Brexit cannot wither us, it seems, as agency groups are forecasting healthy ad spend growth in the UK for 2019, even though it will be slightly slower than last year. GroupM says the UK will grow by 6.1 per cent this year, and Dentsu Aegis Network suggests 6.3 per cent growth for 2019.
Dentsu has upgraded its forecast for the UK, and says that digital growth is behind the healthy numbers. The UK’s digital maturity — digital will account for 41.8 per cent of ad spend this year — allows room for significant growth, with social and video both up by around 20 per cent.
Meanwhile, global TV ad spend is expected by Dentsu to shrink slightly this by by 0.1 per cent.
GroupM and Dentsu predict global growth will slow in 2019 overall, but pick up next year. They single out the US (growing at around three per cent but that’s significant in such a big market) and China as drivers of growth alongside India (boosted by the Cricket World Cup this year), the UK and Brazil.
Both the UK and Brazil are doing better than the gloomy moods of the countries suggests. Brazil’s pessimism hails from divided opinion around far right president Jair Bolsonaro and a big budget deficit.
