Earlier today, the latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report was released, showing that UK advertising spend rose by 11.4% to £12.5bn in Q3 2025.
New Digital Age gathered a selection of industry reactions to the new report and its findings…
Amy Budd, Client Services Director, Launch:
“We’re seeing ad spend rise again for 2026, which is not surprising. But the smartest brands aren’t just adding budget they’re broadening their presence across the full ecosystem of consumer touchpoints. Investing in sustainable growth and pushing their acquisition costs down through a combination of brand building and conversion focused campaigns. We are living in a low attention, noisy world, but the brands that build familiarity will win in unpredictable times.”
Luke Boudour, Chief Experience Officer, GOA:
“The continued growth of Search and Online Display spend in challenging trading conditions demonstrates the heavy reliance advertisers have on trackable costs and revenue to deliver ROI. While I expect this trend to continue into 2026, it could slow if confidence in measurement declines.
“As platforms increasingly mask data, reduce control levers, and shift toward predictive measurement models, reporting discrepancies are creating doubt regarding channel effectiveness. With the inevitable move toward further automation, the need for independent oversight will grow to ensure ongoing confidence in these growing investments.”
Elie Kauffmann, head of sales for EMEA, Audion:
“The latest AA / WARC UK report once again makes the case for audio advertising, with online radio adspend seeing a 19.2% increase for the quarter, with this growth forecast to continue.
“There’s no denying that the economic environment is challenging, both at home and abroad; against this backdrop audio is cutting through as advertisers increasingly experience the vital role it plays in achieving business goals – from raising awareness to driving sales – while delivering ROI.
“The increase in audio adspend also reflects what we are seeing at Audion as brands recognise the clear and measurable benefits the channel offers in enabling them to engage with consumers across the whole marketing funnel.”
Tilman Harmeling, staff strategy and market intelligence, Usercentrics:
“Search and online display are now taking the lion’s share of UK ad budgets – and that digital growth runs on consumer data. But as the overall market heads towards £50bn, the key question for marketers isn’t just where to invest, but how to earn the permission that makes performance possible. Consumers are more privacy-savvy and selective than ever, and far quicker to opt out when trust isn’t clear. That’s why consent is fast becoming more than a legal requirement – it’s a trust signal and a core part of the brand experience. Marketers who get transparency and user choice right will be best placed to keep targeting, measurement and results working as digital investment continues to rise.”
Ben Cunningham, Media Director, IMA:
“AA/WARC’s latest expenditure report paints a positive picture overall for ad spend showing increases of 11.4% in Q3 25 as well as projecting 7.5% growth in 2026. It is great to see that brands continue to value advertising to grow their businesses by investing despite the uncertain geo-political landscape and wider economic challenges.
“Search is achieving 14% growth at a time when we are seeing organic search traffic decline for most advertisers due to the growing presence of AI overviews which could signal the need to increase budget into paid search for to offset losses due organic traffic declines whilst they get themselves set up for success in this new world order.
“VOD growing by 17% isn’t a surprise as it grows into more of a main character for advertisers than purely linear TV’s little brother. With access becoming more viable for SME’s and new to TV advertisers due reducing creative costs due to AI it should continue to post good numbers for some time to come. VOD has experienced a perfect balance of both demand increasing but also supply improving in terms of inventory, targeting, reach and content as broadcasters invest quality programming powered by key sporting highlights, mainly featuring our women’s national teams in 2025.”
Sammy Mansourpour, Managing Director, Agency UK:
“The latest WARC report is encouraging, showing the remarkable resilience in the advertising sector. We have seen a continued shift towards digital channels and the strong growth in VOD and cinema is likely being driven by a combination of audience behavior, technological trends, and cultural events.
“Audience behaviour is continuing to lean into on-demand culture, digital first media consumption and multi screen usage, as superfast broadband and 5g data rollout has improved it immeasurably, device capability has now pretty much all caught up.
“Cultural live events and streaming releases have become major tent poles for brands, growing spend. Thank you Jake Paul (I think?)
“But perhaps the greatest boost has been in confidence from brands to invest, based largely on improved targeting and measurement from platforms, successful integration across channels and programmatic automation. It all gives us control at our finger tips unlike traditional media.”
