New research from MC&C looking at marketers’ attitudes towards risk and the impacts of Brexit has revealed that only 17% believe leaving the EU will be of benefit to the UK economy, whilst two thirds (64%) think it presents challenges.
However, when it comes to their own businesses, over three quarters (88%) of marketers feel confident about their prospects.
The study also shows the different ways marketers manage and evaluate risk, with 80% revealing they use their colleagues for support while a quarter (23%) rely on consultants. Only half (48%) manage risk systematically as part of the overall marketing planning process and the remainder do so on a project by project basis.
“An interesting aspect of this research is how markers seem to be more cautious at an individual level than their companies,” said Simon Foster, MD of MC&C’s MUSE, the organisation’s business modelling unit.
“So despite their reputation for optimism, marketers are clearly taking risks in the current economic environment very seriously.”
Meanwhile, in terms of factors affecting the confidence of marketers, three quarters (75%) cite the activities of competitors as the most influential, closely followed by consumer confidence metrics (73%).
Surprisingly, national news stories came last, with only 43% of marketers seeing this as an important factor.
“Marketing decisions are inherently risky and marketers often have a credibility gap with the CEO, CFO and colleagues,” said Patrick Barwise, emeritus professor of marketing at London Business School.
“They need to improve their modelling of the possible outcomes of marketing investments, to improve resource allocation and reduce the credibility gap. However, as the MUSE research shows, their current approach to risk management is still largely based on intuition, monitoring competitors, and the mood among peers.”
