Festive ad spend is expected to reach a record £10.5 billion this year as advertisers battle it out to capture the nation’s attention across the vital Christmas period.
According to new data released by the Advertising Association (AA) and WARC, this would mark a 7.8% increase on last year’s £9.7 billion spend, illustrating the crucial role that advertising plays in helping businesses maximise their Golden Quarter profits.
This bumper investment comes as insights firm Kantar reveals that positive consumer sentiment towards Christmas ads has never been higher, with 59% of the public saying they ‘love’ festive TV ads.
Unsurprisingly, and on par with general industry trends, online mediums (including social media) are set to dominate the landscape in terms of investment – growing by a considerable 15.8% year-on-year.
“The final quarter of the year is a critical one for businesses, large and small, to promote their wares in a battle for customer attention,” AA director of comms, Matt Bourn said.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning
“The investment we see here in this Christmas advertising spend is an investment in growth which supports jobs up and down the country. As ever, we will see the very best of advertising with all the creative flair that the UK advertising industry can bring to help businesses secure fame and success.”
This is mirrored by considerably solid growth in online radio (8.8%), broadcaster video-on-demand (7.8%); whilst traditional out-of-home is also up by 8.1%, and cinema up 5.1% ahead of several big-budget releases.
The news comes as a plethora of household names have already released their blockbuster Christmas specials, including the likes of Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Aldi and Asda.
WARC director of data, intelligence and forecasting, James McDonald added: “Brands know that a well-crafted Christmas campaign can boost salience, anchor loyalty and drive impressive sales results to boot. It’s the time of year when media budgets swell, and creative teams pull out all the stops to deliver memorable messaging that resonates well beyond Boxing Day.
“While the Golden Quarter typically attracts elevated levels of advertiser investment for these reasons, the anticipated £760m rise in spend this year would be the largest increase on record if the post-pandemic recovery year of 2021 were excluded, with a total above £10.5bn yet another zenith for the UK’s market.”
