Remote working, supermarket shopping, trust: 5 interesting stats to start your week

Remote roles in marketing and PR industries drop off

Back in 2022, marketing and PR had the highest proportion of fully remote roles out of any industry; however, in 2025, the sector dropped out of the top 10, according to analysis of job listings from Vestd.

Out of the 1,750 job listings in 2025, just 5.3% of marketing and PR roles were listed as fully remote. In contrast to its once leading position for remote roles, this positions the industry out of the top 10 of sectors that offer remote roles.

The financial services sector offered the highest proportion of fully remote roles in 2025, with almost a quarter (24.62%), followed by the leisure and tourism industry (20.35%).

While the proportion of remote roles in the marketing industry has declined, it ranked above the average across all industries. Out of the 113,874 new job listings available across the 29 analysed industries, only 5,404 (5%) were listed as fully remote positions.

Some of the lowest scoring sectors were those where in-person attendance is necessary. The retail, manufacturing, motoring, social care, transport, and education industries, offer fewer than 1% of remote positions.

Source: Vestd

Trust in advertising at its highest levels in five years

Consumer trust in adverts has reached its highest level in five years, despite the public having an “increasingly complex” relationship with advertising.

Research from industry think tank Credos, found 40% of the UK public trusted advertising in 2025, the highest level of trust recorded since 2021. The data comes from the Credos Trust Tracker, which surveys around 2,000 participants each year.

Just one in 10 (11%) report being very trusting of ads, while 29% say they are fairly trusting. A quarter (25%) of consumers distrust ads, while a third (33%) say they neither trust nor distrust advertising.

Despite being the highest level of trust in ads recorded by Credos in five years, the 40% score represents only a marginal improvement on 2024, when that figure sat at 39%. It does, however, represent a distinct improvement on 2021. Back then 31% of people said they trusted advertising, a lower proportion than those who said they neither trusted nor distrusted ads (38%).

Trust in advertising sank even lower in 2022, when there was just one percentage point separating UK consumers who trusted advertising (30%) and those who reported actively distrusting it (29%).

Source: Credos

Supermarket shoppers tread carefully over January

Total till sales at UK supermarkets grew 4.1% in the four weeks ended 24 January, according to data released by NielsenIQ (NIQ).

Inflation played a role in shopper behaviour in the period, as while average spend per visit increased by 2.5%, the number of items in the basket fell by 2.3%. Shoppers also visited supermarkets more often, with frequency of visits up 1.4%.

As ever in January, shoppers tend to focus more on health and wellness. There have been particular focuses on protein and fibre-rich foods. The data from NIQ suggests both protein and fibre saw particular growth across the last six months, growing at 9.6% and 14.1%, respectively.

Additionally, over the last four weeks, supplements and minerals also saw considerable growth in sale, at 18.4% and 9.2%, respectively.

When it comes to the performance of individual retailers, Ocado retained its position as the fastest-growing retailer, growing by 14.2%, out-performing Lidl, which grew at 9.8%. M&S (6.3%) and Waitrose (6%) also saw strong sales. While sales at Co-op dropped by 0.6%.

Source: NielsenIQ

Confusing ads undermine effectiveness

Confusing advertising “kills” effectiveness, according to new analysis from Kantar, which finds ads that are hard to follow fall into the bottom 32% of all UK advertising for effectiveness.

The study compares 35 “winning” campaigns against 114 other ads featured in Marketing Week as part of ‘The Works’ study, an ongoing partnership with Kantar and the Advertising Association. Kantar finds the winners rank in the top 36% of UK ads for being easy to follow, a factor closely linked to stronger effectiveness and higher levels of brand trust.

Kantar’s analysis shows the commercial potential of the winning ads significantly outperforms the average achieved by the others, both in the short- and long term.

“The winners sit in the top third of UK ads for short-term sales, while the others fall toward the bottom third,” explains Lynne Deason, head of creative excellence at Kantar and author of the chapter.

Meanwhile, emotional resonance is a “hallmark” of the winning campaigns. Ads featured in The Works generated strong emotional responses, including joy, nostalgia, empathy, surprise, sadness and laughter, and ranked, on average, in the top 9% of UK ads for humour.

Source: Kantar/Advertising Association

Nearly half of consumers support tobacco-style warnings on UPF

Ultra-processed food (UPF) is a hot topic for consumers, with concern about what ingredients go into foods rife.

Research from Attest suggests almost half (48%) of consumers support tobacco-style health warnings on ultra-processed foods. While a similar proportion (46%) say they will prioritise brands that are transparent about what goes into their products.

There is a significant proportion of consumers avoiding UPFs, with 24% of men and 16% of women saying they will avoid the food type this year.

However, cost is still driving food choice more than health priorities. More than two in three (68%) men and three-quarters (77%) of women would switch from their favourite brand to a cheaper option to save money.

Source: Attest