UK advertising records strongest H1 on record
UK ad spend grew 3.7% during the first six months of 2017 to £10.8bn – the largest H1 total since monitoring began in 1982.
The record investment, recorded by the Advertising Association and WARC in their latest Expenditure Report, means the forecast for the remainder of 2017 has been upgraded to growth of 3.1% – amounting to annual spend of more than £22bn.
“Spend on advertising is showing strong resilience, at a time of real uncertainty for UK business,” said Stephen Woodford, chief executive at the Advertising Association.
Overall market growth is being driven by increased spend on digital advertising. Digital – defined as internet and digital out-of-home (DOOH) – accounted for 54% of all advertising spend in the first half of the year, some £5.8bn of a total £10.8bn committed by advertisers.
The first half growth was boosted by a 4% year-on-year rise during Q2. This was the 16th consecutive quarter of market growth, and the strongest rate since Q4 2015.
Mobile growth of 36.1% was the main contributor to a 13% rise in internet spend during the quarter. Other digital formats are also performing strongly, including national newsbrands (+7.9%), regional newsbrands (+10.4%), TV broadcaster video-on-demand (+10.6%), digital out of home (+30.4%) and digital advertising formats for radio (+38.9%).
Other media – cinema (+14.4%) and direct mail (+0.8%) – also recorded growth during the second quarter of 2017.
“We know advertising has a positive effect on the economy, with every pound spent generating six pounds of GDP, so it is good to see steady, sustained growth,” said Woodford.
“The upgrade of our 2017 forecast by a further one percent, the equivalent of an additional investment of £190m, should be seen as a cautious indicator for continued growth in the UK economy.”
James McDonald, senior data analyst at WARC added: “The latest data highlight the importance of mobile to advertisers in the UK – spend on mobile ads accounted for the entirety of internet growth during the second quarter of 2017 and 97% over the first six months of the year.
“As mobile usage and credit-fueled consumer spending continue to rise, investment in mobile advertising will track ahead of other platforms this year.”
