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Better News on UK MR Spend?
UK marketers may have 'slightly' increased their spend on market research in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the latest IPA Bellwether report.
 During the quarter, 17% of respondents reported an increase in total marketing spend compared with 16% reporting cuts - a small positive balance, comparing with a negative (5.5%) in the previous quarter.
Companies were more positive about their own performance, yet marketers were subdued about the financial prospects for their specific industry sectors, with a net balance of 16.9% pessimistic, compared with 16.5% in the third quarter.
According to the report, marketing executives are planning to raise 2013 budgets relative to 2012 levels.
Chris Williamson (pictured), Chief Economist at Markit and author of the Bellwether, comments: 'Companies have grown more positive about their financial prospects, setting marketing budgets higher for the coming year to help beat a challenging business environment. However, the initial increase is one of the smallest seen over the past 12 years, with only 2012 seeing a more downbeat start to the year.'
Web sites: www.ipa.co.uk and www.markit.com .
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