UK marketing budgets expand for first time in year and a half

Total UK marketing budgets expanded for the first time since Q4 2019 and to the sharpest extent since Q1 2019 in the second quarter of 2021, according to the latest IPA Bellwether Report.

Financial prospects at company and industry level also remain firmly in positive territory and adspend forecasts are revised higher for 2021, as businesses began to prepare for a strong economic recovery.

A net balance of +6.0% of surveyed companies expanded their total marketing budgets during the second quarter. Just over one-in-five (21.2%) panellists registered growth, compared to 15.2% that reported a decline. This was the first time since the fourth quarter of 2019 that total marketing expenditure had been revised up. Furthermore, it was the sharpest increase since the beginning of 2019 and a notable contrast to the net balance of -11.5% of firms last quarter that had recorded spending cuts. The latest results bring to an end a five-quarter sequence of continual cuts to overall marketing spend.

Read more on the IPA website: https://ipa.co.uk/news/bellwether-report-q2-2021/