Video continued its upward trajectory in Q2 2026, according to the latest IPA Bellwether Report, becoming the only media category tracked by the study to see upward revision in marketing budgets. Based on the net balance of UK marketers upping their budgets for each category, video saw its highest rate of growth since Q3 2024, highlighting ongoing investment in brand-building despite challenging economic conditions.
The findings are set against a backdrop of inflationary headwinds, and a decline in financial confidence among UK businesses. Despite this economic uncertainty, Maryam Baluch, Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence and author of the Bellwether Report, said the results indicate marketers’ “commitment to investment and brand-building activities that underpin growth.”
In terms of overall marketing activity, the net balance of UK marketers increasing their budgets reached its second-highest level in two years during Q2 2026. The net balance (derived from the proportion of marketers who increased their budgets during the quarter, minus those that decreased their budgets) reached +6.9 percent, following the +7.3 percent that increased their budgets in Q1.
Brand-building through video
Looking specifically at video, a net balance of +8.2 percent increased their budgets during Q2, up from +5.7 percent in the previous quarter. The other media categories all recorded stabilisation or reductions, including audio (+0.0 percent), out-of-home (-2.5 percent), other online (-5.1 percent), and published brands (-8.3 percent). Overall, main media advertising saw +1.5 percent growth, marking a contraction from +4.5 percent in Q1.
Meanwhile events budgets saw the highest growth rate at +11.0 percent, though this also represents a decline from +14.7 percent in the previous quarter. Growth was also recorded in direct marketing (+3.0 percent), PR (+1.4 percent) and sales promotions (+0.9 percent). Conversely, market research and other activities recorded declines of -4.1 and -10.8 percent, respectively.
“The overriding message from this quarter’s report is that UK companies continue to recognise the value of advertising,” said Paul Bainsfair, Director General at the IPA. “Encouragingly, we also see signs that businesses understand the importance of investing in long-term brand building; within the main media category, investment in video advertising has been revised up to its highest level in almost two years, while spending on other online activity – a shorter-term activation medium – has been cut for the first time in seven quarters.”
A turn for the worse
The Bellwether report also tracks marketers’ sentiment around financial prospects at both the company and industry level, and the latest survey saw their outlook take “a turn for the worse” during Q2 2026. The net balance of respondents predicting better financial prospects at their own business slipped to -9.6 percent in Q2, while those anticipating better prospects for their industry fell to -25.1 percent.
This pessimism is underpinned by a broadly unchanged outlook for UK GDP growth, with S&P Global Market Intelligence forecasting 0.6 percent growth in 2026. The report noted that the war in the Middle East and its knock-on effects were factored into the previous forecast, and subsequent developments have offered little relief. “Higher energy prices and inflation more broadly is damaging to household real incomes, while uncertainty and tighter financial conditions will weigh on business investment,” according to the report.
However, projections for UK ad spend remain positive, with 2.1 percent growth forecast in 2026, before rising 2.3 percent in 2027, and 2.4 percent in 2028.
“Bellwether panellists have demonstrated notable resilience against a backdrop of persistent economic uncertainty,” said the report’s author Maryam Baluch. “By continuing to bolster marketing spend – particularly as high inflation threatens to weigh on consumer demand – respondents are indicating a commitment to investment and brand-building activities that underpin growth. The fact there hasn’t been a considerable scaling back of activity in response to the economic shock arising from the Middle East war suggests firms are taking a strategic, longer-term view rather than getting bogged down in short-termism.”
“Despite a more challenging economic backdrop, it is encouraging to see marketers continuing to invest in channels that support long-term growth,” added Amy Lawrence, Head of Digital, EMEA, Publicis Imagine & Chair of the IPA Digital Marketing Group. “While overall main media budget growth softened slightly in Q2, video advertising stood out with its strongest performance in seven quarters, suggesting sustained confidence in brand-building media. The reversal in other online spend, meanwhile, points to a more selective approach to investment, giving the impression that marketers are becoming increasingly focused on where budgets can have the greatest impact on both brand and business performance.”
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