Spending by advertisers in the United Kingdom from January to March slipped 1.5 percent compared with last year, according to research released yesterday by the Advertising Association and the World Advertising Research Center.
The report's compiler, WARC, attributed the decline to a weak economy and international tension prior to the war on Iraq.
The only sectors to show growth were outdoor advertising and direct mail, recording respective increases of 13.3 percent and 1.4 percent. Together they accounted for 24 percent of ad spending in the quarter.
National newspapers, business magazines and consumer magazines were worst hit, reporting year-on-year declines in ad spending of 5.3 percent, 6.1 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively. The regional press recorded a 2.4 percent decline. Across all press, display advertising did worse then classified, falling 5.9 percent compared with a 2 percent drop.
Advertisers also trimmed their budgets for their campaigns on broadcast media, spending 1.3 percent less on television and 1 percent less on radio.
