UK ad spend rose by close to £20 billion, exceeding expectations, during the first half of 2024, according to the latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report.
In the second quarter alone the UK market recorded £10 billion ad spend, which marked a considerable 13.4% year-on-year increase, boosted by stronger-than-expected digital growth and a relatively weak market performance in 2023.
The latest half-year figures show that ad spend has grown by 13.5% year-on-year, with current figures standing at just over four percentage points ahead of forecast.
The AA and WARC have pointed to promising second quarter growth across key online formats as vital for the uplift, with online display (21.6%), out-of-home (17%) and search (12.7%) all experiencing double-digit growth.
The Euro 2024 finals in Germany have been singled for having an especially tangible impact on the industry, helping TV grow by 9%, representing the medium’s strongest quarter in over two years.
In a further indication of the industry’s improving health, the ‘sick man’ of the media sphere – regional news brands and magazines experienced their first growth since the post-pandemic bounce back of Q2 2022, expanding by 1.9% and 0.5% respectively.
“The advertising industry is once again driving UK growth, helping businesses to compete, promote innovation and support jobs. It is an essential engine of the economy and key to the Government’s central ambition to achieve the highest sustained growth in the G7,” AA CEO Stephen Woodford said.
“Advertising has a vital role in funding culture, media and sport – and the results of Q2 show how advertising can play a fundamental part in supporting the success of events such as the Men’s Euros, the Olympics and the Paralympics.”
Owing to these promising figures, the AA and WARC have now upgraded their forecast for 2024, predicting growth of 2.9 percentage points as it expects ad spend to hit £43.1bn next year – which would mark a rise of 6.5% and an uplift of 1 perceptage point from July’s forecast.
With real terms growth for 2024 predicted to be 7.9%, UK ad spend is now expected to register annual growth ahead of key European markets, such as France (8.0%), Spain (5.7%), Italy (5.4%) and Germany (4.0%) in current prices.
WARC director of data, intelligence and forecasting James McDonald added: “Four in every five pounds spent on advertising so far this year has gone towards digital formats, money which has mostly been committed programmatically and which is increasingly leveraging AI tools for further efficiencies.
“The strong growth across the online sector in particular during the first half of 2024 has put the UK’s ad market on course for its best year since the millennium, if the post-pandemic recovery year of 2021 is discounted.”
See article at Marketing Beat.