65% of CMOs say that the money spent on advertising as a whole will decrease due to the current economy. In contrast, 94% of CMOs and marketing executives agreed with the statement, 'A tough economic period is precisely the time when marketing plays a key role.'
When asked how their firm determines their target market for each channel:
Mike Iaccarino, CEO of Epsilon, says "... marketing executives are seeking accountability and measurable results. Data driven marketing is an increasingly important component of corporate marketing campaigns... "
CMOs of the biggest brands have been early adopters of new media with social computing and blogs receiving the most interest whereas instant messaging and interactive TV ads were the least popular.
Senior marketing executives anticipate further cuts, says the study, but are confident that they will be able to manage their budgets by focusing spending where it will have the greatest impact. As the overall marketing pool diminishes, the budget for interactive and digital marketing is dramatically increasing, while that for traditional marketing continues to shrink toward interactive, digital marketing:
Interactive/Digital Marketing:
While Traditional Marketing
Source: Epsilon, September 2008
The survey included 175 U.S. Chief Marketing Officers and marketing executives of some of the largest brands in the nation. 27% of respondents work at companies with $10 billion or more in annual revenues last year.
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