World Cup and improving economy lead to revised UK ad forecast: up 6% in 2014 and 6.7% in 2015
The improving economy and World Cup have led WARC and the Advertising Association to revise its forecasts upwards for the UK’s ad market.
According to the latest Expenditure Report, growth rates are predicted to reach six per cent in 2014 and 6.7 per cent in 2015.
TV and Radio expenditure saw a boost in Q2 from the World Cup. Spot TV advertising saw a revenue increase of 6.0 per cent in Q1 before accellerating to 10.5 per cent growth in Q2.
WARC stated that the rate of increase should ease in the third quarter, reflecting the impact of budgets brought forward specifically for the tournament.
Similarly, radio spend rose by 5.7 per cent in Q1 and is expected to show healthy growth (7.6 per cent) in the second quarter of the year leading AA/Warc to predict radio to register an annual increase of 4.4 per cent in 2014, the sector’s best performance since 2003.
Karen Fraser, strategy director at the AA said: “This latest set of data shows the importance of global events such as the World Cup to advertising spend in the UK. Following a positive start to the year in Q1, Q2 is set to be a strong quarter for the sector, buoyed by the tournament.”
Broadcaster VOD, digital revenues for news brands and magazine brands, and mobile advertising spend are included within the internet total of £63bn
Internet includes revenues for online, mobile and tablet and ad spend in this sector grew 15.6 per cent in 2013, to £6.3bn, and is expected to increase by 14 per cent in 2014.
With a growth rate of 95.2 per cent in 2013, mobile is expected to continue to grow rapidly, by 75 per cent in 2014 and 47 per cent in 2015.
Tim Lefroy, chief executive at the Advertising Association added: “This latest adspend data are another nudge up for the economy, and a feather in the cap of UK global leadership in online and mobile, with consumers getting more value each day.”
Meanwhile, national newsbrands print ad revenues declined more than anticipated in Q1 2014, down 8.3 per cent compared with 2013 to £286m.
Digital adspend in the media sector rose 19 per cent for the same period to £47m, however WARC noted it was not sufficient to offset the print drop, with the sector as a whole recording a 5.2 per cent dip.