GroupM: UK advertising to see its eighth year of growth

WPP-owned advertising firm, GroupM, has predicted that UK advertising will see its eighth successive year of growth, despite the short-term effects of the EU referendum.

GroupM predicted growth up from 6.3% to 7.2% for 2016, and from 5.8% to 7.2% for 2017 – an increase in spending that takes the industry to an investment of £18.8 billion in 2017.

However, the ad firm’s outlook for traditional media advertising went down slightly from -1.1% to -2.6% for 2016 and from +0.5% to -1.4% in 2017.

GroupM said it now invests approximately the same amount in digital advertising as in TV – both linear and VOD – and noted that half of its digital investment is automated, up from 40% in a year.

The company said that the UK remains “among the most digital-centric advertising markets in the world”.