The population of regional Australia is growing rapidly. East coast regional TV markets have grown by nearly 10% since 2001, 35% higher than the growth rate in Metro markets over the same period.
Lower cost of living has been a major driver of high population growth in regional areas. Young families and retirees who leave the major metropolitan centres can achieve higher overall standard of living as well as enjoying shorter commute times and easier access to amenities. These factors are the main attractions for the young families and baby boomers that make up the bulk of seachange migrants.
To understand the lifestyle and motivations of people who have made the shift read the personal profiles on the thatsmylife website.
As a result of the seachange phenomenon, in combination with other lifestyle factors, regional TV markets now contain 40% of all Australian Baby Boomers and 38% of all Grocery Buyers with Kids.
The higher proportion of Baby Boomer retirees and young families have important consequences for advertisers: brands aimed at GBs with Kids can achieve over 40% of national sales from regional TV markets, and the high discretionary spending power of the baby boomers has boosted regional spending on high values consumer durables such as white goods and home entertainment systems.