Current marketing budgets were revised upward in Q2 according to the latest Survey of Marketing Budgets from the Institute of Communications and Advertising (ICA), with direct marketing claiming the sharpest upgrades, followed by Internet-related marketing – gains that were attributed to DM and direct’s cost and accountability advantages.
Current marketing budgets were increased in Q2 by 29% of companies, compared to just 6% that reported a decrease, and the upswing was across all main categories of marketing spend, marking the strongest upturn since the survey began in Q3 2003.
Main media ad spend (covering TV, print, cinema, radio and outdoor) saw the weakest upward revision of all categories in Q2. However, the rise was the largest quarterly gain recorded for main media spend in the survey’s history, as rising corporate profits and expectations of solid sales growth in coming quarters encouraged ad spend confidencce. At 26%, the percentage of companies reporting an upward revision to budgets significantly outnumbered the 11% that reported a cut.
For DM, 30% of companies reported an upward budget revision compared to 3% indicating a decline, and one in four companies reported an increase to Internet-related marketing budgets in Q2 against just 2% reporting a decline (Internet is now estimated to account for 4% of total marketing spend).
Sales promotions budgets were revised up by one in five companies in Q2 against only 3% reporting a decline, and current budget growth for the ‘all other’ category of marketing were reported by 27% of companies compared to just 3% noting downward revisions. The improvement in this category signals a further boost to Internet-related marketing, but also rising spend on sponsorship, market research, PR and corporate communications.
Conducted by NTC Research, the report is based on quarterly information provided by a panel of 270 senior marketing execs in Canadian companies.
Detail of revision to budgets in Q2
Bars show percentage of respondents reporting an upward revision to current budgets less those reporting a downward revision.
www.ica-ad.com
