Marketing spending will move back above pre-pandemic levels this year thanks to a bounce in consumer confidence, according to forecasts out today.
Global advertising spend is expected to grow by 10.4 per cent to $634 billion this year, with Britain outpacing other European markets, research from Dentsu has predicted.
The Japanese ad giant’s twice-yearly report shows that the impact of Covid on marketing spending has been “less severe” than expected.
All large regions are forecast to return to growth this year with Canada (14 per cent), the US (13.7 per cent) and Australia (12.7 per cent) expected to enjoy the strongest rebounds, it says.
The world’s fifth largest advertising group predicted that UK spending would rise by 12 per cent, compared with a 3.3 per cent rise in Germany and a 7 per cent increase in France.
In the initial phase of the pandemic companies cut their marketing budgets to the bone to contain costs. After the surge in online shopping they directed more cash to digital channels, accelerating a long-standing shift away from traditional media.
Digital advertising grew 4 per cent last year and Dentsu forecast it would rise by 15.6 per cent to $311 billion this year, accounting for 50 per cent of the total.
Social media spending will rise by 23 per cent, with video up 17 per cent and internet search ads up by 16 per cent to $110.1 billion.
Print advertising will fall by 4 per cent globally as publishers “evolve towards new modes of digital delivery”, according to Dentsu.
The Olympics and Euro 2020 will fuel a 7 per cent increase in TV spending, according to Dentsu. However, the shift to smart TVs and on-demand platforms such as Netflix means that the TV advertising market will remain below pre-pandemic levels until 2023 at the earliest, it said.