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UK Marketing Spend Dips in Q3
UK marketing budgets appear to have fallen slightly for a second successive quarter, according to the latest IPA Bellwether survey. Business confidence among marketers has also fallen, with a tough trading environment hampering profitability and cash flow.
 The Bellwether Report is researched and published by Markit Economics on behalf of the IPA (Institute of Practitioners In Advertising) and features original data drawn from a panel of around 300 UK marketing professionals.
In the latest survey, around a quarter (23%) of companies reported a reduction, compared with 18% reporting a rise, making it doubtful whether total marketing spend for 2012 will increase in line with predictions earlier in the year.
Business confidence among marketing executives in relation to their own companies' prospects has weakened compared to three months earlier, while general business optimism has also ebbed throughout the year.
Chris Williamson (pictured), Chief Economist at Markit and author of the Bellwether, says that disappointing sales and revenues prompted companies to cut their marketing budgets again in the third quarter, and the modest increase in budgets at the start of the year looks instead to turn into a reduction in spend compared with 2011, as companies seek to reduce costs.
'The Bellwether is consistent with other surveys which suggest that the official data overstated the weakness of the economy in the first half of the year, but also suggests that economic growth slowed, and perhaps even stalled, in the third quarter. With business confidence falling further in the third quarter, prospects also look rather subdued for the rest of the year,' Williamson adds.
Web sites: www.ipa.co.uk and www.markit.com .
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