• September 22, 2008

Nickelodeon CMO Pam Kaufman said at OMMA Global last Friday that the cable network had cut its marketing "innovation" budget, despite her efforts to protect the funding. She did not disclose the amount.

Kaufman mentioned the cutback during a panel, "Marketers' Dilemma: Finding and Managing Digital Resources," in which fellow panelist Lars Bastholm, executive creative director at AKQA, said the agency advises clients to set a side a portion of their budgets not earmarked for anything else. That reserve can then be used to fund on-the-fly changes to a digital campaign based on consumer feedback.

Debate has arisen this year over whether marketer budgets for emerging media would be reduced as a result of the weakening economy. Some observers have argued that budgets for experimental media spending are too small to be cut, while others say those dollars are the first to go in lean times. Nickelodeon's move would seem to support the latter view.--Mark Walsh