The Long Game is Back: What the Q3 Bellwether Means for Brands

If the last few years of marketing headlines felt like a relentless parade of tightened belts, nervous CFOs, and cautious “wait-and-see” strategies, it’s time to take a breath.

Here, our Managing Partner and Strategy Director, Kate Hartshorn shares her thoughts.

The Q3 2026 IPA Bellwether Report is out, and the numbers tell a surprisingly upbeat story. UK companies have revised their marketing budgets upwards at the sharpest rate in over two years.

Across every single category monitored by the report, investment is climbing. But while the headline numbers look like cause for celebration, a closer look at the data shows that how you spend this budget matters more than ever.

After months of sluggish growth and macro-economic jitters, total marketing budget revisions surged to a net balance of +14.3% in Q3 2026 up from +6.9% in Q2 and marking the highest jump since Q2 2024. Just over a quarter (25.6%) of surveyed firms expanded their budgets, dwarfing the 11.3% that reported cuts.

The standout story of Q3 isn’t just that budgets are bigger; it’s where that money is going. Main media ad spend climbed to +9.8%, a nine-year high. Crucially, growth was broad-based across all five subcategories for the first time since Q1 2020, led by online (+17.2%), video (+9.8%), and Out-of-Home (+3.6%). This expansion across channels shows that UK businesses are shifting back toward top-of-funnel growth.

The real takeaway from this quarter isn’t just that budgets are growing, it’s how smart brands are choosing to deploy them. The surge in main media advertising signals a clear shift away from reactive, short-term tactics and back toward long-term brand building.

So what does this mean for brands?

Protect your long-term brand equity.
Discounting and performance hacks might deliver quick hits, but they don’t build sustainable businesses. Main media remains the primary vehicle for building mental availability and emotional connection, both qualities that allow brands to command premium pricing and drive long-term profit.

Capitalise on the multi-channel rebound.
With video, digital, and out-of-home all expanding simultaneously, the most effective campaigns will be those that create consistent, high-impact brand experiences across multiple touchpoints simultaneously rather than relying on isolated channels.

Start now.
Ultimately, brand equity takes time to compound. Expanding broad-reach advertising now lays the critical groundwork for consumer recall and brand preference when market conditions soften further.

The economic backdrop may still have its quirks, but confidence is clearly returning. The brands that invest in brave, memorable main media creative today will be the ones holding the lion’s share of market equity tomorrow.