The war-induced anxiety that characterised the first half of 2003 has now passed and UK media firms are becoming increasingly sure that a revival in the advertising economy is imminent.
The quarterly survey of media companies carried out by the MediaGuardian and
NOP found that almost a quarter expect growth in UK adspend over the next three months. This compares with less than 5% in April when confidence was eroded by the Iraq conflict (see
War Knocks Media Confidence In The Short-Term).
More than half of those surveyed believe that the advertising market will grow in the next twelve months, up from 34% last time round. The poll also found that 27% of media companies plan to enlarge their marketing budgets in the coming three months and 44% intend to do so in the next year.
The figures are more positive than those published in the last IPA Bellwether Report which found that more marketers were revising their spending budgets down than upwards (see INSIGHTanalysis: IPA Report Shows Few Signs Of Marketing Improvement).
However, it would appear that television is unlikely to benefit from the anticipated upswing in spending. Only 11% of those questioned in the NOP survey said that they would be increasing their TV advertising budgets. By comparison, some 30% are prepared to increase their outlay on direct marketing while 34% will pump more money into online marketing.
