Spending on mobile advertising in the UK has more than doubled to £500m in 2012, up 148%, mainly driven by the adoption of smartphones and tablet computers and the increasing use of apps, according to a new report.
PwC’s study for the Internet Advertising Bureau revealed that British firms spent about £5.42bn on online advertising in 2012, up 12.5%compared to year-on-year.
The study also revealed that mobile currently accounts for 9.7% of all digital advertising spend compared to 1.1% in 2009.
Internet Advertising Bureau Research & Strategy director Tim Elkington said that mobile has reached this milestone because marketers are becoming more attuned to the ‘always on’ nature of consumers who expect to engage with content whereever they are.
"Consequently, advertisers are increasingly buying integrated campaigns across online and mobile rather than regarding mobile as an afterthought," Elkington said.
During the year, the UK reported a 1,601% rise in mobile video advertising to £0.8m in 2011 to £13.0m in 2012, while overall, mobile display advertising rose 121% to £150m during the year.
"In the last 6 months, 20 more of the UK’s top 100 advertisers have produced mobile-optimised websites; 4G mobile ultra-broadband is enabling a new era of richer content consumption with tablets predicted to outsell PCs in 2013," Elkington said.
"This will help maintain mobile’s significant momentum in attracting both consumer attention and advertising pounds."
Display advertising market reported 12.4% rise to £1.30bn from £1.14bn in 2011, which represents a 24% share of digital ad spending in 2012.
Additionally, the report revealed that the consumer goods sector (FMCG) surpassed the finance sector as the biggest spender on digital display advertising by accounting for 16% of display ad spending in 2012.
PwC Senior Manager Anna Bartz said the advertising market is shifting toward story telling and integrated campaigns which give greater prominence to video and display formats with a higher degree of interactivity with the target audience.
"Over the past two years, the digital advertising revenue model has also changed from an emphasis on direct response to being more about branding and awareness," Bartz said.
