Study: Advertising market in England weakens

The Q1 2006 Bellwether Report from the IPA Institute of Practitioners in Advertising shows a four percent decrease in marketing budgets and expenditure in the UK. The study's quarterly data confirms the trend of advertising spend shifting away from traditional media and sales promotions towards direct marketing and the internet. Although overall growth is forecast for 2006, this growth is at its lowest level since 2002. Advertising budgets in traditional media in the first three months of 2006 were cut for the sixth consecutive quarter, with advertising spend falling from 37 percent of total marketing spend in 2004 to 33 percent in 2005. Only 22.7 percent of marketing budgets were adjusted upwards in 2006. Only expenditure on Internet advertising in the first three months of this year increased to four percent of total expenditure. According to Group Chief Executive Sir Martin Sorrell of the communications group WPP, the UK is currently the weakest geographical market. However, new media and new technologies are growing rapidly, with clients experimenting with different methods and questioning the value of traditional media, Sorrell said in a press release.The Bellwether Report is based on a survey of more than 250 UK-based companies and provides quarterly information on trends in their advertising and marketing activities.