UK advertisers are expected to commit £1.2 billion (€1.34bn) on TV ads in the coming weeks, with a record-breaking £6 billion projected to be spent on all forms of marketing this Christmas, according to MediaCom.

The 1 per cent year-on-year boost in TV ad spending expected in Q4 will mark the first growth since the second quarter of last year, when the Brexit vote triggered a weakening in the economy that has resulted in advertisers being frugal with their budgets in the face of an uncertain market.

“The market has struggled this year but, as a medium, the ability of television to drive sales in the crucial fourth quarter remains undiminished,” says Phil Hall, chief commercial strategy officer at media buyer MediaCom UK.  “Marketers don’t have the luxury of holding back spend at Christmas: it is too important to retail businesses to be cutting spend in the same way they have done for the rest of the year.”

Leo Rayman, chief executive of Grey London, the advertising agency behind Marks & Spencer’s seasonal campaign, added: “The big Christmas ad season has in a way become the UK’s version of the Super Bowl. You have to create a big moment of impact in popular culture. A bad Christmas can make or break a brand.”

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