Ad spend recovery gains momentum as confidence returns

The advertising industry’s recovery appears to be gathering momentum as a respected expenditure study reported a 3 per cent increase in spend on advertising in the first-half of 2013 and forecast investment would grow 3.3 per cent for the full-year.  

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Increased spend by BSkyB helped lift ad spend in the first-half.

The Advertising Association/WARC report says advertising spend hit £8.54bn in the six months to 30 June.

The first-half growth was fuelled by 4G providers and increased spend by BSkyB and BT Sport in their battle for dominance in the broadband and pay-TV market, pushing spend on online, outdoor and TV ads up 16.3 per cent, 3.1 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively.

The gains by some media channels, however, were not matched by radio, news, magazine and direct mail down 6.6 per cent, 7.4 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively.

For the full-year, AA/WARC predicts spend will hit £17.7bn, up from £17.2bn in 2012. The improving outlook has also led to it claim 2014 will see all-time high expenditure of £18.7bn.

Brands are loosening the purse strings as news the economy is improving makes marketers more confident about the prospects for their companies and industries. The latest Bellwether report found companies increased their marketing budgets by the largest margin for 13 years in the third quarter. 

Tim Lefroy, chief executive of the Advertising Association, says: “These numbers suggest growing confidence and that is good news – not only for UK advertising but for the consumer goods, digital and creative industries it underpins.”

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