IPA Bellweather Reports says Ad Sector Recovery Lead by Online Spend
The latest Bellweather Report published this month by the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) brings cautious optimism for UK Ad Sector recovery with statistics showing the rise in online budgets for the second quarter running.
The quarterly survey of more than 300 leading companies found their online display ad spend was up by 10.4% in Q4, with search up by 11.5%, compared with 4.5% and 5.4% increases respectively in the previous quarter.
While 20% of the companies surveyed are spending more on digital in the three months to the end of December 2009, overall spend fell for the ninth consecutive quarter.
Overall ad budgets are expected to rise in 2010. One-third of those surveyed claim to be optimistic about a recovery, but over 20% said they were less positive.
Rory Sutherland, president of the IPA, said the findings proved recovery was underway: "This latest report also brings particularly good news for direct and digital marketing activities, which seem to be leading the recovery."