Morale among marketers at two-year low
Marketing executives trimmed their budgets in the last quarter, with confidence dropping to the lowest level in more than two years, according to a bleak IPA/BDO Bellwether survey published today.
Spending has now fallen for three consecutive quarters, as firms try to slash costs to protect profits. However, with 22 per cent of firms reporting a reduced marketing spend, compared to 20 per cent ploughing in more money, the net balance shrank to a 2.2 per cent reduction. compared to 5.1 per cent in the first quarter.
Marketing executives’ confidence in their own companies has also dropped to the lowest level in nine quarters, with the net balance dropping from 12.8 per cent in the first quarter to 3.3 per cent in the latest survey.
IPA president Nicola Mendelsohn said: “The economy is going sideways and this seems to be the way it is going in the advertising marketplace too.”