National news brands adspend to grow by 12.5% next year following this year’s downturn brought on by pandemic
The latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report shows UK adspend is predicted to fall 15.6% year-on-year in 2020 to £21.4bn, which is a slight improvement on the drop of 16.7% forecast in April.
The data demonstrate the deep impact that COVID-19 continues to have on advertising and the wider UK economy.
However, these latest figures show that there is no further decline forecast for 2020 when compared to the April release for national news brands, and in fact there is some recovery for digital with a 3.1 percentage point improvement.
And, the 2021 forecast is much brighter showing an improvement from the April release. The digital figure for national news brands remains strong at 17% while the overall figure for next year is forecast to grow by 12.5% (up on the previous forecast by nearly 4 percentage points).
Denise Turner said: “We were so optimistic at the beginning of the year but since then clearly all media has suffered due to coronavirus. However, I am proud of what our industry has achieved together through the “All in, all together” ad partnership with the government. The collaboration we have shown has really helped the nation navigate the worst of this pandemic and hopefully we can continue to help all businesses and communities get back on their feet.
“If we can continue this spirit of collaboration and come together not just as an industry but as a nation then 2021 can be a much brighter year for all of us as the forecasts suggest.”
Keith Weed, President, Advertising Association commented:
“It is vital that our industry continues to do all it can to support the recovery, most pertinently by joining the ‘Enjoy Summer Safely’ coalition to help mainstream essential public health messages. It has been incredibly impressive to see how our industry has so quickly rallied together to carry public health campaigns and other initiatives to inform and assist people across the country.”
