• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, April 7, 2020

A new survey from the World Federation of Advertisers finds that 81% of marketers from major multinationals say they are postponing planned ad campaigns as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. 

One-third (34%) have initiated one- to two-month delays, 28% are holding off for a full quarter, and 13% will wait for six months before bringing campaigns back to market.

However, 79% are creating new messages that respond directly to the impact of the crisis on the people who use their products and services, per the survey. Half of these new messages have already started running or are about to go live. A further 29% plan to start creating new messages soon.

The net result of these changes, however, is a drop in annual marketing budgets with 57% of respondents saying they are cutting spend and 32% showing no change.

The findings are based on a survey last week of 32 WFA members with combined annual marketing spend of nearly $60 billion across 10 industry sectors.   

In a separate poll of 58 media leaders conducted during a WFA member webinar last week, respondents anticipated an average reduction in media budgets of 23% in the first half of 2020. Some 21% of the sample predicted cuts of 40% or more. 

Also, 80% have already “provided guidance” to agencies, media companies and other partners about changes in campaign plans.

If you are looking for some inspiration (and who isn’t these days), WFA has created a “Covid Compendium” to provide just that. It’s an open-source platform for the industry to share campaigns and actions, which is accessible here.