The survey, conducted by the Advertising Association in conjunction with the World Advertising Research Center, looked at the first three months of 2005 -- before the date of the general election was confirmed on April 5.
It showed that spend on television advertising was up by 13.6% in current prices, a rise of 11.7% in real terms. Hits from the first three months include Channel 4's 'Celebrity Big Brother', won by Bez from the Happy Mondays, and US import 'Desperate Housewives'.
Other sectors to perform well were cinema, up 18.8% with the release of hits such as 'Sideways' and 'Meet the Fockers', and outdoor, up 14%. Internet advertising continued to be the strongest performer with figures showing a rise of 51.5%.
One surprise fall was for spend on direct mail, which includes mailouts but not doordrops nor other forms of direct marketing, which saw an 8.8% decline in real terms.
This is despite widespread agreement among major political parties that the medium is the best was of reaching voters.
Declines were also seen in business magazines, which showed a 2.7% decline, measured as 4.3% in real terms.
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