UK ad market to show modest growth in 2003

Cinema advertising will grow 3.8% and TV spend will be up by 2.8%, while outdoor and radio will grow 2.5% each. Press advertising will trail other media, growing just 1.9% in 2003, according to the latest research from the WPP Group media agency MindShare.

The figures coincide with new data from the Advertising Association showing that UK adspend in the third quarter was £3.3bn, representing a rise of 3.6%. The best performing medium was TV, showing growth of 9.3%, followed by direct mail, up 8.6%, while outdoor spend was £183m in the third quarter, up 5.1%.

Regional press, the AA said, grew by 2% to £713m in the third quarter. Radio grew the smallest amount, rising 0.7%, while national newspapers and business magazines fell, dropping 1.6% to £444m and 6% to £299m respectively.

MindShare said the small growth in adspend will be determined by continued growth in some sectors, which will be offset by a huge dive in spending in other markets.

Health, which has shown steady growth of 8% in the last four quarters, is expected to grow 9% in 2003, spending by the motor trade will slow but will still be up 10%. Government spending growth, which was at 4.6% for the year to date, is expected to increase to 6%.

However, while the decline in spending in the food & drink category will be reversed and grow 2%, online spending will fall 30% in 2003, but the telecoms and technology sector is set to bottom out.

The findings were researched by ATG, MindShare's econometrics division, which looked at trends in spending across the sectors since 1994.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com