Harvey Norman tops Australia’s biggest ad spenders as finance and travel surge
Sydney – February 9, 2026 – Nielsen’s Biggest Ad Spenders of 2025 Report shows that Harvey Norman was Australia’s largest advertiser in 2025, with retail and major consumer brands once again dominating the country’s Top 20 advertiser rankings. The annual analysis, powered by Nielsen Ad Intel, tracks advertising investment across the market and highlights where competition intensified year-on-year as brands fought harder to win attention across a rapidly evolving media environment.
Nielsen’s latest research shows ad investment concentrated in categories where Australians are actively reassessing costs and shopping around, most notably finance and insurance, while retail remained the clear heavyweight of the market. Travel and accommodation also climbed, reflecting strong demand in a crowded environment, as airlines, hotels, tourism bodies and booking platforms increased spend to stay front-of-mind.
Rose Lopreiato, Nielsen Ad Intel’s Australia Commercial Lead, said: “More than ever, where you spend matters as much as how much you spend. With retail still dominating overall investment and faster growth coming through finance, insurance and travel, advertisers need a clear view of the battlegrounds, both the categories pulling the most dollars and the brands increasing pressure. Independent measurement like Ad Intel helps marketers pinpoint the moments and sectors where competitors are most active, so they can invest with confidence, defend share, and avoid being outgunned in the categories where customers are actively shopping around.”
A wave of new entrants reshaped the 2025 list, including Westpac, Big W, Stan Entertainment, Budget Direct, Nestle Australia, Allianz, KIA and QANTAS.
Australia’s Top 20 advertisers for 2025
1. Harvey Norman, 2. Reckitt Benckiser, 3. Amazon.com, 4. Hungry Jack’s, 5. Westpac, 6. McDonald’s, 7. Chemist Warehouse, 8. Commonwealth Bank, 9. Woolworths, 10. Coles, 11. Youi, 12. Big W, 13. Disney, 14. Mondelez International, 15. QANTAS, 16. Stan Entertainment, 17. Budget Direct, 18. Nestle Australia, 19. Allianz, 20. KIA
The most notable movement year-on-year came from finance and insurance. Westpac entered the Top 20 at number 5, while Commonwealth Bank climbed from 12th to 8th. Insurance brands also strengthened their presence, with Budget Direct (17) and Allianz (19) entering the Top 20, while Youi rose from 17th to 11th.
Retail remained the market’s dominant ad investor in 2025, attracting $2.312 billion, well ahead of every other category. Finance ranked second with $756 million, followed by Travel & Accommodation on $684 million, underscoring how fiercely brands competed in sectors tied to big household decisions and discretionary spending.
Top 20 ad categories by investment in 2025
1. Retail: $2.312b, 2. Finance: $756m, 3. Travel & Accommodation: $684m, 4. Communications: $656m, 5. Motor Vehicles: $646m, 6. Entertainment & Leisure: $549m, 7. Insurance: $493m, 8. Food: $407m, 9. Services: $368m, 10. Computers: $348m, 11. Education & Learning: $302m, 12. Real Estate: $265m, 13. Community & Public Service: $264m, 14. Pharmaceutical: $230m, 15. Government: $224m, 16. Appliances (Home & Outdoor): $207m, 17. Clothing & Accessories: $172m, 18. Gambling: $171m, 19. Media: $152m, 20. Toiletries & Cosmetics: $152m
Despite ongoing economic pressures, the spread of investment across the 20 categories shows that brands continued to prioritise advertising, protecting share and maintaining presence.
Finance led the gains, up $123.3 million (+19.5%), while Insurance rose $57.2 million (+13.1%).
Travel & Accommodation also increased $76.5 million (+12.6%), suggesting demand remained strong, but competition for bookings intensified across airlines, accommodation providers, tourism organisations and booking platforms. There was also growth in Computers (+$52.4 million, +17.7%) and Services (+$40.1 million, +12.2%).
About the report
Nielsen’s “Australia’s biggest ad spenders of 2025” report provides an independent, comprehensive view of advertising investment across Australia, identifying the nation’s top advertisers, the categories attracting the highest spend, and the key shifts compared with 2024. The report is underpinned by Nielsen Ad Intel, offering an authoritative perspective on where the advertising market is heading, and what it signals about competition, consumer behaviour and brand strategy in the year ahead.
About Nielsen Ad Intel
Ad Intel provides the most complete source of cross-platform advertising intelligence available today. With intuitive software, review-and-compare ad activity across media, company, category or brand, plus historical data.
Note: Nielsen monitors gross advertising expenditure in major media at published rate card values. While discounts are made available from some media owners, rates are not openly available. Please also note that the category and brand/product groupings figures are grouped at Nielsen’s discretion.
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About Nielsen
Nielsen is a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics. Through our understanding of people and their behaviors across all channels and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and actionable intelligence so they can connect and engage with their global audiences – now and into the future. Learn more at www.nielsen.com and connect with us on social media (X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram).
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Assoc. Director, Communications, Nielsen APAC
dan.chapman@nielsen.com
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