IPA Bellwether: Marketing Budgets Revised Down For Fifth Consecutive Quarter
Marketing budgets have been revised down for the fifth consecutive quarter as companies seek to reduce costs due to weaker than expected sales, according to the Q2 2006 Bellwether Report, the quarterly survey of marketing spend from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA).
Of the main marketing categories monitored by the Bellwether survey, main media advertising and sales promotion budgets saw the largest downward revisions to current budgets.
However, the report does say there are signs that budget cuts may be beginning to ease, with the downward revisions for Q2 2006 being the smallest since budgets began to be trimmed in Q2 2005.
The cuts are markedly below the reductions seen in the previous two quarters, which the report says provides an early indication that the rate of decline of advertising spend has bottomed out and that growth of the wider economy has picked up.
2006 is set to see the weakest growth since 2002 following modest budget settings at the beginning of the year that were further revised down in Q1 and Q2 2006.
In total marketing budgets, 24% of companies reported a downward revision compared with 22% indicating an upward revision, while traditional advertising budgets were cut for the seventh consecutive quarter, with 27% of companies reporting cuts against 19% reporting increases.
Internet marketing continues to grow, with 30% of companies reporting budget increases, against 6% indicating a decrease. The proportion of companies allocating more than 10% of spend to internet marketing rose to a record high of over 17%. In comparison, the proportion of companies allocating no spend to internet budgets fell to a record low of 11%.
Direct marketing budgets were revised down in the last Bellwether (see
IPA Bellwether: Traditional Media Budgets Continue To Drop
IPA Bellwether: Traditional Media Budgets Continue To Drop
IPA Bellwether: Traditional Media Budgets Continue To Drop
IPA Bellwether: Traditional Media Budgets Continue To Drop www.ipa.co.uk