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London, 31st July 2018: UK advertising spend in Q1 2018 rose 5.9% year-on-year to reach £5.7bn – the 19th consecutive quarter of market growth, according to Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report data published today. The figure is 1.3 percentage points (pp) ahead of forecast.
Further key findings from the report indicate:
Adspend growth forecasts for this year and next have been upgraded, by 0.6pp to 4.8% and 0.7pp to 4.5% respectively. If proved correct, this would conclude a decade of continuous growth, and result in investment of over £24bn in 2019.
Search now accounts for almost three in ten pounds spent on advertising in the UK, a share which has risen 1.8pp over the last year. Spend on search advertising has grown consistently since monitoring began in 2001.
Display formats, which account for just under two-thirds of all adspend in the UK, recorded a rise in investment of 4.7% in Q1 2018 – on a par with the rate recorded in the final quarter of 2017. Excluding direct mail, spend on display formats rose 6.0%. This was the strongest sector growth since the final quarter of 2015.
Stephen Woodford, Chief Executive at the Advertising Association said:
“Our latest advertising expenditure figures reflect the resilience of the wider UK economy, where consumer confidence is improved and the jobs market remains very strong. UK advertising continues to show steady growth with more businesses investing more spend in advertising. This investment boosts company profits and overall GDP, creates more jobs and helps our media sector to continue to invest in the creative content and technology that the public values.
“If Government can secure a good outcome from the Brexit negotiations and introduce a business-friendly immigration policy, we should continue to see sustained UK market growth and continued export success for advertising.”
James McDonald, Data Editor at WARC commented:
“The UK’s advertising market has now grown ahead of expectations in each of the last four quarters, and our projection for 2018 growth has been upgraded by a two percentage points since the start of the year on the back of sterling results across the media landscape.
“Online ad formats – particularly search and social media – continue to over perform, but traditional media are also proving their worth to advertisers. Notable among these are radio, TV, out of home and national newsbrands, with the latter carrying on from a good final quarter in 2017 to reverse a seven year downturn in display revenue.”
The Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report is the definitive measure of advertising activity in the UK. It is the only source that uses advertising expenditure gathered from across the entire media landscape, rather than relying on estimated or modelled data.
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Forecast summary
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Adspend 2017 (£m) | 2017 v 2016 | Forecast 2018 | Forecast 2019 |
| % change | % change | % change | ||
| Internet | 11,553 | 14.3% | 9.8% | 8.2% |
| of which mobile | 5,223 | 37.3% | 22.5% | 17.2% |
| TV | 5,108 | -3.2% | 2.5% | 3.3% |
| of which broadcaster VoD | 211 | 7.1% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| Direct mail | 1,753 | 0.8% | -4.1% | -3.8% |
| Out of home | 1,144 | 1.5% | 3.2% | 2.6% |
| National newsbrands | 1,032 | -5.6% | -1.3% | -1.7% |
| of which digital | 275 | 19.3% | 9.1% | 11.1% |
| Regional newsbrands | 887 | -13.1% | -7.9% | -6.2% |
| of which digital | 212 | 9.9% | 10.1% | 6.5% |
| Magazine brands | 776 | -11.5% | -8.2% | -5.8% |
| of which digital | 271 | -4.0% | -3.8% | 1.0% |
| Radio | 679 | 5.2% | 6.9% | 4.4% |
| of which digital ad formats | 35 | 26.3% | 24.6% | 16.3% |
| Cinema | 260 | 3.3% | 4.3% | 6.5% |
| TOTAL UK ADSPEND | 22,190 | 4.6% | 4.8% | 4.5% |
| * Broadcaster VoD, digital revenues for newsbrands and magazine brands, radio station websites and mobile advertising spend are also included within the internet total of £11,553m, so care should be taken to avoid double counting.
Source: AA/WARC Expenditure Report, July 2018 |
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At-a-glance media summary |
Q1 2018 v Q1 2017 | Actual versus forecast |
| % change | Percentage points (pp) | |
| Internet | 10.8% | +0.9pp |
| of which mobile | 26.5% | +4.3pp |
| TV | 5.0% | +2.1pp |
| of which broadcaster VoD | 11.9% | +2.1pp |
| Direct mail | -4.5% | -0.5pp |
| Out of home | 5.3% | +3.2pp |
| National newsbrands | -0.5% | +4.6pp |
| of which digital | 2.9% | -7.2pp |
| Regional newsbrands | -9.3% | +1.9pp |
| of which digital | 16.6% | +11.6pp |
| Radio | 12.5% | +6.5pp |
| of which digital ad formats | 39.3% | +11.8pp |
| Magazine brands | -8.4% | -0.4pp |
| of which digital | -4.5% | -4.8pp |
| Cinema | -12.8% | -21.2pp |
| TOTAL UK ADSPEND | 5.9% | +1.3pp |
| * Broadcaster VoD, digital revenues for newsbrands and magazine brands, radio station websites and mobile advertising spend are also included within the internet total, so care should be taken to avoid double counting. Actual versus forecast compares media performance with projections made in April 2018.
Source: AA/WARC Expenditure Report, July 2018 |
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