THE advertising revenue prospects for the media continue to look bleak, according to a long-established survey of company marketing budgets.
The quarterly Bellwether survey of budgets has recorded the worst results in its nine-year-history and the fifth successive reduction in spend.
Only seven per cent of companies reported plans to increase their marketing, while 49 per cent said they were planning to decrease.
The findings follow on from the last quarter’s report, which was previously the worst on record. The survey was published by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.
The previous report had at least suggested a growth in ad spend in specifically the internet, but even that’s down now.
Moray MacLennan, the president of the IPA: “This suggests adland in 2009 will be no place for the faint-hearted. Confidence has plummeted and the data suggests a steep decline in GDP in Q1.”
Economist and author of the report, Chris Williamson, is quoted in www.brandrepublic.com, saying “The Bellwether shows an alarming rate of corporate retrenchment as the recession deepens, with spending on marketing being cut at a rate far greater the ever previously seen over the survey’s history.
“Disappointing sales in all sectors have also led companies to cut budgets for year ahead for the first time since the survey began, suggesting there will be no quick return to growth for marketing spend.”
