Brands are expected to cut more than \u00a31bn of digital advertising spending due to the UK\u2019s ban on social media for under-16s, with streaming services tipped to benefit as advertisers try to reach large audiences of teenagers.<\/p>\n
The ban, due to come into force early next year, will leave UK advertisers scrambling to reassess marketing plans as millions of under-16s effectively disappear as a demographic that can be marketed to on platforms including Facebook, Instagram<\/a>, Snapchat and YouTube.<\/p>\n Analysts at eMarketer cut their existing forecast for UK digital advertising spend for 2027 by \u00a31.3bn to \u00a317bn after assessing the ban\u2019s likely impact.<\/p>\n Research conducted last month by Beano Brain, the kids and family research agency, found that among seven- to 14-year-olds a third said that YouTube<\/a> ads and YouTubers were how they found out about new things that they wanted to buy. A quarter of those surveyed cited TikTok videos while 22% said TV ads influenced their buying decisions.<\/p>\n Helenor Gilmour, head of the DC Thomson-owned agency, said teenagers and younger children will continue to see some social media through \u201cparallel me time\u201d with their parents but streaming services could pick up business as a result of the ban.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is certainly going to be a period of readjustment,\u201d said Gilmour. \u201cNetflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ have ad tiers now, and kids are all over those platforms. We will see a big shift [in ad spend] moving in that direction, they will be big winners and soak up quite a bit of the YouTube revenue.<\/p>\n \u201cTraditional TV will also benefit around big family-friendly event shows such as I\u2019m A Celebrity and Britain\u2019s Got Talent.\u201d<\/p>\n In the four years since Amazon, Disney+ and Netflix introduced advertising, the number of UK viewers on subscriptions that include ads has hit 27 million<\/a>, reaching a scale increasingly attractive for brands.<\/p>\n James Kirkham, a brand strategist who has worked with clients including JD Sports, Netflix and Chelsea Football Club, said the ban is an opportunity to channel marketing spend into creating \u201ccultural cornerstones\u201d \u2013 reaching young people through sport or via their schools.<\/p>\n \u201cThe notion that advertising money is going to evaporate is mad, the ban won\u2019t mean shrinking budgets, it is going to go somewhere,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are always saying to clients: \u2018Does it survive the scroll?\u2019 Most of the ads in feeds are gone from the consumers\u2019 mind in 60 seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisers targeting young people have long had to operate under tight regulations, dating back at least as far as the TV junk food ad ban around children\u2019s shows and programmes of \u201cparticular appeal\u201d to under-16s, introduced by the communications regulator Ofcom in 2006<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the UK advertising watchdog began cracking down on ads featuring junk food on TV before 9pm, and in paid online advertising at any time of the day<\/a>, while billboards and posters within 100 metres of a school or sports centre have not been allowed to display junk food messaging<\/a> for a decade.<\/p>\n \u201c[Large] advertisers and the industry won\u2019t be scared by the ban,\u201d said Joseph Petyan, chief executive of WPP-owned agency VML. \u201cWe operate in a very regulated environment already, which is the right thing to do if you want to build a trusted brand.<\/p>\n \u201cFor those that are building a brand in a social media environment there will be a reassessment about what you do, but the large majority aren\u2019t targeting kids in social media.\u201d<\/p>\n