UK Companies Ramp up Advertising and Marketing Spend

UK media companies such as broadcaster ITV and advertising group WPP have been boosted by a report from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), which found that marketers increased their advertising, sponsorship, public relations and other promotional budgets for the sixth quarter in a row.

The first quarter of 2014 showed the sharpest upturn in spending since the IPA began collecting bellwether data in 2000. A net balance of 20.4% of companies registered an increase in Q114, up sharply from Q413 when the increase was 11%.

The survey measures the strength of the media market by subtracting the percentage of marketers reporting a decrease from those reporting an increase. During the full financial year to April, a net 17% of marketing executives reported an increase, marking the first net positive year since 2006-07.

Marketing executives from 300 UK companies were also positive about the prospects for 2014-15, with the report forecasting that the advertising spend will increase by 4.7%.

The IPA said that investment in ‘main media’, including newspapers and TV, rose more than spending on the internet in Q114 for the first time in three years in a sign of “growing confidence and willingness amongst marketing executives to commit to high-profile campaigns”.

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