The IPA’s latest Bellwether survey has found that the rate of decline of marketing spend slowed in Q1, suggesting budget cutting may have reached its peak in Q4 2008. Business confidence has picked up from the all-time low of Q4, with the percentage of companies believing their prospects have improved rising from 5% to 14%.

Says Moray MacLennan, IPA President, “This data supports the view that the bottom of the market has been reached. It will be a long road to full recovery, but this maybe the turning point.  It’s good to see a graph going in the right direction for a change.”

Although the overall budget cut is still the second steepest decline in the survey’s nine-year history, with spend set to fall again in 2009, the net balance of those reporting an increase minus those reporting a decrease rose from -42% in Q4 to -34% in Q1.

By sector in Q1, hardest hit were budgets for main media advertising and ‘all other’ (includes PR, events sponsorship and market research). Internet advertising suffered a record reduction in spend, but at a far weaker rate than for total marketing spend*, indicating a gain in share now estimated at almost 10%.

*The numbers in the report represent the percentage of companies increasing their spend minus the percentage reporting an increase.
The IPA’s latest Bellwether survey has found that the rate of decline of marketing spend slowed in Q1, suggesting budget cutting may have reached its peak in Q4 2008. Business confidence has picked up from the all-time low of Q4, with the percentage of companies believing their prospects have improved rising from 5% to 14%.

Says Moray MacLennan, IPA President, “This data supports the view that the bottom of the market has been reached. It will be a long road to full recovery, but this maybe the turning point.  It’s good to see a graph going in the right direction for a change.”

Although the overall budget cut is still the second steepest decline in the survey’s nine-year history, with spend set to fall again in 2009, the net balance of those reporting an increase minus those reporting a decrease rose from -42% in Q4 to -34% in Q1.

By sector in Q1, hardest hit were budgets for main media advertising and ‘all other’ (includes PR, events sponsorship and market research). Internet advertising suffered a record reduction in spend, but at a far weaker rate than for total marketing spend*, indicating a gain in share now estimated at almost 10%.

*The numbers in the report represent the percentage of companies increasing their spend minus the percentage reporting an increase.

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