IPA Bellwether Says Downturn Will Be Brief

The current advertising downturn is expected to be brief, but the distribution of marketing spend is changing, according the IPA’s Bellwether report, released for Q3 2001 today. It reveals that the number of companies marking up their budgets for next year outnumber those cutting back by two to one.

The areas most prone to cuts were found to be the financial sector, travel and transport and entertainment and media, while retail, FMCG and consumer durables saw upward revisions and generally set higher budgets for next year.

The report shows that the sharpest decline in current budgets and the weakest growth in new budgets was seen in media adspend, which the IPA believes reflects a shift towards the more accountable mediums of direct marketing and sales promotions.

Bruce Haines, IPA president, said: “Behind these figures lies a complex picture- a fundamental change in the media mix, a certain amount of caution, a reflection of the year’s activities and perhaps also a reaction to the events of 11 September.”

The IPA reports that the net improvement signalled by the Q3 survey was only slightly lower than that recorded at the beginning of the year. This was more surprising considering the fact that data was collected during the immediate aftermath of the US terrorist attacks, between 13 September and 2 October.

IPA: 020 7235 7020 www.ipa.co.uk

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