The study shows that the UK is the largest online advertising market in Europe and the third largest in the world, providing ample opportunity for advertising in digital newsbrands.
Speaking at IAB Engage this week, the Advertising Association presented its new report Advertising Pays 7: UK Advertising’s Digital Revolution. Led by Karen Fraser from UK advertising’s think tank Credos, the report takes a look at the digitalisation of UK advertising and the industry’s path to becoming the country with the highest online advertising expenditure, relative to the size of its economy.
By 2020, 62% of UK advertising spend will be online, presenting huge opportunities for digital newsbrand advertising. The case for publications is strong with Fraser commenting that: “despite the challenges faced by newsbrands, there has been lots of innovation and readership of news has actually gone up over the last decade.”
The report features Newsworks’ Tracy De Groose’s reflections on “what does the future hold?” as the industry continues to digitalise. Newsbrands have hit record levels of readership – 45 million in 2018 – providing advertisers with access to engaged audiences in a quality environment. To support newsbrands in “harnessing digital opportunities and embracing a fully multi-platform future”, the past months have seen the introduction of two industry-wide innovations PAMCo and The Ozone Project.
Advertising Pays 7 also includes a case study by News UK’s chief commercial officer Dominic Carter who looks at how the news industry is serving advertiser’s desire to look “for integrated branded content as well as traditional advertising”. Like De Groose, Carter flagged how cross-industry partnerships such as The Ozone Project are an example of how newsbrands are continuing to embrace the ever-evolving digital advertising environment.
Also presenting at the event was Joanna Lawrence, Telegraph Media Group’s managing director for strategy & client development, talking about agenda-setting journalism and The Telegraph’s women’s sports editor Anna Kessel. Kessel gave an inspirational talk about the importance of editors and their roles as gatekeepers of knowledge, there to draw attention to matters of importance, bring change for good and to give people a platform to let their voices be heard. Underlining The Telegraph’s commitment to reporting on women’s sports, she remarked: “I want to use journalism as a force for good to inspire girls.” The Telegraph has teamed up with Goals for Girls, to take young women from disadvantaged backgrounds to France this weekend to report on the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Download the full Advertising Pays 7: UK Advertising’s Digital Revolution report.
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