through.The category is set for modest growth of 5% over the next two years, as at-home behaviours begin to curb.”
Television is still a vital channel for home-appliance brand-building, supplemented by out-of-home. Home-appliance brands spend substantially more on these media than the average brand: in 2020 they spent 29% of their budgets on television advertising, compared to an average of 24%, and 7% on out-of-home, compared to 4%. Zenith forecasts out-of-home expenditure by home-appliance brands to grow 8% a year between 2020 and 2023. Television, suffering from the continued migration of audiences to digital channels, will lag behind slightly, with growth averaging 6% a year.
“Faced with rising interest in purchase, the increased role of digital in the mid-to-lower funnel, and a greater focus on delivering direct-to-consumer experiences, appliance brands have never operated in a more demanding and complex marketplace,” said Drew Erskine, Global Strategy Lead, Zenith. “Successfully building brands for the long term will require agile strategies that find the balance between cultivating desire through broad communications and converting interest, often digitally, in more relevant ways.”
Expected growth as consumers make more first-time purchases
Australia, Spain, the UK and the US suffered from big drops in home appliance adspend in 2020, and are consequently expected to enjoy healthy recoveries as brands recommit to the market. Zenith forecasts annual growth of 9% to 14% a year in these markets between 2020 and 2023.
*The 12 markets included in this report are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, which between them account for 74% of total global adspend. The report covers large and small home appliances, including air conditioners, dishwashers, fridges and freezers, heaters, kitchen appliances, ovens, personal care appliances, vacuum cleaners and washing machines
**Zenith Australia GenPoll, carried out September 28th 2021. The online survey talked to a total of n=320 Australians and is nationally representative by age, gender and region.
For further information, please contact:
Jill Antonio
Tel: +61 404 432 058
Email: jill.antonio@publicisgroupe.com
About Zenith
As the ROI agency, Zenith leverages data, technology and talent to scout out new opportunities, solve complex challenges and grow clients’ businesses. The agency has more than 6,000 brilliant specialists across 95 markets – experts in communications & media planning, content, performance marketing, value optimization and data analytics. In Australia, Zenith has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with over 150 staff. Zenith works with some of the world’s leading brands including Aldi, Honda, Luxottica, Reckitt Benckiser, Lite’N Easy, Kering, Lactalis, and The Walt Disney Company.
