UK Adspend For 2000 Breaks £17bn Mark

UK National adspend broke the £17bn barrier for the first time in 2000, rising 10% on 1999, according to the Advertising Association’s Advertising Statistics Yearbook .

The figures show that total adspend in 2000 was 1.82% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared with 1.74% in 1999.

According to CIA MediaLab, adspend is cyclical and reflects the changes in the economy. It peaks during times of economic boom and drops in times of recession as advertisers often cut their advertising budget first in times of economic difficulty. This is evident with adspend at 1.74% in 1999 compared with 1.69% during the recession in 1989.

However, the relative shares of total UK advertising have altered significantly since 1980. Direct mail has seen its percentage rise over the years from 9% in 1980 to 12% last year, gaining 1% every five years, while TV’s share of the national adspend peaked in 1995 at 28%, but slipped to 27% in 2000.

Press display commanded 40% of the total adspend in 1980 but its share declined steadily up until 1995 when it commanded only 32%. It then dropped again in 2000 to 27%. On the other hand press classified’s share of the adspend has increased since 1980 rising from 20% to 23% in 1995.

The main economic variables that affect advertising, according to CIA MediaLab, are household spending, job vacancies (for classified recruitment advertising) and company profits.

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