Russ Curry, Ministry of New Media
The latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report expects the UK’s ad market to grow by 15.2% this year, an upgrade of 0.8 percentage points from the last forecast in October 2020.
The preliminary estimate for growth in 2020 now stands at -7.9% with adspend of £23.17bn – a marked improvement (+6.6 percentage points) since the last outlook owing mostly to brighter prospects for online platforms.
The new forecasts show that the UK’s ad market will make up for 2020’s decline and accelerate further into growth this year, reaching a total of £26.69bn – above the previous high of £25.37bn recorded in 2019. Further, the decline seen in the UK’s ad market during 2020 is estimated to be softer than the global rate (-10.2%) and that of the rest of Europe (-13.7%). The UK’s projected ad market growth in 2021 is also expected to be ahead of key international markets, with the US expected to grow 3.8%, Germany 9.3%, Europe (excluding UK) 8.8%, and China 10.3%.
Stephen Woodford, Chief Executive, Advertising Association said “The latest figures from the AA/WARC Report come as welcome news at the beginning of the year. Not only does the data show the overall decline expected in 2020 may be less than feared, but the recovery in 2021 will be stronger than we would have dared hope even a few months ago. With the vaccine rollout accelerating and a Brexit trade deal in place, the 2021 business outlook is brightening, reflected by these new forecasts showing a stronger and quicker recovery in adspend, with a stronger rebound than in other large economies. With every £1 of advertising spend generating £6 of GDP, this is good news for jobs and growth in the wider economy.”
Double-digit growth is expected across most media sectors in 2021 – and even triple-figure growth in the case of cinema. Particularly strong results are expected in cinema at 228.4% and reflective of the fact the sector was closed for most of 2020; digital out of home at 53.6%, traditional out of home at 37.7%, and video on demand at 21.2%.
You can download the sample report here.
Follow DailyDOOH