• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, August 17, 2005

Falling prey to what appears to be a seasonal downturn, fewer marketers were investigating agency credentials and services in July than earlier this year, according to the most recent stats from online agency search database AdForum.com. The downturn was especially pronounced for agency media services, which led all other categories in declines for the month.

The number of searches conducted by marketers for agencies with media planning and buying capabilities declined 48 percent in July from June. That represents a turnabout for media services, which were one of the most active areas of credentials searches through the first half of 2005.

The decline in media-related searches compares with an overall drop in total agency searches of 27 percent from June to July. Branding/product development credentials searches were the next steepest decline--falling 39 percent from June, while full-service shops were off 32 percent.

Interactive agency searches were one of the most stable categories, falling only 22 percent according to the AdForum data.

The downturn appears to be part of a normal cyclical pattern during the summer months, said Chris Wynne, president-CEO of AdForum. "The decline in July searches corresponds with a general slowdown in agency research activity that occurs in July and August," he explained. "The July 2005 search numbers were flat with July of last year."

The fall-off appears to reflect a summer malaise across all marketing sectors, although the entertainment category, which fell 40 percent, was down the most. Business-to-business-related searches, interestingly, were off the least, falling only 15 percent.

The only market segment to actually experience an uptick in inquiries during July was the Asian-American agency category, which rose 12 percent.