UK ad spend rises 3% in first half of 2013

UK advertising spend rose 3% in the first six months of 2013, according to the latest Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report.

Total adspend was £8.54 billion in the first half of the year, following growth of 2.3% in 2012 when spend reached £17.2 billion, returning to pre-recession (2007) levels.

The increase was driven by growth of internet pure play (+16.3% year on year), out of home (+3.1%) and TV (+2.1%), offsetting declines for all other media.

Strong growth for mobile (+128%) and search (+18%) helped drive total internet adspend up for the period. Out of home experienced a strong second quarter (+5.9%) after a flat start to the year.

Forecasts for 2013 and 2014

AA/Warc full year adspend forecasts have been upgraded from the July 2013 report and now stand at 3.3% growth for 2013 (+0.7pp) and 5.2% for 2014 (+0.3pp), with expenditure set to reach £17.7 billion in 2013, and an all-time high of £18.7 billion in 2014.

The report’s authors say the forecasts have been revised to reflect the better than expected outlook for search and TV advertising spend, as well as the improved economic scenario for the UK next year.

“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,” said Tim Lefroy, chief executive of the Advertising Association.