The latest ad expenditure report by the Advertising Association and WARC, published on 8 November, shows record investment, with overall ad spend up 7.2% year-on-year, during the first half of 2018, hitting a total of £11.4bn. ExchangeWire asks industry thought leaders to share their views on the report, and the state of the UK digital advertising market. The overall market growth was driven by online advertising, with full-year projection figures being upgraded to 13.3% growth, resulting in a prospective £13bn being [...]

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The UK advertising industry is booming and, despite some challenges, there are many reasons to be positive about its future. ExchangeWire speaks with Fredrik Borestrom (pictured below), president of the IAA UK Chapter, about some of the challenges that the advertising industry is facing head on, including Brexit, GDPR, the skills crisis, and the opportunities that exist within emerging channels and platforms. ExchangeWire: Should we be concerned about the impact of Brexit on the UK advertising industry and UK advertising operations within [...]

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Payment solutions have come a long way from cash and chip-and-pin, and high-profile technology, such as Amazon Go, is making it one of the most watched areas of retail. In this interview, RetailTechNews speaks to Will Broome (pictured below), CEO & founder, Ubamarket, who are bringing this sort of technology to the UK, to understand why change is required when it comes to payments. RetailTechNews: How does Ubamarket work? Will Broome: Ubamarket provides retailers with their own white label ‘scan and go’ in-store [...]

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If all the headlines are to be believed, the advertising industry is leaning in to a number of headwinds right now, from structural change and increased competition from consultancies to pressure on investment and issues of transparency. Amidst all these challenges, digital out-of-home’s star continues to rise, writes Dominic Murray, group creative account director, Kinetic Active. Figures released by Outsmart and PwC recently revealed that, for the first time, digital out-of-home (DOOH) has grown to account for 50% of total out-of-home ad [...]

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RetailTechNews’ weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world. In this week’s edition: Loyalty schemes losing appeal with customers; UK shoppers demand more integrated omnichannel experience; and The mobile path to purchase. Loyalty schemes losing appeal with customers Lack of omnichannel integration between online and in-store loyalty experiences is leaving 71% of UK consumers disappointed, the latest research from Vodat warns.Lack of personalisation was the top frustration for shoppers when it came to retailers’ loyalty schemes, with nearly [...]

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ExchangeWire rounds up some of the biggest stories in the European digital advertising space. In this week’s edition: JICWEBS and TAG align for brand safety and antifraud initiatives; German anti-trust probe; Ads.txt on OpenX exchange; UK is largest data market in Europe; and Funding for ContentSquare. JICWEBS & TAG Join Forces for Brand Safety & Antifraud Initiatives The cross-industry standards bodies in the UK and US are combining forces in order to tackle brand safety and antifraud issues of the online advertising [...]

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Love it or loathe it, Black Friday has been widely adopted by UK retailers both on and offline. In this piece by Alex Wright (pictured below), head of insight, Blis, he discusses how their exclusive research paints a picture of a busy week for retailers in the run up to Black Friday. Depending on which forecast you’ve heard, UK consumers were anticipated to spend anything between £3bn and £10bn on Black Friday sales. In fact, PWC reported that over half of [...]

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The Christmas season is a critical time for retail. As consumers work through their Christmas shopping and countdown to the 25th of December, retailers online and on the high street are vying for their attention, their loyalty, and share of their wallet. This year, there are also additional pressures. Brexit looms large and will have some impact on consumer confidence and spending habits, writes Jill Ross, managing director, Accenture UK Retail, exclusively for RetailTechNews. But the outlook still looks to be [...]

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In her second week at Avocet, Sarah Slimani (pictured below) – a Durham graduate moving from a career in biotech to advertising technology – was asked to write an honest account of her first impressions of the programmatic space, which reads as a refreshing alternative perspective on the industry. Moving from a position of scepticism, Slimani saw the creative approach to innovating digital advertising as an inspiring environment worthy of more admiration than disdain. With RTB receiving a high proportion of negative [...]

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The out-of-home (OOH) industry in the UK is an equally exciting and complex space; and that’s even before the onset of programmatic, which has changed the landscape beyond recognition. But what does ‘programmatic’ actually mean for the OOH industry and does the same blanket term apply as it does across the rest of the digital industry? ExchangeWire speaks with Cadi Jones (pictured below), commercial innovation director, Clear Channel International, about why the company is embracing programmatic technology and why the [...]

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