The UK advertising market reached £10 billion in the second quarter, up 13.4% from a year earlier and four percentage points ahead of forecasts.
That’s according to the latest spending report from the Advertising Association (AA) and Warc, which attributes the higher estimates to stronger-than-expected digital growth and a relatively weak 2023.
For the first half of the year, the advertising market was worth £19.6 billion, an increase of 13.5% on the previous year.
Following these latest figures, the AA and Warc have revised their forecasts upwards for 2024 and expect the market to exceed £40 billion for the first time to reach £40.5 billion. pounds sterling. This represents a year-on-year increase of 10.6%, putting the UK ahead of the growth of its European peers, including France (8%) and Germany (4%), at current prices.
Growth forecasts for 2025 were also raised by a percentage point from July’s estimates, to 6.5%, or a total of £43.1 billion.
Television rebound
Growth in the second quarter was driven by online display (21.6%), an acceleration from 12.8% in the first quarter. This brings first-half growth to 22.9%.
The latest IAB Digital Adspend study, released this week, estimated display growth at 22% in the first half of the year.
Display (17%) and search (12.7%) experienced strong growth. Television recovered during the quarter thanks to the men’s Euros, growing by 9% – the strongest quarter in two years. Much of the growth was driven by broadcaster VOD, which increased 14.2%.
“Nothing unites audiences, as viewers and as people, like a major football tournament,” said Josh Dickins, head of consulting at creative agency Modern Citizens (formerly known as by Creature). “As marketers, we should remember that when big, unifying cultural events come along, it’s good to pay attention to them. »
That said, the AA and Warc expect full-year TV growth to be low at 0.9%, an upward revision of three percentage points from to the July forecast. Additionally, the report predicts a 0.2% decline in television in 2025.
Regional news brands and magazines posted growth for the first time since the second quarter of 2022, at 1.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The biggest decline in the second quarter was in cinema, which fell 21.2%. It is closely followed by a 19.8% drop in online classifieds.
Stephen Woodford, chief executive of the AA, said: “Advertising plays a vital role in funding culture, media and sport – and the second quarter results show how advertising can play a fundamental role in success of events such as the Men’s Euro, the Olympics and the Paralympics. »
Last week, the IPA’s latest Bellwether report revealed that marketing budgets were “frozen” in the third quarter as businesses waited to hear about Labor’s autumn budget. However, advertising spending forecasts for 2024 and 2025 were revised upwards and growth in “core media” remained strong.
