In the aftermath of the U.K.’s shocking decision to leave the European Union in a 52% to 48% public vote on June 24, the modern British political landscape has never looked so rocky. Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the “Remain” campaign, resigned, with a new leader not expected to be announced until autumn. The country’s main political parties – Conservative and Labour – have been tearing themselves apart. World financial markets are volatile and the British pound sank to it’s lowest level in 31 years.

Uncertainty seems to be the order of the day in all sectors, with the marketing and design community pondering over what the U.K.’s exit from the E.U., or Brexit, will mean for them.

“From a long-term perspective, if we see the same macro-economic conditions as we saw from 2009-2011, then the outlook is worrying,” says Andy Bryant, managing director of London-based agency Red Bee. “An economic downturn could lead to the same advertising downturn among all the commercial channels which inevitably leads to pressures on clients’ marketing budgets.”

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For instance, graphic design projects for broadcasters, Bryant points out, could be the type of project that certain clients might postpone in times of uncertainty.

“If you’re thinking of rebranding a channel, it’s very easy to say, ‘let’s wait six months, see how the economy fares and see how our advertising revenue improves.’”

Even in the run up to the referendum, client confidence in the advertising sphere was shaky, notes Target Media’s CEO Rob Wilkerson.

“What we’d seen particularly in the three months running up to [the vote] was big fluctuations in advertising revenue, especially in TV and newspaper,” Wilkerson says, pointing to a “considerable drop” in Q2 TV advertising revenue in the market.

“A great barometer of what’s actually happening and how boards are approving money or cutting money is in the share price,” says Wilkerson.

Indeed, ITV, which plummeted 20% on the day of the Brexit result, wiping £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) off its stock, had seen one of its biggest slumps in years in April, with a 13% fall on the stock market.

“People have been talking about advertisers not necessarily stopping but slowing things down, being much more cautious, much more risk averse and reverting to more traditional means’ of getting their message out there but lighter weight,” says Wilkerson, expecting many clients to “sit on their hands” for the foreseeable future while the country awaits direction.

And while ear-marked investment is at risk, another bold question mark in the Brexit aftermath lies over the issue of movement of labor across the continent.

“It’s not just the longer-term policy issues like EU funding to the public arts and IP negotiations that are stake,” says John Kampfner, chief executive of U.K. member’s organization Creative Industries Federation. “There are so many Europeans at every level in creative organizations from the top boss through to the interns. So many curatorial and creative decisions are also based around trans-European shows and performances and deals and to unpick all of that would be a huge task and that’s the main challenge the sector faces.”

Richard Holman of creative agency Holman + Hunt is also concerned about the movement of labor.

“People’s access to talent might be reduced when people’s capacity to work in the U.K. is reduced,” he says.

Additionally, Holman says Brexit has sent a seismic cultural message throughout the continent, which could have a negative impact on client perception.

“My concern is that there is a kind of cultural message [of Brexit] that suggests Britain is becoming more introspective and less keen on fostering relationships outside of the country,” he says. “That’s the sort of stance [Brexit] seems to suggest and that is what is potentially damaging for us as an agency that works internationally.”

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However, the result may not be all doom and gloom for U.K. creative industries. To their credit, creative industries punch well above their weight in the territory, creating jobs at twice the rate of the economy. The sector is worth more than £84 billion ($111.4 billion), representing more than 5% of the total British economy.

“I think our work is highly regarded throughout the rest of Europe and the world,” says Holman. “While there may be some practical difficulties created by Brexit, I would like to think that the talent and good work will always surface and come to the top.”

Veteran media industry exec Frank Radice, who is Expert in Residence at global ad agency Definition 6 and chairman of PromaxUK 2016 Conference and Awards, says that once the immediate “panic” in the media industry subsides, there are opportunities to be gleaned in the long-term.

“In times of political and financial crisis, big companies will hurry up and wait,” says Radice. “Nobody wants to jump into the pool so there will be a time of close observation and a time of wonder and a slow down will happen, especially in advertising as far as big spending is concerned. What it means though, I believe, is that those parts of the industries that are dependent on the digital distribution content model will see an upsurge. You don’t spend a lot of money to make digital, you spend a lot of money to make a movie or a television commercial. The business in this era doesn’t have to stop, it can just refocus.”

Wilkerson agrees.

“In any pressurized environment, the need for analysis and diving into data to make sure you’re reaching the right people with the right message at the right time that can still deliver a return on investment is absolutely critical. I think when returns are under pressure, it forces agencies like us to really review and challenge the decisions that have been made over the last couple of years about where, why and how we are spending money.”

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