Confidence amongst senior marketers in the UK has now hit ‘rock bottom’, according to the latest figures from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).
The organisation says that in contrast to just three months ago – when 19% of executives believed that sales plans were achievable – now just 3% of marketers believe they can meet their sales plans and only 36% consider them to be realistic. In winter last year, 58% described their sales targets as realistic.
CIM says that the fall in confidence reflects pessimism throughout the marketing profession. The belief that sales plans cannot be met comes despite the fact that in January another CIM survey found that 2003 marketing sales targets were already some of the most pessimistic ever (see CIM Claims 2003 Sales Targets Are The Most Cautious Ever).
The latest Marketing Trends Survey shows that economic uncertainty coupled with fears over a war with Iraq has resulted in a collapse of confidence in sales targets. The confidence index, which measures marketers’ confidence in their ability to meet these targets, has dropped significantly from 98.5 in the winter survey to 82.5 this time – a record low.
The largest firms, those with a turnover of over £100 million, are forecasting 6.3% growth following a 2.7% rise last year. Combined, all firms surveyed are planning a 1.7% increase in total sales resource this year, down from the 2.4% increase reported in winter 2002.
“Clearly, uncertainty about war in Iraq combined with a continuing consumer slowdown mean that senior UK marketers are concerned about the prospect of a recession,” says Mike Johnston, CIM’s international chairman.
