World Cup Boosts UK Advertising Spend to New Heights

December 20, 2010

The World Cup 2010 hosted by South Africa helped boost the UK’s advertising spend to it’s highest point since the last World Cup year in 2006 according to the Advertising Association and World Advertising Research Centre (WARC).

A 5.4% year on year increase prediction made in September was well beaten as the study forecasts UK ad spend for 2010 to be up 6.6%. A predicted growth of 4.3 per cent. for total UK ad spend for the third quarter of 2010 was also bettered by an increase of 7.3 per cent year on year.

The report suggested that marketing around big national events such as the World Cup pushed advertising spend ahead of expectations this year.

The display advertising market was dominated by TV in the period from July to the end of September, with a 35.8 per cent share. Overall, TV advertising was also the strongest performer in the period, posting growth of 15.8 per cent – ahead of outdoor, with 12.4 per cent, and online, with 11 per cent.

The growth in ad spend is expected to decrease to around 5% in the fourth quarter. This would mean a total increase of 2.3 per cent for 2011 on last year’s amount

“While UK ad spend has exceeded all expectations so far in 2010, it’s wise to remain cautious when looking to next year,” said Suzy Young, data editor at WARC.

“We expect spend to increase just over 2% in 2011, but there are risks ahead – especially with government spending cuts and concerns about unemployment.”