UK advertising spend is predicted to continue its upward curve and top £20 billion for the first time in 2015, according to annual figures released by the Advertising Association and Warc
London, 28th April 2014: New UK advertising forecasts are predicting growth of 5.5% in 2014 and 6.5% in 2015, taking UK adspend past £20bn for the first time in 2015. The forecast, from the latest Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report, reflects upbeat reports on the UK economy from both the IMF and the recent IPA Bellwether. Read the full release here.
UK adspend reached £17,877m in 2013, up 3.9% on the previous year with mobile advertising (+95%), broadcast video on demand (+21%) and digital national newsbrands (+19.5%) all experiencing strong growth.
Tim Lefroy, Chief Executive at the Advertising Association said:
“Another set of positive indicators to support the growth story – every pound spent on advertising returns six to GDP. The forecast explosion in mobile advertising and digital formats points to UK advertising at the centre of a global revolution in consumer information, service and choice.”
The Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report is the definitive measure of advertising activity in the UK. It is the only source that uses advertising expenditure gathered from across the entire media landscape, rather than relying solely on estimated or modelled data. With total market and individual media data available quarterly from 1982, it is the most reliable picture of the industry and is widely used by advertisers, agencies, media owners and analysts.
Total Market: Display picks up, Recruitment finally records growth, Other Classified slows
- Display advertising enjoyed a turnaround in the second half of 2013, experiencing a 5% growth in H2, its best performance since the recovery in 2010.
- Spend on recruitment advertising also enjoyed a better year, rising by almost 4% in Q4 (the sector has lost over 60% of its value since 2007). As the economy and job market improves, investment in recruitment advertising is expected to grow more than 1% this year and over 3% in 2015.
- Driven by search advertising, the Other Classified sector has grown consistently since 2009, but in 2013 growth started to slow (from 18% in H1 to 9% in H2) as focus switched from desktop to mobile. Mobile is expected to account for a quarter of search spend by the end of 2014, rising to a third by 2015. Desktop search will be relatively flat over the same period as a result
UK adspend to hit £20bn for first time in 2015 – Media news – Media Week< http://t.co/MmhY3SrYHZ … pic.twitter.com/2j1q2il4eC
— Will Corry (@slievemore) April 28, 2014
Pierre Naggar, @TurnPlatform Managing Director EMEA at Turn, comments:
“As mobile ad spend continues to grow and more companies take up advertising on mobile, there will be increased competition to deliver a more personalised advertising experience to on-the-go consumers on the device they are engaging with at that moment. If they are to avoid being hit by rising ad costs, brands will need to look at the habits of their competitors by measuring trends in advertiser share of voice in order to realise the best opportunities to communicate with consumers – the impetus is on modern-day marketers to showcase ROI in new ways.
Many marketers are making their digital advertising offerings more innovative and efficient, using programmatic, real-time systems and algorithms to automate data-driven, targeted communications with consumers. However, when millions of advertisers, both big and small, are contending for the attention of increasingly distracted consumers in this evolving advertising market, success will hinge on building digital advertising campaigns which deliver quality and relevant ads to your target audience as they move across screens.”
