We have been marking听the performance of UK听advertising听on the world stage this week through听our . My colleagues, Aisling and Dan, have been reviewing the latest figures to听identify听how we are performing and where we can do even better. In short, we exported 拢19.4bn in 2025, second only to the US and our surplus (the profit coming from the balance of imports / exports) grew by 38%. All of this is important because it feeds back into the听UK听creative economy, of which advertising is a significant part.
Exports or international revenue comes in three forms – an international client looks for support in鈥痶he UK market,听from鈥痶he UK into an international market, or听a UK business goes into an international market and delivers work from there. Often it’s a combination of the three.
I find all this fascinating. Some of you may know I used to run a PR consultancy and we were always on the new business treadmill, pitching and听opening up听new client revenues. I wish the 听had existed then.听It鈥檚听a superb way for a business, particularly those with a strong, distinct UK offering and/or from the independent agency sector, to听open up听new prospects from international markets.
We will be doing exactly that for the companies on our 听in a couple of听weeks time. If you want to know more about this and how to get involved, drop me a line.
Our must-reads:听
- Outsmart reported that OOH advertising revenues for Q1 2026 reached a total of听拢341.2m in their figures collated by PwC. ()
- TikTok, Mail Metro Media, and ITV gave their view on whether the World Cup is a bigger opportunity for brands than Christmas. ()
- New forecasts from IAB UK predict AI-driven听adspend听to account for one-third of digital听adspend听by 2030. ()
- A new handbook has been released by Melanoma Focus to teach barbers how to be the first line of defence against skin cancer. ()
Our pick of the ads:听
- Our Ad in the A is EE and WPP Media鈥檚 ‘‘听campaign, helping young boys on and off the pitch to navigate the online world with confidence and positivity.
- Tesco has partnered with BBH London to launch ‘‘,听which highlights their high-quality food sources from around the world.
- T&P transformed household products into听oversized installations听in 听in a bid to prove that Argos is a听multi-category retailer.
- ‘‘听has been unveiled by VCCP for O2, to celebrate their EU roaming service ahead of the World Cup.
Dates for your diary:听
- The Mayor of London鈥檚 AI and Jobs Taskforce wants to understand what employers are seeing and experiencing as AI reshapes our work. Join us in completing the survey by 19 June听.
- 贵谤辞尘鈥�15 June until 5pm on 15 September,鈥疉A members can book the鈥�痑t an enhanced discounted group rate. Use code AAgroup35 for groups of 4鈥�24 delegates to get 35% off, or AAgroup60 for 25+ delegates for 60% off.鈥�
- Fancy being in sunny Eastbourne 7-10 July for a transformative career highlight? Then why not take one of the last places on our famous Media Business Course? Find out more and book .
- CreatorFest鈥�2026 on鈥�14-15 July鈥�has a packed two-day agenda of networking and panels. Get鈥�20% off your tickets using the code鈥疉A20OFF鈥�.
And finally, my Ad Net Zero colleague Alex spoke鈥痑t The Programmatic Pioneers Summit鈥痑longside鈥痶he IPA and The Guardian,鈥痑nd the World Out听Of听Home Organisation Global Congress with Omnicom this week – building the case for every company to adopt the Global Media Sustainability Framework (GMSF). More to follow on that at 听this month.
