U.K. Ad Spending to Surpass £20 Billion Mark in 2015

April 29, 2014 World Screen Top Stories

LONDON: The latest U.K. ad forecasts from the Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report predict growth of 5.5 percent in 2014 and 6.5 percent in 2015, bringing ad spend past £20 billion ($33.7 billion) for the first time.

U.K. ad spending was at £17.877 million ($30.1 million) in 2013, a gain of 3.9 percent on the previous year. Mobile advertising (95 percent), broadcast video on demand (21 percent) and digital national news brands (19.5 percent) all had strong growth.

TV spot advertising grew 2.9 percent in 2013, and is expected to benefit from increased ad spend around the soccer World Cup with a boost of 5.5 percent this year. Broadcaster VOD grew 21.2 percent, spurred by the continued popularity of catch-up TV channels.

Internet ad spend grew 15.6 percent in 2013. With a growth rate of 95.2 percent in 2013, mobile is expected to continue to grow rapidly, by 73 percent in 2014 and 46 percent in 2015. Total Internet ad spend is expected to increase by over 12 percent both this year and next.

Tim Lefroy, the chief executive at the Advertising Association, said: "Another set of positive indicators to support the growth story—every pound spent on advertising returns six to GDP. The forecast explosion in mobile advertising and digital formats points to U.K. advertising at the center of a global revolution in consumer information, service and choice.”