New data from digital marketing intelligence platform Pathmatics has found Optus’ competitors have increased their ad spend as the embattled telco stopped marketing amidst the cyber attack crisis.
The data shows the mobile giant entered immediate firefighting mode, dropping its digital advertising spend from almost $55,000 on 21 September to under $5,000 on 22 September – the day that the crisis was announced.
Optus’ decision to halt its advertising is unsurprising in a crisis situation, and the data reveals that the company has yet to reignite their advertising efforts, 10 days after the hack, as an independent forensic review takes place.
Pathmatics also tracked the activity of Optus competitors following the data breach. It found that Telstra’s advertising spend rose from $140,000 on the day of the cyber attack to $180,000 three days later.
However, Telstra is now facing their own data breach after their the names and email addresses of 30,000 the telco’s staff members were leaked online. Pathmatics noted that they will be keeping an eye on the company’s digital ad spend over the coming days too.
Vodafone was noted to have proactively increased its advertising efforts with a particular focus on Facebook where its spend rose from just under $15,000 per day to almost $35,000 per day.
Exetel ramped up its marketing efforts, with a significant spike in their advertising spend on September, 23 and 24 – the two days following the cyber attack.
Advertising spend for Lyca Mobile fluctuated with peaks in activity on the day of the cyber attack and the day following.
Boost Mobile’s advertising spend went up from $400 to $5,000 from following the cyber attack on September, 22 to September, 24.
Pathmatics also noted that the telco companies are yet to include cyber safety messaging in their advertising, instead focusing on product and brand awareness.
Tom Cui, managing director APAC at Pathmatics and Sensor Tower said: “Optus’ decision to pause its advertising spend on the day of the cyber attack comes as no surprise. With approximately 10 million Aussies impacted by the data breach, any proactive marketing activity would’ve been deemed insensitive.
“It’ll be interesting to see when Optus resumes its digital marketing activity and whether there’s a change in messaging, such as creatives centring more around data security.
“The lull in activity from Optus has, however, created an opportunity for competitors to ramp up their advertising spend, getting in front of customers who may be looking to migrate. Telecommunications companies both big and small have upped their efforts in the days following the breach,” he said.
“With security top of mind for many consumers and businesses alike right now, I expect to see a rise in telco ads reaffirming their data privacy policies as the weeks continue,” Cui added.