AA x WARC Expenditure report | Future of UK Ad Industry

The latest AA/WARC Expenditure Report paints a picture of strength and complexity in the UK ad market. A 10.4% growth in 2024 has pushed total ad spend to £42.6 billion – well ahead of GDP growth – and solidified digital’s dominance, with search, retail media, and online display soaking up the lion’s share of budgets.

But beneath the topline optimism, cracks are beginning to show. Forecasts for 2025 and 2026 have been revised amid global uncertainty, while pressure on ROI and growing short-termism threaten the creative risk-taking needed to sustain long-term brand value.

With that in mind, LBB invited a number of strategists, creatives, and agency heads to share their reactions to the report, in order to understand what this digital shift means for storytelling, and how agencies are steering clients toward resilience, relevance, and prioritising brave ideas.

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Nina Goli, Head of Digital Strategy at Modern Citizens

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Digital isn’t just a channel anymore— it’s the whole stage. Platforms, creators, algorithms — they’re shaping how people stumble into brands. But here’s the truth: no matter how much media you throw behind it, if it's not relevant, it won’t stick.

We’re in the age of fractured funnels and ambient discovery. People are finding brands through TikTok stitches, Discord threads, or a line in a podcast. That means every asset — not just the hero film — needs to carry meaning. Every moment is a brand moment.

Agencies are shifting from campaign thinking to ecosystem design — building modular, idea-led work that travels across formats and fuels both performance and storytelling. The real ROI comes when cultural relevance meets unexpected storytelling. That’s how you breakthrough the scroll.

2026’s big events? Huge opportunity — but only if brands show up with Modern Ideas: not one-size-fits-all campaigns, but adaptive, insight-driven thinking that earns attention in the wild, drives participation — and moves people. Platforms distribute. Algorithms optimise. But only Modern Ideas cut through.

Read the full article in LBB